Somerset seal quarter-final berth
Somerset skipper Justin Langer opts for the aerial route during his quickfire 77
Somerset booked their place in the last eight of the Friends Provident Trophy with a 45-run victory over Group B rivals Kent, despite a magnificent unbeaten 132 from Martin van Jaarsveld.
The Kent vice-captain batted superbly to record his highest one-day score, but he eventually ran out of partners as the hosts finished on 251 for nine in response to Somerset’s imposing total of 296.
Former Kent all-rounder Peter Trego returned figures of 4-56 for the visitors.
Marcus Trescothick (56), Zander De Bruyn (72) and skipper Justin Langer (77) had earlier scored heavily for the Sabres.
Also in Group B, Scotland went down to Warwickshire by 50 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method in a rain-affected match at the Citylets Grange.
The Saltires put in a vastly improved fielding performance to restrict Warwickshire - for whom Jim Troughton scored 77 - to 242 for six, but slumped to their sixth successive defeat after rain reduced their chase to 48 overs.
They could only muster 187 all out in response as Ant Botha claimed 3-27 from nine overs.
Samit Patel took 6-13 to set up Nottinghamshire’s thrilling two-wicket victory over Ireland in their Group A clash in Dublin.
The hosts, who now have no wins and four defeats from six matches, were pinned back by the England all-rounder after a brisk opening, and had to settle for 140 from their 34 overs after the start was delayed by rain.
With just a moderate target to chase down, the visitors struggled with Ali Brown (32) and Will Jefferson (31) top-scoring, but they squeaked home from the penultimate ball of the match.
Worcestershire continue to lead Group A despite seeing their clash with Leicestershire washed out at Grace Road.
The Royals had raced to 67 for one off eight overs when heavy rain returned following a delayed start and the game was finally called off an hour before the scheduled close.
It meant the sides picked up one point each from the match, leaving the Foxes with no chance of qualifying from Group A and the Royals facing a three-way fight for the two qualifying places.
