Abell and Hildreth turn contest Somerset’s way
Yorkshire’s collapse combined with struggle for Essex raise title hopes at Taunton
SOMERSET boosted their hopes of winning a first County Championship title with a dominant display on day two against third-placed Yorkshire at Taunton.
Second-placed Somerset went into the game just two points behind Division One leaders Essex, who struggled to bowl out Warwickshire for 517 at Edgbaston on what could prove a pivotal day in the title race.
At the County Ground, Yorkshire collapsed from 86 for three as they were bowled out for 103, with the unwell Ben Coad unable to bat.
Roelof van der Merwe finished with three for 14 and Josh Davey claimed three for 30 for Somerset, who then recovered after slipping to four for two in their second innings to reach 269 for five last night and
extend their advantage to 365 on a turning pitch at Taunton.
It was a wretched day for Yorkshire. Opener Will Fraine sustained a knee injury in the warm-up before they lost six wickets in just 43 balls.
Left-arm spinner Van der Merwe struck three times, while Davey sent back Harry Brook and Tim Bresnan in his first over of the day.
Somerset openers Murali Vijay and Steve Davies fell to poor shots, with the home team’s Indian debutant lbw trying to sweep a straight delivery from spinner Keshav Maharaj – who was given the new ball – while Davies was caught at cover off Steve Patterson.
At that point, eight wickets had fallen in the first 74 minutes of the day, which included the innings break, and the pitch was coming under increasing scrutiny.
However, James Hildreth counterattacked in style for Somerset, striking successive fours through the leg side off Patterson, and by lunch he and captain Tom Abell had taken the total to 49 for two.
Hildreth and Abell extended their third-wicket stand to 117 before the former was caught at short-leg by Brook off Maharaj for 58.
Abell went on to his second halfcentury of the match off 101 balls while Tom Banton added a breezy 43 off 48 deliveries before carelessly falling to the final ball before tea.
When Abell followed straight after the interval – lbw to Bresnan for 62 – the lead was 287.
George Bartlett (39 not out) and Lewis Gregory (38 not out) then added 78 in 98 balls before – with the floodlights on – umpires Martin Saggers and Michael Gough took the players off at 4.45pm for bad light. They did not return.
Abell said: “My role in both innings was to bat for as long as I could and let the other lads play around me.
“I think the game was in the balance overnight, but now we’ve taken control,” the Somerset skipper added. “It’s basically a good pitch, but a bit slow, which makes it difficult to score. There is spin there, but when you get a partnership going things feel easier.
“Now we’re on the front foot in the game and can put our foot down. As a batting group, we bat deep, and we will be hoping to add more runs tomorrow so we can really apply pressure in the final innings.”
Abell stated: “James Hildreth was fantastic today, coming in at four for two. He was positive from the start and helped us build on the excellent efforts of our bowlers at the start of the day.”