Warwickshire v Somerset: Bears bowled out for 121 at Edgbaston

Craig Overton recently extended his contract with Somerset until the end of the 2023 season

Somerset delivered another dominant performance as they bowled Warwickshire out for 121 before replying with 80-2 on the opening day of their Bob Willis Trophy match at Edgbaston.

Tom Abell's side took immediate control against the brittle Bears, who chose to bat and were soon 15-3 in the face of a high-class opening spell from Craig Overton. The England bowler went on to finish with 3-17.

Abell nipped out the tail with 3-4 while Somerset's bowlers were backed up by razor-sharp fielding which included two direct-hit run outs from the skipper and Tom Banton.

It was cricket bristling with purpose and confidence and, with two wins and 50 points already banked from their first two games, Somerset are strong contenders for a place in the final at Lord's.

For Warwickshire, it was a day to forget as their batting imploded and the bowling, apart from the excellent Olly Hannon-Dalby, toiled fruitlessly in the absence of the injured Liam Norwell and Olly Stone.

• Relive Saturday's Bob Willis Trophy action

To cap their joyless day, they also sustained another injury when Matt Lamb suffered a cracked toe while batting. Whether he will bat in the second innings remains to be seen.

With confidence fragile after their collapse at Bristol last Tuesday, Warwickshire soon hit trouble after electing to bat. Overton swiftly removed Rob Yates, who edged a beauty to wicketkeeper Steven Davies, and bowled Sam Hain who played across a straight one.

The last thing the home side needed was a self-inflicted wound but that is what followed when Ian Bell called captain Will Rhodes for a sharp single and Rhodes was beaten by Abell's direct hit.

Bell departed in infuriating fashion when he tickled a Lewis Gregory delivery down the leg side to Davies.

Lamb went on to make 22 but succumbed to the last ball before lunch when Overton completed his consummate morning's work by bowling the batsman through the gate.

That sent Warwickshire into lunch 65-5, after which Michael Burgess and Tim Bresnan took the score to 88 before the former played on to Gregory.

Alex Thomson was run out by Banton, making it two wickets in two balls, and two in three followed six overs later when Abell had Henry Brookes caught at first slip and Craig Miles pouched by the keeper.

When, in his next over, Abell induced a nick from Hannon-Dalby, Bresnan, having again batted resolutely, was left unbeaten on 32 and Warwickshire were all out in 45.2 overs.

Somerset's reply was solidly launched by Ed Byrom (30) and Tom Lammonby (33) who added 56 in 17 overs before both fell to Hannon-Dalby, caught at first and second slip respectively.

Warwickshire captain Will Rhodes:

"Somerset have shown us how to bowl at Edgbaston with that fuller length. Fair play to their seamers. They kept coming back and coming hard at us and it's up to us to come back and take some wickets in the morning.

"Craig Overton has been in the England bubble so has been doing a lot of work with the England boys and that showed.

"He was just that little bit of quality above what we are used to in county cricket so we have got to get our heads around that in the second innings and play him a lot better than we did."

Somerset fast bowler Craig Overton:

"It's coming out nicely and the work I did during the winter seems to be paying off. The ball nipped about a bit early on and then started to swing as the ball got older which was nice. Luckily, I got a few nicks early on and that got us on a bit of a roll.

"I'd like to think I'm sending a message to the England selectors. I've just got to keep taking wickets. That's my job and I've got to keep doing it and keep trying to push my claims and hopefully another chance comes."

Report supplied by PA Media.