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Century partnership the highlight of disrupted day two
A century ninth wicket partnership for Somerset was the highlight of another weather affected day at Edgbaston in this LV= Insurance County Championship match against Warwickshire.
After losing 35 overs on day one, a further 36 were wiped out on day two which concluded with Warwickshire ending on 112 for three in reply to the visitors’ 215.
Somerset were lifted to 215 by the 119-run stand between Neil Wagner (who hit a career best 72) and Josh Davey (46). Chris Rushworth was the pick of the home attack, taking five for 47 – the 32nd haul of five or more wickets of his career.
Warwickshire captain Will Rhodes (42) then kept his side’s reply from early ruin in this mid-table duel which may still yield a decisive result.
After Somerset resumed on the second morning on 180 for eight, Wagner and Davey continued to bat with few alarms. They took their alliance to 119 in 25 overs before being parted in controversial fashion. Wagner, having hit 11 fours and two sixes and just passed his previous career best (70), was aghast to be adjudged caught behind off Olly Hanon-Dalby, evidently thinking the ball had clipped either pad or stumps. His sense of injustice only heightened when the innings was wrapped up with the very next ball as Davey skied Rushworth to long off.
Warwickshire’s reply started badly when Kraigg Brathwaite’s run of ever-diminishing returns continued when his off-stump was plucked out by Lewis Gregory. Brathwaite fell in a brilliant first over by Gregory which could have brought a wicket every ball, but Rob Yates and Rhodes survived to add 53 in 16 overs before the former edged a Jack Brooks outswinger to wicketkeeper James Rew.
The light, perpetually moderate, closed in even further after lunch and Rhodes and Alex Davies survived for an hour before the umpires took the players off.
Rhodes lifted Davey to extra cover in one of the two slivers of play that followed before the light closed in for the final time.
At the close of play, Neil Wagner said: “I would have liked to kick on and score a few more runs. I feel like I’ve got out in the 60s a lot, and only to better my highest score by two runs is not a great feat, but it’s nice to contribute to the team and play a role.
“I enjoyed batting out there. There are definitely no crocodiles in the wicket. It’s quite a good surface and if you get yourself in and try to be aggressive and take the attack to them, you can change the momentum and luckily enough it came off today.
“I’m really enjoying it at Somerset. The way they’ve welcomed me into the group and made me part of everything has been pretty special. It’s been a little bit frustrating not getting the cricket in we wanted because of the weather. I feel that I haven’t really been able to hit a bit of a rhythm, coming back from injury, and I haven’t contributed as much as I would have wanted to, but I’ve enjoyed everything about the Club.”
