This was the night of Roelof van der Merwe

SAM DALLING AT TAUNTON: He finished with 4 for 27, a fine effort in any T20 game. But in the context of the match, at the highest scoring T20 ground in the world with the most devastatingly in-form batsman around at the other end, it was magnificent

Inevitably, Tom Abell’s match-winning knock will draw the headlines after yet another thrilling night of T20 cricket at Taunton. But without Roelof van der Merwe, his task would have been so much harder.

Abell is an international cricketer in waiting and, in his first game back from a hamstring injury serious enough to rule him out of the Blast group stages and The Hundred, he showed why.

Combining reverse sweeps and dazzling inside-out aerial drives over cover, Abell's 78 not out was the star turn on another racuously entertaining evening at the County Ground. Taunton would have been bouncing this Thursday night.

But without Van der Merwe, the warm-up act who nearly stole the show, it may well have been a very different atmosphere come throwing-out time.

Adjectives like fierce and gritty are often thrown around when describing the allrounder as a cricketer, but that is doing him a disservice.

There is genuine quality there, too, and plenty of it. Certainly enough for South Africa to award him 26 white-ball caps, which brought him a run to the 2009 World Cup T20 in England. IPL gigs have followed, he appeared for London Spirit in The Hundred and has now made 32 Netherlands appearances.  

On Thursday, he finished with 4 for 27, a fine effort in any T20 game. But in the context of the match, played at Taunton - one of the highest scoring T20 grounds in the world - with the most devastatingly in-form batsman around in Liam Livingstone at the other end, in the powerplay, in a knockout match, it was magnificent. 

^{Roelof van der Merwe celebrates the wicket of Liam Livingstone}

Livingstone is box office. There is not a cricketer around whose stock is higher right now. But here, while he threatened to glisten, he was outdone by Taunton's flying Dutchman.

Van der Merwe's left-arm spin and ability to hit big has made him something of a crowd favourite in the West Country: a multi-dimensional player whose passion for the club burns bright.

A first stint back in 2011 ended in a trip to the now defunct Champions League - a semi-final defeat to the Mumbai Indians the rewards for their efforts. When the chance to return came in 2016, he jumped at it. And he has remained ever since.

Without spearhead Craig Overton on England duty, Van der Merwe provided the lift the dressing room needed. Overton is a presence, a superb bowler who brings the best out of those around him. When available for the group stages he frequently bowled three overs off the reel, saving one for later when a wicket was required. 

Van der Merwe on the other had had missed most of the group matches injured. His side strain was picked up before the opening-day defeat to Essex but naturally he ploughed on. Remarkably, for a man of 36, it was the first time he had picked up a serious knock in his career. 

Without Overton, Jack Brooks - who has enjoyed a fine tournament having initially been penciled in for a watching brief with microphone in the hand - Josh Davey and Ben Green took the first three overs. Livingstone looked set to light up the evening. Brooks was dispatched before Ben Green went for back-to-back sixes. 

Enter Van der Merwe. Josh Bohannon smoked his first ball gloriously to the boundary, and the carnage appeared set to continue: 3.2 overs, 44 on the board. 

But the first ball he bowled to Livingstone was thumped back at him, and he grabbed the return catch with arms bolt upright above his head, as if charged from the floor by 1,000 volts.   

^{Tom Abell and Tom Lammonby saw Somerset to victory}

Out came the celebration: a guttural roar, veins pumping out of his neck, fists clenched, eyes lit up. He knew how much it meant. Three balls later he could celebrate again, the dangerous Alex Davies playing all around one to be trapped lbw. 

His next victim was opener Bohannon, who himself had raced to 35 off 20. It was a smart bit of work from Tom Banton behind the stumps, the ball bouncing backward after Bohannon had danced down the pitch. A smart one-handed grab by the keeper and the bails went.  

Then Luke Wells – who played arguably the shot of the evening, an exquisite classical drive that zipped to the cover boundary – danced past one on the inside. Banton juggled but still had time to whip off the bails.

Despite Dane Villas’ best effort and some trixy shots from Rob Jones, Lancashire's total felt light. And, in no small part down to Van der Merwe, it was. His batting was not even required.

Abell picked up the man of the match award and his first words were “Roela should be up here”. He was right.