Trescothick savages sorry Gloucs
Marcus Trescothick flayed 11 fours and four sixes as Somsersaet made light work of chasing 117
Marcus Trescothick produced batting heroics after Alfonso Thomas and Mark Turner returned their best one-day bowling figures as Somerset cruised to an eight-wicket NatWest Pro40 Division One win over Gloucestershire at Bristol.
Thomas took 4-18, Turner 3-27 and Ben Phillips 3-24 as the Gladiators were bowled out for just 116 after winning the toss. Steve Adshead top-scored with 34.
The floodlights were barely needed as the Sabres raced to their target by 8.10pm off just 18.4 overs, with Trescothick hammering 80 not out off 61 balls.
The result means Somerset have five points from three Pro40 games, while Gloucestershire have three from five fixtures and can forget any hope of winning the competition.
The home side plunged straight into trouble as Thomas struck twice in the opening over, Kadeer Ali edging a short ball to wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter and Alex Gidman also caught behind off a forward defensive.
It was six for three when James Franklin aimed a loose drive at a wide ball from Ben Phillips and was caught above his head by Wes Durston at first slip.
Will Porterfield (13) and Hamish Marshall (23) got starts before both being caught off horribly mistimed drives. Peter Trego took the catches, both off Phillips, the first at mid-off to dismiss Porterfield and the second at mid-on.
Gloucestershire seemed to be playing in Twenty20 cricket fashion, with little application. Chris Taylor edged a low catch to Trescothick at second slip to give Turner his first wicket and it was 49 for six.
When Richard Dawson edged the same bowler to Kieswetter, the Gladiators were facing acute embarrassment at 51 for seven. Adshead and Jon Lewis then produced a stand of 50 to raise brief hopes of a recovery.
Those hopes ended when Lewis skied another catch to Trego and departed for 23. Ian Saxelby was bowled by a Turner yorker and Adshead, whose innings included a six over midwicket off leg-spinner Max Waller, was last man out at the end of a woeful batting display.
Gloucestershire’s fielding turned out to be equally inept. After Lewis took the early wicket of Kieswetter, they dropped James Hildreth twice on the way to 19 and by the time he was out the scoreboard read 90 for two.
Trescothick had opened up to hit four sixes and 11 fours in a brutal demonstration, which put the Gladiators’ batting into perspective.
Predictably, the former England batsman, who today ruled out an international comeback, finished a one-sided contest with a maximum and for Somerset it was the perfect preparation for Saturday's Twenty20 Cup finals day.
