Report: Bears Men v Somerset Men, Vitality Blast
Somerset, 193 for 3, beat Warwickshire 189 for 6, by seven wickets.
Warwickshire Bears were beaten by defending champions Somerset at Edgbaston as the visitors claimed a seven-wicket victory in the Vitality Blast.
The Bears posted 189 for six after contributions throughout the order, led by Sam Hain’s 52 from 35 balls, while Rob Yates struck 42 from 25 at the top of the innings and Beau Webster added 41 from 30. Skipper Ed Barnard then supplied late impetus with a quickfire 28 from just 11 deliveries.
After choosing to bat, Warwickshire lost Alex Davies early when he picked out extra cover off Craig Overton, but Yates counter-attacked superbly during the powerplay with a series of cleanly-struck boundaries, including a 20-run over off Jake Ball. Webster and Hain added 45 in five overs to rebuild before Barnard’s late cameo helped lift the Bears towards a competitive total. Hain also reached his 38th T20 half-century with a huge six over long leg off Daniel Sams.
Somerset’s reply began aggressively despite the early loss of Will Smeed. Tom Banton played a typically explosive innings of 47 from 26 balls, hitting two sixes and six fours before being run out backing up after a deflection from Barnard’s return to the bowler’s end.
The contest remained finely poised until James Rew seized control in the middle overs with a superb exhibition of strokeplay. The left-hander attacked the spin of Usman Tariq and Tazeem Ali with authority, racing to a 33-ball half-century before being dismissed for 93 from just 48 deliveries.
Somerset eventually reached 193 for three with ten balls to spare to make it two wins from two in the competition, while the Bears slipped to a second defeat in this season’s Blast.

