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By Andrew Stockhausen, ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
Will Smeed produced a dazzling display of power hitting to propel Somerset to an emphatic seven-wicket victory over Hampshire Hawks in an entertaining Vitality Blast opener beneath the Cooper Associates Ground floodlights.
Chasing a modest 159 to win on a true Taunton surface, the defending champions reached their target with 22 balls to spare, thanks to a blistering innings from 24-year-old Smeed, who scored 59 from 29 deliveries, struck 4 sixes and 6 fours and dominated a whirlwind opening stand of 90 in 7.3 overs with Will Banton.
Brothers James and Thomas Rew then staged an unbroken fourth-wicket partnership of 52 to ensure Somerset made a winning start to their title defence, the former harvesting 47 off 29 balls.
Somerset's decision to insert the opposition paid dividends, seamers Craig Overton and Jake Ball taking 3-27 and 3-28 respectively as Hampshire were bowled out for 158 in 19.4 overs.
James Vince was the only batter to make a meaningful impact, the 35-year-old opener raising 58 from 34 deliveries with 3 sixes and 4 fours.
Having experienced a poor start to their Championship campaign, Hampshire were seeking Blast redemption against the team that defeated them in last season's final.
But Somerset, playing in front of a sell-out audience, clearly had other ideas after winning the toss.
Overton engineered an important breakthrough when persuading the dangerous Toby Albert to slice high to Thomas Rew on the third man boundary and depart for a 17-ball 23.
When Joe Weatherley drove a delivery from Lewis Gregory straight to Tom Abell at mid-off, the visitors were 58-2 in the eighth and in need of improvement.
Veteran campaigner Vince obliged, striking the ball cleanly to raise a forthright 50 via 30 balls with a quartet of fours and a brace of sixes.
But despite the captain's best efforts, wickets continued to fall at the other end, Lewis Goldsworthy bowling Hilton Cartwright with one that straightened up and Overton accounting for Tom Prest, who top-edged to extra cover.
Overton then claimed the key wicket of Vince, Hampshire's captain holing out to Gregory at extra cover and departing for 58 with the score 113-5 at the end of the thirteenth and the innings in the balance.
It was one-way traffic thereafter, Daniel Sams removing James Fuller and Manny Lumsden and Ball accounting for Liam Dawson and Scott Currie in the space of five deliveries as Hampshire continued to unravel.
By the time Ball had Delano Potgieter held on the long-on boundary for 24 in the final over, the visitors had surrendered their last five wickets for 25 runs to afford the holders a crucial edge.
Somerset were well and truly in the driving seat once Banton and Smeed had plundered 74 runs in a high-octane six-over powerplay.
For teenage Blast debutant Lumsden, bowling to these two proved a chastening experience. Smeed sent two free hits out of the ground behind square and then served up a cover-driven four in an over that included two no balls and cost 21 runs.
Timing the ball ridiculously well, Smeed reached a blistering half century from just 22 deliveries with 4 sixes and 5 fours, raising that landmark with a glorious drive through the covers which brought a raucous crowd to their feet.
England spinner Dawson afforded the visitors a degree of relief, bowling Banton for a 23-ball 30 in the eighth, while Smeed followed two overs later, held in the deep off the bowling of Currie.
Once normal service resumed, James Rew and Tom Abell had the luxury of being able to score at less than a run a ball.
Hampshire refused to throw in the towel and Currie bowled Abell with the score 108-3 in the eleventh, Somerset requiring a further 50 to win.
Presented with a clear sight of the finish line, the Rew brothers made no mistake.
