Somerset win thriller to eliminate Auckland

Somerset 126 for 6 (Snell 34*, Hildreth 34) beat Auckland 125 for 7 (Vincent 47*) by four wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Steve Snell, who was in the anonymity of the Minor county cricket last month, proved the unlikeliest of heroes for Somerset with a game-turning late cameo which ended Auckland's Champions League hopes after a last-ball thriller in Hyderabad. Snell, only making the trip to India because Somerset's two preferred wicketkeeper-batsmen Craig Kieswetter and Jos Buttler were tied up with the England Twenty20 team, concocted a 24-ball 34 that proved the difference in a low-scoring encounter .

Somerset showed few signs of being jetlagged a day after landing in India as their bowlers turned in a superb performance to put Auckland on the brink of elimination from the Champions League T20. Lou Vincent was once again the highest scorer for Auckland but he was starved of strike and support on a sluggish pitch where Somerset's bowlers thrived.

Auckland's batsmen shuffled across the stumps, backed away to make room and attempted plenty of reverse-sweeps but they couldn't shake Somerset from their lines and lengths. Even Vincent couldn't connect some of his more fancy shots - in the 19th over, when he missed yet another reverse paddle, he showed his frustration by pretending to kick down the stumps three times.

Auckland were on the back foot early on as they lost several of their better-known batsmen cheaply. Martin Guptill did better than the diamond duck he managed on Monday, but only just. Despite being dropped off the second ball he faced, and barely surviving a run-out on the next, he holed out to long-on for 9. Their Australian import Rob Quiney also flopped, trapped lbw by Somerset captain Alfonso Thomas for 4.

Vincent and captain Gareth Hopkins had to revive Auckland from 14 for 3, but were hemmed in by the raft of Somerset slow bowlers used, a strategy that worked well for Trinidad & Tobago earlier in the day. In Murali Kartik and Roelof van der Merwe they had two left-arm spinners with international experience, both of whom proved miserly. Perhaps Somerset wouldn't have bargained for the 4-0-18-1 spell from young legspinner Max Waller, who didn't spin the ball a lot but still kept the batsmen guessing.

The extent of Auckland's struggles showed in their boundary count - in the final nine overs there was only one four and one six. Vincent had entered in the third over, and remained unbeaten at the end but faced only 47 balls, less than half the deliveries bowled during his time in the middle.