Nottinghamshire resistant to Somerset bowling pressure on day two
Rothesay County Championship, day two: Nottinghamshire 214-3 trail Somerset 379 by 165 runs
Ben Slater's 15th first class hundred spearheaded a solid Nottinghamshire batting display on the second day of the Rothesay County Championship Division One match with Somerset at the Cooper Associates Ground, Taunton, writes Richard Latham, ECB Reporters' Network.
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The home side extended their first innings score from an overnight 275 for six to a challenging 379 all out, Tom Banton dismissed for 84 and Matt Henry making an unbeaten 41 off just 29 balls, with four fours and three sixes.
By the close, Notts had posted 214 for three in reply, opener Slater contributing an unbeaten 116, off 224 balls, with 14 fours, and sharing useful partnerships with Haseeb Hameed (24), Freddie McCann (20) and Jack Haynes (34 not out).
Like their opponents on day one, Somerset bowled few loose deliveries and every run had to be fought for on a day of soaring temperatures. Jack Leach conceded just 42 runs from 25 overs of left-arm spin and Craig Overton 31 from 13.
Banton was unbeaten on 57 at the start of play, having been dropped on two, and shouldered major responsibility for lifting Somerset to a competitive score. With only nine runs added to the total, he lost partner Kasey Aldridge, caught at second slip by McCann low to his right off Abbas.
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Overton looked in good touch, scoring 24 and helping Banton add 44 for the eighth wicket, before being pinned lbw by Hutton with the total on 330 in the 111th over, both sides having been forced to settle for two bonus points.
Left-arm spinner Liam Patterson-White had bowled tightly throughout the innings and reaped the reward of a second wicket when Banton, who had battled away for four hours and 17 minutes, striking 8 fours, mistimed a reverse sweep straight to Abbas at backward point.
The remainder of the innings was all about Henry, who treated the 2,000 children admitted free from schools around the region, to some exciting hitting. The New Zealander survived a chance to Joe Clarke on the long-on boundary and produced numerous clean strikes in a last wicket stand of 39, to which Leach contributed just six before being caught at bowled off a leading edge by Farhan Ahmed.
Abbas was the pick of the Notts attack with three for 59 from 27 overs, while new ball partner Hutton ended with three for 94. The visitors had to negotiate a tricky 15 minutes before lunch, but reached the interval on 15 without loss from three overs, Leach having opened the home bowling attack with Henry.
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The afternoon session saw Somerset bowl without much luck in rising heat. They made a breakthrough with the total on 38 as Hameed got a thin edge to a delivery from Henry to be caught behind by James Rew.
Slater was soon looking to capitalise on a pitch offering no more than occasional assistance to the bowlers and moved confidently to a half-century off 62 balls, with 9 fours. McCann contributed to a second-wicket stand of 66 before pushing forward to off-spinner Archie Vaughan and providing Rew with a second catch. At tea, the scoreboard read 124 for two, Clarke having begun positively to be on 14, while Slater was unbeaten on 65.
The final session saw Leach strike with the vital wicket of Clarke, on 18, as the Notts player aimed a big drive at a wide delivery and edged into the safe hands of Overton at slip.
Haynes had a heart in mouth moment next ball as it rapped his back pad and went straight to Overton. Somerset's huge appeal for either leg before or a catch off an inside edge went unheeded and it proved a big moment as a meaningful fourth-wicket stand developed.
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Slater remained unmoved and brought up a hugely valuable century with a square cut for two off Vaughan, having faced 171 deliveries and extended his boundary count to 14. It was an innings of patience and sound shot selection on a pitch, which like the first day, required application with both bat and ball.
By stumps, the partnership with Haynes was worth 71 and Notts could reflect on a decent afternoon's work.
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