County Championship: Tom Abell takes hat-trick as Nottinghamshire avoid relegation despite Somerset's dominance

Tom Abell's hat-trick means he has now taken 19 Championship wickets this season

Nottinghamshire avoided relegation from Division One despite an abject batting display which saw Tom Abell take a hat-trick as Somerset built a first-innings lead of 330 on day two at Trent Bridge.

The hosts managed just 133, but Lancashire's failure to earn more than two batting points against Hampshire meant Notts have secured safety.

Notts fared better after being made to follow-on, reaching 115-3 at the close.

Steven Mullaney (54) and Ben Slater (45 not out) provided the main resistance.

The pair saw their side reach 114-1, before Somerset, who are now assured of finishing as Championship runners-up, took two late wickets to leave Notts still trailing by 215 runs with seven wickets remaining.

Notts required five points for safety going into the match, and managed to secure two bowling points, but were left desperately hoping for a favour from Lancashire.

• Lancashire relegated to Division Two

Somerset added 110 runs to their overnight total of 353-7 to reach 463, with Jamie Overton smashing 10 fours in his 55 from 49 balls.

Notts were comfortable at 50-1 in their reply, but slumped to 85-7, with only Slater (35) and Luke Wood (35 not out) offering any notable resistance.

Craig Overton (4-27) and Lewis Gregory (3-36) did the damage before captain Abell brought himself on to wrap up the innings.

Abell only bowled nine balls but that was all he needed to remove Luke Fletcher, Matt Carter and Harry Gurney in consecutive deliveries without conceding a run.

The hat-trick was the 19th in first-class cricket by Somerset and their first since Alfonso Thomas managed the feat in 2014.

Lancashire's relegation is confirmed because even if they beat Hampshire, they can now only draw level with Notts on 233 points, but Notts have won two games more.

Nottinghamshire head coach Peter Moores:

"It's a day of relief when you get over the line. We won't hide from anything, it's been a hard slog these past six weeks but it's over the season and we have played some good cricket and got our points in the bank.

"We got some wins early on but since then it has been tough.

"We've got work to do now in this game, for the game and also for themselves. We've got to scrap hard and finish as strongly as we can."

Somerset captain Tom Abell:

"It's all a bit surreal. But I'm delighted to contribute personally and it's been a great day for us as a side, finishing the innings as we did was fantastic and then to bowl the way we did was awesome.

"It happened very quickly and is a bit of a blur but there was a little bit of swing and I tried to bowl in a decent area.

"The first one [Fletcher] took off a little bit and took the edge, the second one [Carter] wasn't a great ball but sometimes these things go your way and then I just to replicate it and thought 'what will be, will be' and it was a great catch from Craig and I was in disbelief.

"I've got the ball and will keep it because it's probably the only time this will happen. I'm going to savour it."