Somerset 358 for 9 (Banton 107, C Overton 66*, Gregory 51) beat Kent 94 (C Overton 5-18) by 264 runs
Tom Banton scored a superb maiden hundred as Somerset thrashed Kent by 264 runs in a one-sided Royal London Cup contest at the Cooper Associates Ground.
Making only his eighth appearance in the competition, the youngster raised a career-best 107 to help the hosts register an imposing 358 for 9 after being put in. Craig Overton posted a blistering unbeaten half century and then took 5 for 18 as last season's finalists were bowled out for 94 in just 27 overs.
Selected on the strength of a notable white-ball innings of 150 in a recent 2nd XI match against a Middlesex attack that included James Harris and Toby Roland-Jones, former England Under-19 international Banton was preferred to seasoned campaigner Steve Davis.
Promoted to open for the first time in a List-A fixture, the 20-year-old made the most of his opportunity, playing with a confidence and panache that suggested he is at last ready to realise a potential that went largely unfulfilled during teenage years spent in Warwickshire's Academy.
Forthright from the outset, Banton produced some sumptuous drives in dominating stands of 78 and 82 with Peter Trego and James Hildreth for the second and third wickets respectively. Eclipsing his previous best score of 40, Banton raised 50 from 44 balls before accelerating. He moved to his hundred via a further 37 deliveries, at which point a sun-drenched Bank Holiday crowd of more than 5000 rose to acclaim a new favourite.
Just when a really substantial score appeared to be his for the asking, he suffered an unexpected lapse in composure, miscuing a pull shot to mid-off to reward Harry Podmore's persistence. Adorned with 11 fours and a trio of sixes, Banton's 81-ball innings provided Somerset with a crucial foundation.
This was built upon by Tom Abell and Lewis Gregory, who combined quick running and clever placement in a fifth-wicket alliance of 73, illuminated by the latter's free-flowing knock of 51 from 45 balls.
Although both fell to startling catches by Alex Blake at short extra cover, there was no respite for Kent as Overton picked up the cudgels in a blistering innings of 66 not out from 36 balls, his highest in List-A cricket. Opening his shoulders, he treated Somerset fans to an almighty straight-hit six at the expense of Podmore, the ball clearing the roof of the Sir Ian Botham Stand and landing in the River Tone.
Deprived of the services of key batsmen Joe Denly, Daniel Bell-Drummond, Heino Kuhn and Sam Billings, Kent's top-six appeared denuded of much of it's potency. And so it proved when the ubiquitous Overton went to work, the England paceman accounting for Sean Dickson, Ollie Robinson and danger-man Matt Renshaw in a devastating burst of 3 for 6 in 21 balls to effectively strangle Kent's reply in its infancy.
Josh Davey had Zak Crawley held in the slips, Tim Groenewald defused the potentially explosive Blake, accounted for Adam Rouse and then ran out Darren Stevens, while Overton returned to mop up tailenders Matt Milnes and Imran Qayyum.
Deployed behind the stumps, Banton added further gloss to his performance, weighing in with three catches on a day to remember for the youngster.
