County Championship: Nottinghamshire pacemen set up 165-run victory over Somerset

Nottinghamshire seamer Brett Hutton finished with nine wickets in the match

Nottinghamshire's plan to make full use of home advantage on their return to Division One of the County Championship got off to the perfect start with a 165-run victory over Somerset.

On a typically bowler-friendly Trent Bridge surface, the loss of the whole of day two to rain proved no impediment to them as their opponents, bowled out for 173 on Saturday, succumbed for 129 chasing 295 to win midway through the final afternoon.

Dane Paterson led the way again with 5-46, passing 500 first-class wickets in the process.

Brett Hutton, who played here only because of an injury to Luke Fletcher, increased his match haul to nine wickets and Stuart Broad picked up his first scalps of the season as Nottinghamshire bounced back from their opening-round defeat away to Hampshire.

Somerset, who had escaped with a draw in their opener against Warwickshire at Taunton, could find no way out on this occasion.

Ultimately, in a low-scoring contest in which only three batters passed fifty, they paid the price for failing to make the most of conditions on day one, when skipper Tom Abell put the home side in but had to wait 33 overs for his bowlers to take a wicket.

Yet Somerset had been hopeful at the start of Sunday's play, optimistic that if they could claim Nottinghamshire's remaining second-innings wickets quickly they would have a target their deep batting line-up could chase.

In the event, they achieved the first part of the plan in the space of six overs as Nottinghamshire were dismissed for 211 in their second innings with all-rounder Lewis Gregory adding four wickets to his seven from the first innings to finish with 11 in a match for the third time in his career.

Peter Siddle, who was wearing Nottinghamshire colours the last time Somerset lost a Championship match on this ground, took the first of those as Steven Mullaney top-edged to mid-off. Broad lost his off-stump to Gregory before Hutton holed out to deep square-leg.

Tom Moores was unable to bat after suffering a hand injury keeping wicket on Saturday.

It left Somerset with 19 overs of the first and the whole of the last two sessions to chase the 295 needed. A required rate of 3.35 runs per over was not too daunting. In terms of runs, they remained on track at lunch. By that point, unfortunately, they had lost their top-four batsmen.

Hutton dismissed Tom Lammonby and Abell leg-before in very similar fashion, achieving just enough movement to beat their defensive bats and hit them plumb in front.

Sandwiched in between were Broad's first moments of celebration in the 2023 English season, the first after Australia's Cameron Bancroft lost his off stump to a beautiful delivery, angled in and straightening enough to pass the edge.

He followed up with Sean Dickson in his next over, the former Durham player's indifferent start with his new county continuing as he edged a drive to second slip, where Ben Duckett took a fine, diving catch.

Soon after lunch, 48-4 became 58-5 as Paterson picked up the first of his wickets, Tom Kohler-Cadmore having no answer to a superb delivery that took a thin edge claimed by stand-in wicketkeeper Joe Clarke.

Gregory was leg-before to another excellent ball from Hutton before two third-slip grabs by substitute fielder Calvin Harrison in the same Paterson over accounted for James Rew, taken high off the shoulder of the bat, and Craig Overton, snatched up low off the edge in another dismissal that needed an umpire consultation to give confirmation, leaving the batter apparently unimpressed.

Paterson completed his five-for by dismissing Jack Leach, who skied to cover, and Siddle, who hit straight to mid-off.

Report supplied by the ECB Reporters' Network.