County Championship: Nottinghamshire close out huge win at Somerset
- Published
LV= County Championship Division One, Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton (day three): |
Nottinghamshire 448: Patterson-White 101, Clarke 59, Fletcher 51; Abell 3-84 |
Somerset 107: Abell 35; Fletcher 4-21 & 181: de Lange 36; Paterson 4-46, Fletcher 3-29 |
Nottinghamshire (23 pts) beat Somerset (2 pts) by an innings and 160 runs |
Somerset's Division One title hopes were damaged after defeat by an innings and 160 runs against Nottinghamshire inside three days at Taunton.
The hosts were dismissed for 107 after adding 20 to their overnight score and, trailing by 341 runs, had to follow on.
Luke Fletcher got two early wickets and Dane Paterson (4-46) ripped out the middle order with three in one over.
Jack Leach and Marchant de Lange hit out after tea, delaying the inevitable, before Somerset were all out for 181.
As a result, Nottinghamshire closed out their biggest first-class victory over Somerset and their first four-day win at Taunton since 1985.
Liam Patterson-White's first-innings century and Fletcher's 4-21 had put the visitors in a commanding position on day two, and Notts needed just shy of nine overs to take Somerset's final three first-innings wickets.
Leach and De Lange fell to Brett Hutton, while Paterson had Josh Davey caught behind.
The visiting seamers continued to hit good areas during Somerset's second innings, with Steve Davies edging a length delivery from Fletcher to wicketkeeper Tom Moores.
After taking lunch at 35-1, Tom Abell nicked a defensive shot off Paterson behind and James Hildreth then lost his off stump to Fletcher playing no shot.
Lammonby (34) edged Hutton to first slip, and the hosts were 85-4 when South Africa seamer Paterson delivered a memorable over.
First he pinned Tom Banton lbw and with the next delivery had Roelof van der Merwe taken low at mid-wicket by Sam Northeast.
Lewis Goldsworthy then had his stumps scattered with the penultimate ball of the over to leave Somerset 86-7.
Leach hit five fours in a defiant innings of 35 but the England man and de Lange - who clattered three sixes in his total of 36 - both fell to the left-arm spin of Patterson-White.
It was left to Fletcher (3-29) to remove Jack Brooks and clinch a thumping victory, and Somerset will need a vast improvement to reignite their bid for a first-ever title when they face Yorkshire at Scarborough next week.
Notts had carried forward five points to Somerset's 18.5 into the second group stage, but move above their hosts in the table after taking 23 points from the match.