Coach Kerr rues 'tale of two halves' as Steelbacks send Somerset packing
Somerset head coach Jason Kerr declared himself 'incredibly disappointed' after his side's 17-run Vitality Blast semi-final defeat at the hands of Northants Steelbacks on Saturday.
The west country side won the trophy last season and were taking part in a sixth successive Finals Day.
They looked to be on course to reach a third final in four years when they bowled out Northants for 143 after winning the toss.
But their much-vaunted batting line-up then folded under the pressure of the chase as they were restricted to 126 for nine, and Kerr admitted it was a 'take of two halves' for his beaten side.
"We are incredibly disappointed," he said. "At the halfway stage we were in a great position but the batting performance was probably a reflection of our campaign.
"It was very much a tale of two halves, we were great in the first half and we didn't really turn up for the second.
"It was a disappointing start to our innings but then we got some momentum back with that over from Will Smeed (who hit 28 off the sixth over bowled by Luke Procter), and we were in a great position.
"But after that we really struggle to get momentum as we just kept losing wickets at the wrong time."
Kerr also had words of praise for the Steelbacks.
"You have to give a lot of credit to Northants," said the head coach.
"They had a great plan that their seamers were going to bowl a lot of yorkers and I thought Calvin Harrison bowled really well.
"It is frustrating because the aim coming in to today was to retain the trophy after the success of Wednesday night.
"But we needed to play much better than we did."