Wes Durston starred in a 77-run stand with James Hildreth to guide Somerset to 132 for eight against Diamond Eagles in the League A opener of the Champions League Twenty20 in Hyderabad on Friday.
Recovering from the shock of Marcus Trescothick's sudden departure for home due to stress-related illness, Somerset found themselves in a hole at 52 for five inside nine overs with Corneius de Villiers (4/17) wreaking havoc.
Durston (57 off 32 balls) and Hildreth (31) then steadied the ship with a crucial partnership that may not have resulted in an imposing total but at least gave their bowlers something to defend.
De Villiers triggered panic in his first over, trapping opener Craig Kieswater (8) and next man in Arul Suppiah (0) with his fourth and fifth legitimate deliveries separated by a wide ball.
In his next over, de Villiers removed Zander de Bruyn (2) and at 19 for three, the situation looked anything but rosy for the English side.
His team in crisis, a lot was expected from Justin Langer (12), but two back-to-back fours off Shadley van Schalkwyk were all he managed before Thandi Tshabalala castled him with his first delivery.
Alan Kruger then caught Peter Tego off his own delivery before Durston and Hildreth did some damage control job.
