In a thrilling semi-final at T20 Blast 2024, Lewis Gregory displayed his outstanding bowling skills by defeating England internationals Ollie Pope and Jamie Smith in succession. This remarkable feat played a vital role in Somerset’s victory over Surrey to secure their place in the final.
Gregory’s excellent bowling
There were two outs in the eighth over of Surrey’s innings. Gregory got Ollie Pope out for the first time with the third ball of the over. Gregory’s knuckleball hit the stumps and the right-handed batsman tried an aggressive stroke. Pope hit three boundaries for 19 runs from 17 balls.
Gregory hit a beautiful ball to remove Jamie Smith for a golden duck on the very next delivery. Smith tried to drive the full delivery but broke his outside edge and broke the off stump. After 7.4 overs, Smith’s wicket reduced Surrey to 69/3.
The 32-year-old took three wickets, conceding just 15 runs in four overs. After winning the wicket and choosing to bowl first, Somerset captain Lewis Gregory held Surrey to a reasonable total thanks to some excellent bowling. Craig Overton got off to a tough start, conceding 16 runs in his first over. But in his second over, Josh Davey gave Somerset their first breakthrough, beating Daniel Lawrence for 19 runs off 11 balls.
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The team collapsed at 153.
Ollie Pope and Dominic Sibley then put on a 43-run partnership for the second wicket off 33 balls, but Gregory removed Pope for just 19 runs. Jamie Smith was removed by the pacer on the very next delivery. Rory Burns and Sibley put on 36 runs for the fourth wicket before Burns was out for 14.
Before becoming Gregory’s third victim, Sibley had scored 48 runs from 36 balls, including three boundaries and a six. After he was out, Surrey needed 13.3 overs to reach 111/5. In the last few overs, Laurie Evans scored 22 runs from 19 balls, which helped Surrey reach 153/9 in their allotted 20 overs. Jake Ball took two wickets for Somerset, while Gregory and Josh Davey took three each. At the time of writing, Somerset are yet to start their innings.
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