Brilliant Abell steers Somerset to victory
Tom Abell’s 22nd First Class century maintained Somerset’s unbeaten start to the Rothesay County Championship season with a thrilling two-wicket victory over Hampshire.
Abell controlled a chase of 288 with a flawless 101 to give Somerset the spoils in a match which had veered one way then the other.
Sonny Baker made things super-nervy by taking his third career five-wicket haul, but Abell held his nerve, and won both the match and scored his hundred at the same time.
Somerset earned 20 points and extended their lead at the summit to 21 points – albeit having played a game more than Nottinghamshire and Sussex – after starting the season with two away wins and a draw.
Somerset needed 148 runs to win on the final day, but they certainly didn’t hold down the accelerator to get to their target. The old adage of slow and steady wins the race was the mantra in the morning session, with Hampshire accurate in their bowling whilst looking to pile the pressure on and claim the remaining seven scalps.
Only two runs had been added in the first 16 minutes of the day before James Rew edged behind.
Rew’s departure ,which left him with an average of 75.8 after five knocks this season, also meant that a sixth innings had been cut short between 50 and 100 in the match.
The 21-year-old had chipped off 89 runs with Abell, but the wicket didn’t change the calmness that Abell exuded at the crease.
The Hampshire bowlers found a tight channel to prevent easy runs and only 34 runs were scored in the first hour, and just 84 came before lunch.
Will Smeed earned a life when Codi Yusuf couldn’t hang onto a diving catch at backward point, but when Jake Lehmann moved to field in the same position, he didn’t make the same mistake.
However, the 49 runs Smeed had contributed with Abell kept Somerset pointing in the right direction, although when Craig Overton was bowled it soon appeared the hosts might have clawed back the momentum of the day.
Gregory, who had already contributed eight for 87 with the ball in the game, came to the crease with a further 91 runs still required.
But post-lunch, the duo’s experience, and deep adoration for Somerset were displayed; both are desperate to bring a first-ever Championship title to Taunton, and a second victory of the season would increase hopes of quelling 135 years of near misses.
Hampshire’s hopes relied on the second new ball, which materialised with 42 runs still required.
That number had ticked down to 25 when Baker came alive against his former county. He uprooted Gregory’s middle stump – to end a 65-run stand – and, in the following over, he had his former housemate Alfie Ogborne caught behind.
However, Abell maintained his composure and along with Jack Leach managed the last few runs with grit.
He only scored eight boundaries in his 229-ball, and 314-minute, vigil before slotting the winning runs through midwicket.
