SOM vs BEARS Preview | In-form Somerset eye semi-final spot, set to take on Bears in fourth quarter-final of T20 Blast 2025
no image
42
Somerset and Birmingham Bears will take on each other in the fourth quarter-final of the ongoing T20 Blast 2025, at the Cooper Associates County Ground in Taunton. Both teams are coming off wins in their respective previous games, which makes this game an interesting battle to win for the semis.
Birmingham Bears had an amazing campaign in the league stage, with eight wins and six defeats in their 14 fixtures, earning 32 points. However, the start was not the kind they expected as they faced two consecutive defeats against Nottinghamshire and Durham by the margins of three and seven wickets, respectively. Following these defeats, they made a comeback with a six-wicket win against Yorkshire before defeating Derbyshire by 58 runs in their fourth game. Furthermore, they lost to Northamptonshire by 10 runs before winning by 32 runs against Yorkshire. In their sixth game, they lost to Nottinghamshire by six wickets before registering two consecutive wins. In their last five matches, they have won three games, while losing two, including a 127-run win against Derbyshire in the previous game. They will eye to continue their winning run and enter the semi-finals.
On the other hand, Somerset ended up in second spot in the South Group points table, with 11 wins and only three defeats in their 14 fixtures, getting 44 points to their name, equalling the table toppers, Surrey. Somerset registered five successive wins in their first five games before losing to Kent by a narrow four-run margin. Later, they registered two more successive wins against Hampshire and Glamorgan. In their next game against Glamorgan by two runs before making a brilliant comeback with three consecutive wins. In their previous two game, Somerset lost to Surrey by 67 runs before defeating Gloucestershire by 16 runs in their last league match. They will also aim to continue the winning momentum with a win against the Bears in this quarter-final to enter the semis.
Somerset: W W W L W
Somerset are enjoying a brilliant run of form in their last five games, with four wins and only one defeat. Considering their recent form, Somerset will have a moral advantage over the Bears in this game.
Birmingham Bears: L W W L W
Birmingham Bears have won three games, while losing two in their last five fixtures in the ongoing T20 Blast 2025. They will target to put pressure on Somerset in this knockout game.
Somerset and Birmingham Bears have faced each other in five games, with Somerset winning two games, while Bears winning only one, alongside two no-result games. So, Somerset will eye taking this lead to 3-1; on the other hand, the Bears will look forward to taking this lead to 2-2.
It will be a classic Taunton surface, flat, hard, and tailor-made for stroke-making, with short square boundaries.
In Taunton, it will be a warm late-summer evening with 20 degrees Celsius of temperature, clear skies, meant ideal batting conditions. Bowlers would need variations and accuracy to survive.
Both teams will look forward to going ahead with their winning combinations, which they played with in their previous games. So, there might not be any change in the playing XIs of both teams in this quarter-final.
SOM Probable XI: Will Smeed, Tom Lammonby, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, James Rew (wk), Sean Dickson, Lewis Gregory (c), Ben Green, Lewis Goldsworthy, Craig Overton, Jack Leach, Jake Ball.
BEARS Probable XI: Alex Davies (c/wk), Tom Latham, Dan Mousley, Jacob Bethell, Ed Barnard, George Garton, Danny Briggs, Hasan Ali, Robert Yates, Richard Gleeson, Jake Lintott.
T20 Blast 2025’s fourth quarter-final, between Somerset and Birmingham Bears, will be streamed live on the FanCode and SonyLiv apps. For TV viewers, it will be live on the Sony Sports Network.
Comments
Leave a comment0 Comments