VERDICT

From ball one, the pitch was the centre of attention for a game of massive significance to both teams.

It was worn and turned appreciably from the outset. Somerset had elected to go in with three spinners, while Middlesex were without the injured Ollie Rayner and had to rely heavily on left-armer Ravi Patel, 26.

Figures of 12-173 demonstrated that he did not disappoint. But in Jack Leach, Dom Bess and Roelof van der Merwe, the hosts had three proven performers to capitalise on the surface.

While Leach played the starring role, bowling every over from the River End in both innings, Van der Merwe also bowled really well, as did Craig Overton on a wicket he wouldn’t want to carry around with him.

Leach went past 50 wickets for the season and you won’t find many Somerset fans who don’t consider him hugely unlucky not to have joined Overton on the Ashes tour.

Middlesex were upset over the pitch and skipper Adam Voges spoke of “rakemarks encroaching towards danger areas,” while accepting that his team had been outplayed.

The wicket was graded “below average because of excessive spin on days one and two”. But to be docked points, counties must have received two such marks in the space of a year and Somerset had not.

James Hildreth’s brilliant second innings century had also suggested that it was possible to make runs.