County Championship: Kent in hunt for Somerset win
- Published
Specsavers County Championship Division One, Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton (day three): |
Somerset 171 & 171-7: Davies 39, Bartlett 35*; Claydon 3-30 |
Kent 209: Dickson 43; Gregory 3-26, C Overton 3-46 |
Somerset (3 pts) lead Kent (4 pts) by 133 runs |
Kent gave themselves a good chance of marking their Division One return with a win on a seesaw day at Taunton.
They were restricted to a 38-run first-innings lead, mustering only 209 all out after resuming on 84-2.
Lewis Gregory (3-26) and Craig Overton (3-46) bowled superbly, but the Kent attack proved just as effective.
Marcus Trescothick and James Hildreth went cheaply and Mitch Claydon took 3-30 before Somerset recovered to 171-7 at stumps, 133 runs ahead.
Two of the veterans of the county game were pitted against each other as 42-year-old Darren Stevens bowled to Trescothick, 43, and it was the Kent all-rounder who came out on top, pinning the former England batsman lbw for five.
Hildreth followed, caught behind in Stevens' next over, and at 32-4, it looked like Somerset were in danger of collapsing before Steve Davies (39) and Tom Abell added 58.
Both then fell to Claydon, who also bowled Gregory with a beauty which clipped off stump, but George Bartlett and Craig Overton revived Somerset's hopes with an unbroken stand of 60.
Bartlett steered the final ball of the day to the boundary to reach 35 not out, with Overton on 27.
- Published6 April 2019
- Published5 April 2019