Somerset fail to recover from dire start

Darryll Cullinan led Kent to a 31-run Norwich Union League win over Somerset in a low-scoring game at Taunton.

Given a sunny afternoon and the true nature of the County Ground pitches, the visitors' total of 180-7 after losing the toss did not appear enough, despite Cullinan's well-made 70.

But the South African's first innings for Kent in the competition proved the difference as Somerset quickly subsided to 15-4 against the bowling of Ben Trott and Martin Saggers before eventually being dismissed for 149.

Trott, playing against the county who discarded him in 1999, took 2-22 from his nine overs, while Saggers returned 3-19 from 7.4 overs.

They were well backed up by Min Patel (2-38) and skipper Matthew Fleming (1-25), while Somerset contributed to their own downfall with the run-outs of Peter Bowler and their top scorer Ian Blackwell (32).

Earlier, Kent had been in trouble themselves at 14-3 against Jason Kerr and Steffan Jones, who were both awarded their county caps by Somerset before the start.

Cullinan came to the rescue, reaching his half-century off 91 balls, with four boundaries, and marking the achievement by immediately launching Keith Dutch out of the ground over long-on with a big six.

He was out trying to repeat the shot against Blackwell and only Paul Nixon, with 26, among the later batsmen managed to cope with some tight Somerset bowling.

Jones, Kerr, Jamie Grove and Peter Trego all performed well for the home side, whose batting has now let them down in two successive Norwich Union defeats to start the season.

Kent, on the other hand, now have six points from two matches, and can feel hopeful of a successful 45-over campaign.