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51 overs lost on day three
Warwickshire captain Alex Davies scored his 11th First Class century but third-day rain badly interfered with his side’s push for Vitality Championship victory over Somerset at Edgbaston.
Davies ended the day unbeaten, contributing 109 out of his side’s 179 for five – 277 ahead overall.
The loss of 51 overs on the day to the weather has seriously compacted the game and reduced the time available for either side to try to force victory.
The Bears’ captain faces an interesting dilemma on the final day – to judge a declaration which gives his side enough time to take ten wickets but does not offer Somerset too great a chance of victory. Still fresh – or, in Warwickshire’s case, raw – in the memory of these teams is their meeting at Taunton six weeks ago when Davies’ declaration left the home side a target of 410 and they chased it down to record a sensational five-wicket win.
Play did not begin on the third day until 1.50pm and even then rain returned after two overs to send the players off again until 3pm.
After Warwickshire resumed on 27 for one, Davies looked impressive while a succession of partners perished in the early 20s. The skipper added 45 with Will Rhodes, 83 with Hamza Shaikh and 38 with Jake Bethell against a Somerset attack which applied itself well to keep a brake on the scoring.
Rhodes and Bethell were bowled by the impressive Josh Davey whilst Shaikh pressed the self-destruct button when he called Davies through for a single that didn’t exist and was beaten by Tom Kohler-Cadmore’s throw.
Davies reached an assured century from 148 balls before a bonus wicket arrived for Somerset from Andy Umeed. When, late in the day, Jake Ball limped off injured five balls into an over, Umeed was called upon to complete the over. Skipper Craig Overton saw enough merit in that one ball to keep the spinner on and the second ball of Umeed’s first full over had Ed Barnard caught behind.
At the close of play, Somerset Bowling Coach, Steve Kirby said: “The guys bowled on the surface really well. They kept on coming and bowled really good lengths. To be honest I thought we bowled a little bit short with the newer ball in the first innings, so we adapted well and I thought we hit our straps really well.
“It was a real quality team effort but if I am going to single somebody out I’d say the way Leachy bowled was excellent. He was accurate and always threatening the stumps and building pressure and on another day he would have got a lot of wickets.
“Kasey also bowled really well. He has worked very hard on his bowling and he has set the bar so high as a cricketer, having shown what he can do with the bat and ball. He is a three-dimensional cricketer and I am really pleased that all the work he has put in is paying off. He batted really well in this game and bowled a high quality spell today. He bowled brilliantly in the semi-final last week and long may that continue.”
