Slater steers Notts to draw with Somerset
Ben Slater's century was his 12th in first-class cricket
- Published
Vitality County Championship D1, Trent Bridge (day four)
Nottinghamshire 360 & 425-2 dec: Slater 168*, Hameed 91, Young 68*, Stone 63
Somerset 470: Abell 111, Pretorius 95*, Lammonby 87; Pennington 5-96
Notts (13 pts) draw with Somerset (15 pts)
Ben Slater's unbeaten 168 secured Nottinghamshire a draw with Somerset on a lifeless pitch in the County Championship clash at Trent Bridge.
Only one wicket fell in 72 overs on the final day, with overseas batter Will Young making 68 not out after Olly Stone had been out for 63 nine overs after lunch.
There was too little in the pitch to encourage much interest for the bowlers, however, and it was hardly surprising that Nottinghamshire showed no interest in setting Somerset a target, given that their prospects of taking 10 wickets were almost non-existent.
The 13 points Nottinghamshire take ensure they remain at a comfortable distance from the relegation places in the Division One table while Somerset's 15 keep them third.
After sharing an opening partnership of 172 with Haseeb Hameed that was broken shortly before Tuesday's close, Slater found two more long-term companions in Stone and Young.
Stone chipped in with 63 to go with his first-innings 83 batting at nine before Jake Ball thudded one into his pad to break the stand at 136.
Slater was by then into three figures for the first time this season, reaching the century mark with a six and 12 fours.
When Stone departed, Nottinghamshire's lead was 198 and, with little in the pitch to excite bowlers of any variety, Somerset could only hope a declaration might keep them in the game.
Yet the docile surface meant that realistically there could be only one winner in such a scenario and there was nothing in the way Slater and Young went about their business to suggest that such a course of action was even being considered.
The handshakes came shortly before 5pm to bring the contest to a close.
Nottinghamshire opener Ben Slater:
“I was happy to contribute to a draw, which was a positive result from being behind on first innings. We are happy with the points we take from the game and we take positives from the performance.
“From my own point of view, it was nice to get a first hundred for the season. I’ve felt I’ve not gone as big as I should have this year for numerous reasons.
“Over the game as a whole, we probably left a few out there in the first innings. Stoney got us up to what was probably a par score.
"But how we were in the field was very good, considering how hot it was, and I think we did well with how we batted in the second innings after being behind."
Somerset acting captain Craig Overton:
“It was a pretty tough day for us. Ben Slater and Will Young batted very well after Olly Stone up top on a very good batting wicket.
“There wasn’t much in the pitch for the seamers. Jack Leach got a little bit of spin out of the rough but it was very slow spin and didn’t feel that threatening.
“But that’s cricket. Sometimes you just have to plug away. It’s not easy bowling in 25 degrees plus heat but they never got away from us, which was the big thing. We wanted to make sure they did not have a chance to have a good bowl at us.
“That was the only way we were going to get a result but if you look at it, the last four wickets fell for 500 runs and it was getting flatter and flatter, really dead and slow."
Report supplied by the ECB Reporters' Network
