Roundup: Somerset stall as wickets fly at Old Trafford
Twenty-one wickets fell on the first day at Old Trafford in a match crucial to fortunes at the top and bottom of the Division One table. Somerset, starting the penultimate round just eight points short of leaders Surrey, were cock-a-hoop at dismissing Lancashire for 140 by mid-afternoon. There were four wickets each for a steaming Craig Overton and Lewis Gregory on a hybrid pitch that tipped the bowlers a wink. A weary Keaton Jennings was the only man to get above 16, moving past 1,000 runs for the season during his patient 56.
Somerset didn’t look so happy just 40 overs later, bundled out with a lead of just six. George Balderson was the baby-faced destroyer with four wickets, alongside Tom Bailey, whose magical slower ball left Overton cartoonishly bemused. There was just time for Jennings to fall for the second time in the day, as the shadows stretched like backgammon points across the field. It was a high-pressure test for teenagers Rocky Flintoff and Archie Vaughan, who both batted with admirable composure.
At The Oval, a carefree Rory Burns ensured that Surrey rattled along to 52 without loss by stumps after winkling Durham out for 262. Colin Ackermann was criminally stranded on 78 while Emilio Gay’s debut for the visitors started with a 12-ball duck. Liam Dawson and Nick Gubbins both sashayed to centuries for Hampshire against Worcestershire. Essex trio Shane Snater (who took five for 13), Jamie Porter and Sam Cook whistled Warwickshire out for 78 at Edgbaston, while Nottinghamshire took a giant stride towards safety by swatting Kent all around Canterbury, led by Ben Slater’s 160.
In Division Two, leaders Sussex rolled over Gloucestershire for 109 while Toby Roland-Jones helped Middlesex keep the pressure on Yorkshire in the promotion chase with five for 34, before Mark Stoneman led the Derbyshire bowlers a merry dance. In Cardiff, George Hill’s 90 took Yorkshire to a useful 361 all out against Glamorgan.
Already dusk is falling here at OT, but not yet, surely, on Somerset’s title hopes. Belt up for tomorrow, things could be spicy on this friendly hybrid pitch. Thanks for your company as always, and have a lovely evening.
