Rothesay County Championship, day three: Worcestershire 154 & 280-5 trail Somerset 670 by 236 runs
Somerset’s Tom Banton registered the fifth highest score in the history of the Rothesay County Championship when finally dismissed for 371 on the third day of the match with Worcestershire at The Cooper Associates Ground, Taunton, writes Richard Latham, ECB Reporters Network.
Unbeaten on 344 overnight, the 26-year-old England white ball international, extended his boundary count to 56 fours and 2 sixes, facing 403 balls before his wicket saw Somerset declare their first innings on 670 for seven, with a lead of 516. Only Brian Lara (501 not out), Archie MacLaren (424), Sam Northeast (410 not out) and Graeme Hick (405) have produced bigger innings in Championship cricket.
In the face of such a daunting deficit, Worcestershire slipped to 116 for four in their second innings before a spirited recovery to 280 for five, still 236 behind. Former Somerset player Adam Hose led the fightback with 82, while Brett D’Oliveira made 71 not out and Kashif Ali 51. Jack Leach claimed three for 69.
READ MORE: Tom Banton goes into the Somerset cricket record books with historic 344 not out
A day of cloudless skies began with the home side electing to extend their imposing first innings score of 637 for six and lead of 483, giving Banton the chance to build on what was already the highest individual score by a Somerset player.
He rode his luck with a couple of skyers that fell safe and moved to 350 with a single off Tom Hinley, having faced 392 balls. Lewis Gregory, unbeaten on 30 overnight, was dropped at long-off, as he and Banton extended their seventh-wicket stand beyond the century mark.
Banton smacked Hinley for only the second six of his marathon innings, which had spanned eight hours and 42 minutes by the time he was caught behind off the same bowler attempting a cut shot. Every Worcestershire player shook his hand as he left the pitch with the 21st highest score ever in first class matches to his name.
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There were a minimum of 88 overs left in the day and Worcestershire were soon in trouble as, with their total on 16, Gareth Roderick was pinned lbw by Craig Overton. Despite that wicket falling to seam, Leach’s left-arm spin was introduced as early as the eighth over, clearly viewed as Somerset’s chief threat on a dry pitch.
He didn’t disappoint, striking with the second ball of his sixth over with the score on 40, which squeezed past the inside edge of Jake Libby’s bat to hit his back pad and led to another successful leg-before appeal.
It was 58 for two at lunch, with Kashif Ali and Ethan Brookes at the crease. Both batted positively and were looking well set when making elementary errors in the afternoon session.
First Brookes, on 35, top-edged a sweep shot off Leach and presented a straightforward catch to Sean Dickson at deep backward square to make it 95 for three. Then Kashif, untroubled in reaching an 85-ball half-century with 8 fours, advanced down the pitch to the England spinner and drove in the air straight to Overton at mid-off.
Kashif stood transfixed, aghast at surrendering his wicket for 51 on such a placid pitch. But if Somerset’s bowlers thought the hard work was done, Hose and D’Oliveira soon proved them wrong.
By tea, they had taken the total to 191 for four, Hose having marked his return to Taunton with a fluent fifty off 68 balls, including 8 fours and a six. D’Oliveira was unbeaten on 27 and the stand worth 75.
Hose, who ended a promising Somerset career by electing to join Warwickshire in 2017, continued in the same fashion after the interval, while D’Oliveira looked equally confident in moving to a half-century off 93 balls, with 6 fours.
Keeping the ball on the ground, the pair had hardly played a false stroke when the second new ball became due with the score 257 for four after 80 overs and their partnership extended to 141. It accounted for Hose, lbw to a Kasey Aldridge yorker having faced 151 balls and hit 12 fours and a six.
