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Lammonby scores century but Somerset collapse on day one
Tom Lammonby continued his outstanding early season form, but Somerset will feel like they didn’t take advantage of their impressive start against Surrey at the KIA Oval on the opening day of this Vitality County Championship Division One match.
The visitors slipped from 196 for one to an eventual 285 all out.
Somerset, who showed impressive form with the bat against Kent in the season opener, were put in and recovered from the early loss of Sean Dickson (10) as Lammonby and Matt Renshaw shared a second wicket stand of 178.
Lammonby’s strokeplay was of high class and there were 10 fours in his 61-ball fifty before lunch, which Somerset took at 131 for one.
After the break, Renshaw fell for 87 after Jordan Clark initially fumbled at mid on before the loose ball was pounced on and, from behind the bowler’s stumps, Clark scored a direct hit at the keeper’s end to beat Renshaw’s desperate dive for safety.
If Somerset had the better of the morning session, the balance shifted in the afternoon as the visitors lost seven wickets for 20 runs in 13.1 overs. In the end, it took a pugnacious 50 from skipper Lewis Gregory, last out for 50 from 79 balls and supported by Shoaib Bashir’s 10 not out in a tenth wicket partnership of 49, to help Somerset to a respectable first innings total.
23-year-old left-hander Lammonby was the pick of the Somerset batters, completing his seventh First Class hundred before Clark angled one into his pads from around the wicket. His 100 came off 133 balls, with 16 fours.
Gus Atkinson, replacing a rested Tom Lawes for this match, struck almost immediately on his reintroduction into the attack to have Tom Banton brilliantly caught off an inside edge by keeper Ben Foakes for one.
That was 199 for four and three wickets fell at 211 as Lewis Goldsworthy (10) edged Cameron Steel’s leg spin to slip, James Rew (3) edged a wider ball from Atkinson to Foakes and Kasey Aldridge could only fence at Atkinson’s next ball, fast and short at his body, to lob into the gully area and depart for a golden duck.
Five runs later Craig Overton fell, bowled by a near-yorker length ball from Steel, and after tea was taken at 231 for eight Migael Pretorius edged a cut at Steel to Foakes to go for 10.
Gregory swung Steel for three legside sixes to earn Somerset a batting point, and he and Bashir did well until Gregory edged a loopy Steel leg break to slip. Steel finished with four for 50 and Atkinson three for 57.
Surrey replied with 42 without loss in 15 overs before the close.
Surrey all-rounder Jordan Clark said: “The run out (of Renshaw) was clearly a key moment and sometimes you need a little bit of luck to change things around.
“I think we lacked a bit of consistency with the ball before lunch but we talked about that at the interval and the cluster of wickets in the second half of the afternoon session has put us in a good position.
“We will be aiming to bat all day tomorrow if we can and we need to take it session by session. Both Dom Sibley and Rory Burns did brilliantly to see out those last 15 overs tonight and, after bowling them out, it was just what we wanted.”
Somerset batting coach Shane Burger said: “It’s a pitch where if you bowl well you can get rewarded and if you bat well, as Tom Lammonby and Matt Renshaw showed, you can also certainly get runs.
“The way those two batted today was truly outstanding and credit too to the way Lewis Gregory made his 50 at the end and for Bash to support him in that last wicket stand.”
