A devastating loss: Gareth Hopkins

Gareth Hopkins, losing captain of the Auckland Aces who were eliminated from the Champions League Twenty20 after they went down to Somerset here Tuesday, termed the loss as "devastating".

The Auckland team lost to Somerset by four wickets in a thrilling last-ball finish in a Pool B qualifying match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here.

Opting to bat first, Auckland Aces riding on Lou Vincent's unbeaten 47 made 125. Somerset achieved the target in the last ball after James Hildreth made 34 while Steve Snell remained unbeaten on 34.

"The loss in the second close game is devastating. This is the second successive defeat in the last over of the game. And it was very disappointing. 126 runs were not enough and our batsmen struggled," Hopkins said.

Somerset skipper Alfonso Thomas praised the crucial 61-run partnership between Hildreth and Snell that took Somerset home to a thrilling win.

Thomas, who took a single off the last ball to give the team a win, said the team was looking forward to the match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

"We are happy with this victory, and are looking forward to KKR match. We are not scared of KKR even though they have world class players. I don't think we can be intimidated by KKR. We will go into the game as underdogs," Thomas said.