For Gloucestershire to have the slightest chance of gaining a third victory in this competition, much depended on Craig Spearman. He struck 140 off 119 balls, with 12 fours and two sixes, the second of these taking him to his century, and, for as long as he was in, his side had a chance of making 291 to win. They did so with ten balls remaining.

Although David Brown and Mark Hardinges went in quick succession to Steffan Jones, Spearman remained at the wicket until victory was achieved. Off the last five overs, 26 runs were required and if any batsman could be said to have shepherded his side to victory, it was the New Zealander. He and Steve Adshead put on an unbroken 135.This had come after Justin Langer emphasised that, although he was selected by Australia only eight times for limited-overs internationals, he is quite capable of achieving large scores in 50 overs cricket. His unbeaten 112, struck at almost a run a ball, enabled Somerset to make a respectable total on a pitch on which the ball did not seem to come on to the bat.

If Langer, who hit 12 fours, gave Somerset's innings some structure, Peter Trego provided the impetus, his unbeaten 56 coming off 38 balls.

Gloucestershire surprisingly decided to field upon winning the toss, even though Jon Lewis strained his groin in pre-match practice. In addition to this, Anthony Ireland had to be taken off after bowling two balls above waist height in succession.

A concern for Gloucestershire was that, on a beautiful day, against their West Country neighbours, the crowd was no greater than it was at Taunton the previous day, when a championship fixture fizzled out. It is fair to assume that had this match been staged at Cheltenham, there would have been a three-fold increase in the number of spectators. The time is overdue, it would seem, for Gloucestershire to stage more fixtures of all varieties in a part of the county where they are appreciated, assuming, of course, these have the blessing of the college's headmaster.

Somerset
M E Trescothick c Adshead b Kirby 14
C Kieswetter c Gidman b Hardinges 30
*J L Langer not out 112
J C Hildreth lbw b North 7
I D Blackwell c Taylor b Hardinges 1
Z de Bruyn c Brown b Hardinges 42
W J Durston c Adshead b Kirby 1
P D Trego not out 56

Extras (lb 1, w 18, nb 8) 27
Total (6 wkts, 50 overs) 290

A C Thomas, P S Jones and C M Willoughby did not bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-89, 3-98, 4-101, 5-173, 6-177.

Bowling: Ireland 6.1-0-51-0; Kirby 10-0-58-2; Stayt 4.5-1-34-0; North 10-1-32-1; Hardinges 10-1-60-3; Gidman 7-0-40-0; Taylor 2-0-14-0.

Gloucestershire
H J H Marshall lbw b Thomas 8
*A P R Gidman b Willoughby 37
M J North c Hildreth b Trego 14
C M Spearman not out 140
C G Taylor b Jones 17
D O Brown c Hildreth b Jones 20
M A Hardinges lbw b Jones 0
S J Adshead not out 41

Extras (lb 10, w 7) 17
Total (6 wkts, 48.2 overs) 294

T P Stayt, A J Ireland and S P Kirby did not bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-58, 3-75, 4-109, 5-159, 6-159.

Bowling: Thomas 5-0-25-1; Willoughby 10-0-47-1; Trego 8.2-0-50-1; Jones 9-0-53-3; Blackwell 10-0-53-0; Durston 2-0-20-0; De Bruyn 4-0-36-0.

Umpires: B Leadbeater and N J Llong.