Taunton trip could be too tough for Kent

Somerset v Kent
Sky Sports Cricket, 4pm Saturday

Kent hosted Hampshire in the T20 Blast on Friday night before making a long trek to Taunton where Somerset should be backed to claim the South Group points.

Somerset’s home form in the Blast has been excellent, keeping them in the hunt for a place in the quarter-finals, and in their last four matches on their own patch they have beaten ante-post favourites Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire and Middlesex.

Kent won the reverse fixture impressively, chasing down a target of 181 in just 16.3 overs, but that was one of only two victories in their last seven outings.

When their batting clicks it can be brilliant – they nailed a target of 206 against Surrey for the loss of only two wickets early in the campaign – but middle-order collapses have cost them too frequently this summer.

Somerset are full of confidence at home as they demonstrated against Surrey last time out, recovering from 46-5 to 158-6 in a four-wicket victory.

Surrey’s classy bowlers don’t often let teams off the hook but James Hildreth’s cool unbeaten 45 and the lower-order hitting of Roelof van der Merwe and Craig Overton saw Somerset home with ten balls to spare.

After a rare Friday night off, Jim Allenby’s men will be raring to go as they pursue a fifth straight home win and Kent may struggle to end the hosts’ run.

Leicestershire are 7-4 for a home victory over Yorkshire in the North Group.

Recommendation
Somerset
2pts 4-5 Coral, Ladbrokes