Somerset victory "frees the shackles" after long wait for a trophy, says captain Tom Abell

Somerset ended a 14-year wait for a major trophy with a comfortable six-wicket win over defending champions Hampshire at Lord's

Captain Tom Abell believes Somerset’s breakthrough victory in the Royal London One-Day Cup final can be the start of a new winning era for the county.

Somerset ended a 14-year wait for a major trophy with a comfortable six-wicket win over defending champions Hampshire at Lord’s.

In between time the county had endured the frustration of being runners-up on 10 occasions, across different formats, but Abell believes those frustrations have now been cast aside with his team also top of the Specsavers County Championship - a trophy they've never won.

“We were absolutely desperate to win,” Abell said.

“It does free the shackles a little bit and people will talk about us as winners as opposed to runners-up.

^{James Hildreth celebrates victory}

“At the start of the season you set out to win every competition – this was the first one up for grabs and we managed to do that. The team have been phenomenal right through the competition.

“It means a huge amount for us as a team and everyone associated with the club. It’s a very special day.”

Jamie Overton was named man of the match after his thee wickets helped restrict Hampshire to 244 for eight before 20-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Tom Banton set about proving why he is regarded as one of brightest young talents in the country.

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Banton muscled his way to 69 from 67 balls and shared a 112-run opening partnership with Azhar Ali which effectively broke the back of the run chase.

Fittingly the final say went to one of Somerset’s elder statement as James Hildreth hit the winning runs – as he had done when the county won their previous major trophy – the 2005 Twenty20 Cup.

His relief was palpable and Abell admitted securing that long-awaited success for the likes of Hildreth, Peter Trego and Marcus Trescothick, after so many near-misses, made victory even sweeter.

“I am delighted for those guys,” he said.

Somerset ended a 14-year wait for a trophy

“A few of our more experienced players have been to a few finals now and not quite managed to get over the line.

“This is a new team and we want to create our own legacy and that started today.

We had a huge amount of faith and confidence in our team and gong into today was no different. It was a massive final for us and I’m delighted we were able to perform the way we did today.”

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Hampshire captain Sam Northeast was left frustrated as his side failed to fire with the bat as the absences of James Vince and Aiden Markram, their leading runscorers in the competition, due to World Cup duty were apparent.

“We were going to need a good start especially when we decided to pay the extra bowler with (Chris) Wood,” he said.

“One of the guys in the top six was going to have to go on with a big one– it just didn’t happen.

“They bowled really well and put us under pressure straight away. We needed a good start and we didn’t get it. We just weren’t quite at it with the bat and they executed well with the ball.”

Report courtesy of the ECB Reporters Network

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