MATCH PREVIEW: We've got to be on song - Dawson
11 May 2017
Gloucestershire take on Somerset in the South group of the Royal London One-Day Cup on Friday with both teams still eyeing a place in the knockout stages of the competition next month.
Somerset are well placed, having been beaten for the first time by Hampshire on Wednesday after four straight wins, while Gloucestershire's tight victory over Kent keeps their hopes of progression alive ahead of the eagerly awaited clash with their local rivals.
The win was made possible by Chris Liddle's bowling in the closing stages of the Kent innings where he took four wickets in four overs, and head coach Richard Dawson was clear that Liddle's clutch of wickets changed the match.
"Chris bowled skilfully with control and variation and he's a good option because he can bowl in the middle of the innings and at the death" Dawson said.
"Kent were knocking the ball around and going along nicely but Michael Klinger took a good catch to get Bell-Drummond out and wickets change a game. When Northeast went as well, we had two new batsmen in a pressure situation and it was a different proposition and our fielding in the last ten overs showed what we can do. We now need to do it from the first ball."
Liddle has been one of the most consistent bowlers in the Royal London One-Day Cup, with only Durham's James Weighell ahead of him in terms of wickets taken, but in Dean Elgar Friday's opponents Somerset have the leading run scorer in the competition, the left hander having made 428 runs in five innings.
A brief return home to South Africa, however, means Elgar misses Friday's match. Despite that, Gloucestershire head coach Richard Dawson is respectful of a strong Somerset team.
"You only have to look at what van der Merwe did against Surrey (165* batting at number seven) to see they have some very dangerous players" Dawson went on. "It's different dimensions and conditions at Bristol compared to Taunton but we've got to be on song to beat them. The wickets are good at the moment and with the shorter boundary towards the apartments it's hard to protect a score so we'll take confidence from the Kent game in terms not only of how we played but how we scrapped for the result. We know what we've got to do and we'll choose a side that we think can win."
Gloucestershire squad:
Klinger (c), Mustard, Dent, Cockbain, van Buuren, Hankins, J.Taylor, Howell, Noema-Barnett, Smith, Norwell, Liddle, Miles, M.Taylor
Somerset squad:
Allenby (c), Myburgh, Trego, Hildreth, Hose, R.Davies, Bartlett, van der Merwe, C.Overton, J.Overton, Davey, Groenewald, Waller
Coverage :
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