Somerset battle back to set up intriguing final day
Tom Abell’s second half century in the game, together with late wickets, has set up an intriguing final day against Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens.
Resuming on 32 for six, Abell scored 71, his eighth score above 40 in nine innings this season. He was well supported by 45 from captain Lewis Gregory to get Somerset to 157 before the four-pronged seam attack added pressure to a stubborn Glamorgan chase.
Asa Tribe notched up his third half-century this season as Glamorgan’s opening pair added 81 before the Somerset attack found success, particularly Migael Pretorius who claimed three to leave the hosts 140 for five overnight, needing a further 143 to win.
While Timm van der Gugten enjoyed having the Somerset lower order in a tangle in his first spell of the second innings due to being precautionarily left off the field the previous evening, Tom Norton couldn’t complete a five-wicket haul from his four for 22 overnight.
Van der Gugten had Pretorius well beaten continuously before eventually uprooting the South African, a foreshadowing of what would come when it was Glamorgan’s turn to bat.
Abell continued his fine form for the season with another half-century, making him the top run-scorer in both innings for his side in the morning session fightback. As well as adding 64 with a punishing Gregory, dismissing the mostly off-radar Glamorgan bowlers, the visitors then added 30 for the final wicket, all added by Abell.
Glamorgan’s tactics in the field had to be questioned. The half-centurion was allowed to score a single on the fifth ball of every over, with time no constraint in the match for a result, with Jake Ball standing firm for 21 balls, even surviving the extra eight overs to head to a late lunch break.
When Abell was trapped trying to whip Hadley off a middle-stump line on the second ball after lunch, Glamorgan were set 283 to win but the damage of 125 added in a single session with resistance and damage in form of sixes down the ground off Mason Crane and pulled over mid-wicket off Norton, the objective for Glamorgan would have to be to get past the new ball.
Although Glamorgan’s opening partnership was long-standing and fruitful for the hosts, surviving the new ball, Somerset’s bowlers were done a disservice by the scorecard.
As lunch did for Somerset, tea came at the wrong time for Glamorgan; a tough session followed, the foursome never went away, in fact Gregory found his lines and Pretorius was metronomic, forcing plays and misses off all he bowled to, matching that of Ball and Overton on a seaming pitch.
Ul Hassan fell edging again, Kiran Carlson missed out on a short and wide one to fall softly as he was made to be bogged down by the impressive display of seam bowling. Tribe and Ben Kellaway both prodded outside off stump and Ingram struggled once more to allow Somerset the ascendency.
