Somerset Beat KKR, But Both Qualify For Main Draw

Hyderabad: Kolkata Knight Riders lost their final qualifying round match against Somerset by 11 runs but still managed to qualify for the Champions League Twenty20 main tournament on Wednesday.

Chasing a victory target of 167, KKR could score 155 for eight but made it to the 10-team main tournament as the third highest ranked side in the six-team qualifying round on better net run rate.

They collected two points from one win - against Auckland Aces - the same as Ruhunu Eleven but qualified for the main tournament on better net run rate.

KKR have a net run rate of minus 0.225 while Ruhunu ended at minus 0.275. The Kolkata side qualified for the main round after reaching 153 in their run chase.

The Jacques Kallis-led side joined three other Indian teams - reigning champions Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians - in the main round, to be held from September 23 to October 9.

Somerset and Trinidad and Tobago are the two other teams to have qualified to the main round from the qualifiers. Both secured two wins each.

Riding on opener Peter Trego's fluent half-century, Somerset first produced a solid batting display to post a challenging 166 for six after electing to bat and then restricted Kolkata Knight Riders to 155 for eight at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium.

Ryan ten Doeschate waged a lone battle for KKR, hitting one four and three sixes on his way to 46 from 31 deliveries, but eventually ran short of partners.

Kolkata never looked like getting to the target as they got off to a nightmarish start and crumbled to 10 for two inside second over, including the wicket of their captain Jacques Kallis (2).

For Somerset, der Merwe and Waller picked up two wickets apiece while Kartik, Trego and Suppiah accounted for one wicket each.

Earlier, Trego's half-century helped Somerset post a challenging total in their final qualifying match from Pool A.

Trego (70 off 61) was at his destructive best as he hit nine fours to lay a solid foundation for the middle-order batsmen to capitalise on.

Roelof van der Merwe (40 off 25) also played a good hand while Nick Compton produced a nice 10-ball 20 cameo towards the end to provide the late surge for the visitors, who piled up 46 runs in the last five overs.

Brief scores
Somerset 166 for 6 (Trego 70, van der Merwe 40)
Kolkata Knight Riders 155 for 8 (ten Doeschate 46, van der Merwe 2-23)
Result Somerset won by 11 runs
MOM Peter Trego (Somerset)