Defeat puts Somerset on the brink

Charl Willoughby's two early strikes slowed Eagles' chase, but they kept enough wickets in hand for an easy victory

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CJ de Villiers claimed four wickets and opener Morne van Wyk shone with the bat as the Diamond Eagles dealt Somerset's semi-final hopes a huge blow with a five-wicket defeat in the Champions League Twenty20 in Hyderabad.

Wes Durston’s 57 and James Hildreth’s 31 lower down the order had given Somerset’s total some respectability as they closed on 132 for eight, but van Wyk’s 47 ensured a comfortable victory for the Diamond Eagles.

Justin Langer’s decision to bat first came unstuck as De Villiers destroyed Somerset’s top order by sending back opener Craig Kieswetter and Arul Suppiah lbw by hurrying deliveries through their defences.

Zander de Bruyn also followed in De Villiers’ first two overs as he played an ungainly slap and was caught at mid-off.

Off-spinner Thandi Tshabalala then removed Langer for 12 with his first delivery - a full ball that yorked the Somerset skipper - and medium-pacer Alan Kruger held a superb return catch to snare Peter Trego as Somerset slipped to 52 for five in nine overs.

But Durston, who spent much of the season playing Minor Counties cricket for Wiltshire, but was called upon to take Marcus Trescothick’s place in the team here, steadied the ship with a crisp innings.

Durston began with a smattering of singles before relieving the pressure with a boundary to third man off Kruger.

The 29-year-old raised Somerset’s 100 by smacking medium-pacer Ryan McLaren for three consecutive boundaries and pasted De Villiers for two successive blows to bring up his half-century off just 26 deliveries.

Hildreth, who had briefly arrested the fall of wickets with a 22-run stand with Langer, dropped anchor and, together with Durston, put on 77 for the sixth wicket.

De Villiers removed Durston with a slower ball that was looped up to long on and Somerset again unravelled as they finished on a low-key note.

The Sabres then secured an early breakthrough when Charl Willoughby dismissed the dashing Rilee Rossouw immediately after he was clobbered for a four and a six by the left-handed opener. Rossouw skied a huge haymaker that Trego did well to judge at mid-off.

Adrian McLaren was Willoughby’s second victim as he also fired a delivery straight into the outfield when on 13, and skipper Boeta Dippenaar was also dismissed cheaply in chipping Max Waller to Durston at long off.

Van Wyk, however, proved a calming influence at the other end and smacked four boundaries and one six, but fell when on 47 to a top edge off Trego that Kieswetter pouched with the end in sight.

Ryan Bailey, who also fell at the end, ensured there were no dramatic comebacks with a controlled 29 and they overhauled the target inside 19 overs.