Tom Kohler-Cadmore jumped to his left and landed with white leather in his hand, and suddenly edgbaston’s maroon corner roared, Lewis Gregory danced madly, and Matt Henry got his 31st Somerset: T20 explosion Champions.
They waited. Oh my God, you’ve been waiting. They have suffered. Oh my God, they suffered, tears and sweat so often combine into a losing gloop. Eighteen; a trio of semifinal defeats; a quartet of agonizing stumbling blocks at the last hurdle-all forgotten now. So often they saw firecrackers breaking through the night sky, celebrating the exploits of others. Now it was their turn.
“A damn good day,” Gregory said after leading his camp in a performance of Blackbird – Somerset Victory Song. It is usually reserved for the locker room, but this time they stood in front of their fans and strapped it on. “We did it the hard way, but that makes it all the softer. Everyone sees Somerset as the almost men, and it will be more difficult to return. It was a special feeling to cross the line tonight.”
Sometimes the best team actually wins a tournament. And few can argue that Somerset was not that. They won a dozen record group matches and added wins over Nottinghamshire and Surrey – both ripped from easy-to-lose positions – to put themselves within reach of the trophy.
The beauty of her side is her depth. There is plenty of stardust, but there are also game winners everywhere. Take their powerful first order: Will Smeed, Tom Banton and Kohler-Cadmore arrived on the final day with a total of 1,374 runs at a strike rate of 166-but could only manage starts all day. It didn’t matter.
Instead, it was Sean Dickson, who was not initially guaranteed a starting place, who led the standings of their day. When Adam Rossington acrobatically caught the catch that brought him back to the final, Dickson had scored a valuable 53 from 35 balls.
Essex had been brave to chase 146. Having defeated Hampshire earlier, they sat down and watched Surrey fade in the face of Somerset’s very affordable total. They thought a quick start was necessary and Rossington gave it to them. But after taking a trio of boundaries from Henry, the next ball Kasey Aldridge was cut hard at the top. Henry then kidnapped Michael Pepper and Dan Lawrence in his follow-up.
