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Lancashire frustrate Somerset on day two
Lancashire’s batters made title-chasing Somerset work for every wicket on the second day of the Vitality County Championship match at Old Trafford and had built a formidable 292-run lead at close of play.
Josh Bohannon’s 60 and Luke Wells’ unbeaten 78 enabled the home side to finish on 298 for seven in their second innings of a match both sides desperately need to win, Lancashire to preserve their hopes of avoiding relegation, Somerset to stay in touch with Surrey at the top of the table.
The difference between the first day’s play and the second was immediately apparent during a morning session in which Lancashire scored 90 runs in 27 overs for the loss of only two wickets.
On a pitch that had dried out and lost much of the greenness, bowlers had to work harder for their successes and the only batter dismissed in the first hour was Will Williams who was leg before wicket to Craig Overton for seven in the third over of the morning.
Harry Singh then added 85 for the third wicket with Bohannon, who batted beautifully to make 60 off 76 balls. However, it was indicative of the problems Bohannon has encountered this season that his half-century was only his fourth innings over fifty in 22 Championship innings.
None of which diminished Somerset’s joy in the penultimate over before lunch when the Lancashire batsman tried to pull a ball from Kacey Aldridge but only succeeded in diverting it via the toe of the bat to Tom Abell in the gully.
On the resumption, Singh and Rocky Flintoff defied Lewis Gregory’s bowlers for 50 minutes until Singh thin-edged a catch to James Rew off Brett Randell to give the New Zealander his first wicket for Somerset.
Singh had faced 142 balls during his 260-minute innings of 30 but his patient resistance was not copied by Matty Hurst, who hit three breezy fours in 19 runs before attempting to drive Randell and nicking a catch to Overton at second slip.
In the next over, Flintoff was bowled by Jack Leach’s arm-ball for 27 but Wells and George Bell saw their side through to 214 for six at tea, when Lancashire’s lead was 208. And on the resumption, Wells and Bell extended their seventh-wicket stand to 83 before Bell was bowled for 23 when trying to pull a ball from Gregory that kept low.
Wells went on to emulate Bohannon’s feat in passing fifty for only the fourth time this season but his strokeplay was impressive, most noticeably when he hit three off-side boundaries in one over from Gregory.
The day ended with Wells unbeaten on 78 and Somerset’s fielders appeared aggrieved that George Balderson had not been given out on five when apparently run out by Overton’s throw from slip.
At the close of play, Somerset Bowling Coach, Steve Kirby said: “We’ve got a big job to do tomorrow. We know that, but everybody stuck to their task today and Lancashire have gone at less than three an over in 96 overs.
“We hoped to bowl Lancashire out but you can only play what’s under your feet and you have to take your hat off to the way they have batted today. They played the ball a lot later and they showed a lot of steel and a lot of fight.
“On another day, we’d have had the rub of the green but the way we’ve gone about our business all year has been incredible and there’s another big scrap ahead of us tomorrow. There’s a lot of time left in this game.
“We just have to keep taking our opportunities. As far as the five penalty runs are concerned, you can’t slide. That’s the rule and we have to get on with it.
“It’s going to be difficult in the morning but I think the heavy roller has played a big role. The pitch has become more placid. The spite and the nip isn’t there any more.”
