Gregory strikes twice on rain-hit day at Taunton
RICARDO Vasconcelos made the best of a bad situation to register a notable half-century and keep Northants afloat on the first day of the LV= County Championship match against Somerset at the Cooper Associates Ground at Taunton.
On a day when Division One’s bottom two teams sought the reassurance that only positive progress can provide, they were frustrated by the rain that rolled off the Quantock Hills and ensured only 37.4 overs were possible.
Without a win in three outings this season, Somerset won the toss and elected to bowl on a green-tinged pitch, and Northants, still without a batting bonus point in 2023, reached 137-4 before the elements closed in to force a premature cessation of hostilities.
Just as well then that Vasconcelos was on hand to illuminate a gloomy day, the 25-year-old South African making light of conditions and regular weather interruptions to top-score with 70 before becoming the first of two victims claimed by Somerset seamer Lewis Gregory.
Having averaged a meagre 25.04 in a campaign blighted by injury in 2022 and without a score worthy of mention this season, Vasconcelos rocked up in the West Country with a point to prove. By the time he was finished, he had helped stage Northamptonshire’s highest opening stand of the season and raised his first 50 since making 76 against Surrey last September.
He helped himself to 13 boundaries in an innings spanning 103 balls and dominated partnerships of 65 and 51 with Hassan Azad and stand-in captain Sam Whiteman for the first and second wickets, respectively, before Somerset launched a fightback after lunch to even things up.
The day might have turned out quite differently had Vasconcelos, yet to score and groping outside off stump, not been dropped by Tom Kohler-Cadmore at first slip off Craig Overton in the first over.