FRIENDS PROVIDENT t20, Chelmsford:
Somerset 177-4 beat Essex 173-6 by six wickets
Match scorecard

Bopara has been called up by England to replace the injured Ian Bell

Ravi Bopara hit his maiden Twenty20 century but it was not enough to prevent Essex going down to a six-wicket FP t20 defeat by Somerset.

Bopara, who had earlier been added to England's one-day squad for Monday's game with Bangladesh, struck six sixes in his unbeaten 105.

His 62-ball effort took Essex to 173-6 from their 20 overs.

But 78 from Marcus Trescothick and James Hildreth's 43 carried Somerset home on 177-4 with five balls to spare.

Bopara, who was dropped by Murali Kartik on 16, brought up his century by smashing the last three balls of the innings sent down by Keiron Pollard for six.

He so dominated the Essex effort that the the next highest contribution was Mark Pettini's 21.

But Somerset were soon in the ascendancy and the second-wicket stand of 101 between Trescothick and Hildreth means they leapfrog Essex into second place in the South Group.

Somerset captain Marcus Trescothick told BBC Somerset:

"I thought we bowled really well and, up until the last over, we were outstanding in all aspects - one of our best bowling performances.

"If we can keep that sort of standard going into the last three games we'll give ourselves a real good chance of coming top.

"That's our goal and that will be a great achievement after the start [we made] to the competition."

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