Somerset continued their strong start to the defence of their Vitality Blast title as James Rew‘s brilliance fired them to a seven-wicket win over Warwickshire Bears at Edgbaston.

It’s two wins out of two for Luke Gregory’s side after they chased down Warwickshire’s 189 for 6. Somerset reached 193 for 3 with ten balls to spare after Tom Banton (47) laid the foundation on which Rew built with a superb 93 (48 balls, nine fours, four sixes). It was a knock that underlined Rew’s class and, now a member of the Test squad, could put him in the frame to replace Warwickshire’s Jacob Bethell in England’s XI should the Test No.3 be unable to shake off a finger injury sustained at the IPL.

While the defending champions have started the group stage at a gallop with confidence sky-high, the Bears are already playing catch up in the group after two defeats.

Warwickshire chose to bat and soon lost Alex Davies, who skied Craig Overton to extra cover. A quirky powerplay saw the Bears reach the six-over mark at 51 for 1, 20 having come from one over and 31 from the other five. The 20 was hammered off Jake Ball’s first over by Yates who struck some sweetly-timed strokes, none sweeter than his last, hammered into the hands of extra cover off Gregory.

Webster and Hain added 45 in five overs but, after Webster lapped Ball to the wicketkeeper, it was skipper Ed Barnard who supplied the necessary impetus with an 11-ball 28 including three sixes. Hain also found his range as the innings deepened, reaching his 38th T20 half-century, from 32 balls, with a six buried far over long leg off Daniel Sams.

Somerset quickly lost Will Smeed who heaved Olly Hannon-Dalby to long leg, but Banton hit two sixes and six fours before perishing in the cruellest way. Having just left a dent in a fork-lift truck on the building site with a six off Usman Tariq, he was run out backing up when Barnard deflected Rew’s straight drive on to the stumps.

Rew then took total control. The game was still in the balance until he laid into spinners Tariq and Tazeem Ali with a blitz of fours and sixes in the 14th and 15th over. That spectacular assault, which took him past 50 in 33 balls, turned a tight match into a stroll for Somerset as they entered the last three overs needing six runs. Rew sent up a catch off Tariq with three needed from 15 balls and received the warm ovation he deserved from the home supporters who knew they had seen a special talent.

Somerset are clearly the team to beat again in this year’s Blast. The Bears, after quarter-final defeats in each of the last five years, already have their work cut out to reach a sixth successive quarter-final.