Royal London One-Day Cup South Group

Somerset 261-9 beat Glamorgan 259 by 2 runs

SOMERSET continued their winning start to the season - but only just - after almost snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in a classic encounter against Glamorgan in Cardiff.

The visitors looked to have the game in the bag when Glamorgan slipped to 41-6 in pursuit of 262, but David Lloyd (84) and Graham Wagg (62) led a recovery.

When Wagg fell to Josh Davey, who returned career best List A figures of 4-36, Glamorgan were 202-9 and again Somerset looked firmly in the driving seat.

But final pair Lukas Carey and Timm van der Gugten breathed fresh life into the chase and took it right to the wire, with the hosts needing just three to win from the final two overs.

Roelof van der Merwe was the hero for Somerset, as Lukas Carey (39) chipped the first ball of the 49th over to Azhar Ali, who juggled but eventually held on to the catch at mid-off to seal a tense victory for the visitors, who retain their 100% record across all competitions this season.

Having won the toss and chosen to bat, Somerset made a cautious start on a used wicket. Ali's lean start to the season went on as he fell for 12 and Tom Banton couldn't follow up his century from the opening match, making 14 before upper cutting through to the wicketkeeper.

James Hildreth compiled an important 67 before becoming one of three victims for Australian spinner Marnus Labuschagne, who tore through the middle order to reduce Somerset to 160-6.

It was 178-8 when Dom Bess hooked straight to fine leg but Craig Overton batted responsibly for 41 not out and was well supported by Tim Groenewald (23) and Davey (22*) as Somerset's lower order showed their worth.

The tail pushed the visitors to 261-9, a competitive score on a slow pitch and one that looked more than enough when Glamorgan's top order collapsed in reply.

As against Kent on Friday, Davey and Overton did the early damage, with four of the home side's top six falling for ducks.

Lloyd and Wagg added 99 before the former was bowled by Roelof van der Merwe, but Wagg helped take the score past 200 and was well supported by the lower order.

The tension became almost unbearable as the final pair of Carey and van der Gugten edged Glamorgan towards their target, looking comfortable against the seamers.

A change of bowling back to van der Merwe did the trick, as he stemmed the flow of runs to begin with before making the vital breakthrough to win the game for Somerset.

Somerset now have two wins from two South Group matches - next up is a trip to Hove to face Sussex on Wednesday.