After defeating Kent by eight wickets at Taunton on Monday afternoon, Somerset elevated their hopes of winning the County Championship for the first time in their history, reports Richard Walsh.
With six rounds completed in the four-day red ball competition, the Cidermen are still very much in the running for the blue riband event. They are currently ranked second in the table, one spot behind Surrey, having amassed a maximum of 24 points from the match.
Somerset was put to bat and, following Dickson’s dismissal with no runs scored, Matt Renshaw and Tom Lammonby put on a combined 75 before the Australian opener was out for forty.
Even after going out for 69, Lammonby maintained his recent good form and contributed to the team’s 172 total.
After joining forces, Tom Banton and James Rew dominated the game for the next 42 overs, and after putting on 205 runs for the fifth wicket, Banton was dismissed for 133, his career-high score. Before being out for 114, Rew managed to see out the 400, which was his best total of the season thus far.
Before the hosts were bowled out for 554 off 120.1 overs, Lewis Gregory scored 77.
The home bowlers took advantage of the conditions and bowled Kent out for 178 after he replied, with Craig Overton taking three for 38 from 11 overs and Migael Pretorius taking three for 52 off 15, while the returning Jack Leach claimed two for 22 from seven overs.
After being 376 behind, Ben Compton and Zak Crawley of Kent put on 141 for the first wicket, with Matt Renshaw, an occasional off-spinner, taking care of the latter.
Daniel Bell-Drummond joined Crawley, and the two scored 184 runs together before the latter was dismissed leg before wicket for 62 by Leach. Before the third day was out, two more wickets fell, including Crawley, who batted for more than six hours before making 238 off 267 balls with 31 fours and four sixes.
The remaining Kent batsmen resumed on 409 for five on the last morning, and they persisted until shortly before tea, when they were all out for 564. Denly was the last wicket to fall, having scored 67 from a three and a half hour stay at the crease.
With three wickets for 110 from 25 overs, Pretorius was the most effective bowler for Somerset.
The hosts lost Dickson for six and Lammonby for thirty before reaching tea on 60 for two, needing to reach a total of 189 runs at four runs an over to win.
After Andy Umeed joined Renshaw, the two reached the century mark in the 27th over. Staying together, they batted sensibly, gradually getting closer to the winning target.
Umeed reached his fifty off eighty-two balls with five fours, bringing up the century partnership between the two of them just as thirty runs remained to win.
With ten overs remaining, Umeed finished with a spectacular six over long on to take Somerset to 194 for two. Renshaw finished unbeaten at 82, while Umeed continued to be wicketless at 73, his Championship best for Somerset.
“I have told the players they will never have to work harder for 24 points,” stated Jason Kerr, head coach of Somerset. The two opening-inning centuries that put us in such a strong position seem like a long time ago.
Getting 20 wickets on that pitch was always going to be difficult, and we anticipated that their second innings would present a greater obstacle for us after we easily dismissed Kent.
Since joining our team, Miguel Pretorius has bowled well, but he hasn’t received the credit he deserves, so I’m especially happy for him that he took wickets.
But over the course of the four days, there was excellent teamwork. The team atmosphere in the locker room is amazing, and we can now head to Durham with the intention of building on a really positive start.
“As usual, we’ll have a thorough debrief before selecting a squad for that game. We haven’t fielded the same team in consecutive games this season, I believe.
