Essex frustrate Somerset on day three
Somerset were unable to press home their advantage over Essex on the third day of this Rothesay County Championship Division One match at the Cooper Associates County Ground.
Having forced the visitors to follow-on yesterday, the Somerset faithful were hopeful of an early finish, but gritty and stubborn batting from the visitors ensured that the game will in fact go the distance.
Frustraters in chief were Matt Critchley (76*) and Charlie Allison (105*) who shared an unbroken fourth wicket stand of 187 to ensure that their side led by three runs at the end of an absorbing day in Taunton.
Essex openers Paul Walter and Dean Elgar resumed on 59 and continued to thwart the home side in the morning. The pair had advanced the score to 82 when Somerset finally made the breakthrough that they craved.
It was Jake Ball who claimed the wicket of Walter (43) in the eighth over of the morning , bowling him off an inside edge and his celebration clearly demonstrated how much it meant to the Somerset seamer.
Ball and Migael Pretorius continued to run in valiantly in the absence of injured skipper Lewis Gregory and the pair extracted some movement and bounce but Elgar continued to accumulate runs.
The Essex 100 arrived in the 31st over and Elgar’s 50 came from 91 deliveries.
A change of ends for Pretorius eventually bore fruit when he found Elgar’s outside edge and James Rew did the rest. It was just reward for the Somerset all rounder who had bowled well throughout the morning. As Elgar made his way back to the dressing room for 56 the scoreboard was showing 127 for two.
With no addition to the score, Tom Westley (22) picked out Tom Abell at extra cover to give Jack Leach a wicket just five balls later.
By the time the clock on the Colin Atkinson Pavilion ticked over to indicate lunch, the score had advanced to 135.
Critchley and Allison continued to vex the Somerset attack and the 50 partnership came from 129 balls before the total went to 200 off the last ball of the 71st over. Allison’s 50 arrived from 88 balls and the 100 partnership came from 255 deliveries.
When the tea interval finally arrived, the deficit was just 79.
The Essex 250 arrived in the 93rd over as Allison and Critchley refused to budge. Critchley went to 50 from 170 balls before Allison went to three figures from 185Â deliveries.
Critchley received a life when he was dropped at first slip off Leach shortly before the Essex 300 arrived in the 107th over, and by the close of play the visitors had a narrow lead.
