Essex showed their supremacy as they wrestled complete control of their clash with Somerset on day two. They did so through tight, disciplined bowling and by building important partnerships. The match home, iconic County Ground in Taunton. Somerset immediately found themselves in a difficult position, slipping to 63 for 4 after conceding four early wickets of crucial importance.
Tom Abell’s dismissal for seven runs was a huge turning point for Somerset. After Tom Lammonby fell on the stroke of lunch, he set about trying to dig the innings out of a hole. He succumbed to Simon Harmer’s snare and was out for 13 runs. Harmer’s off-breaks were the key weapon all session long, and they were a huge part of Essex’s stranglehold on the match.
By this point, Essex had built a match-defining lead of 106 runs by the time Lewis Gregory came to the crease. Gregory wasn’t able to have much of an effect on the game. He was bowled by Sam Cook for just 14 runs soon after the tea break. Dean Elgar showed resolve, making 23. He lost to Gregory, a result which added to Somerset’s woes.
Not only this, Tom Westley and Ben Cox’s categorical building of a blossoming partnership through the innings kissed goodbye lingering doubts. They carried into the tea break a respectable score of 59 for 2. Cox, especially, demonstrated his extensive stroke-play, scoring a potentially vital half-century off just 88 balls, featuring eight fours. Sadly, the alliance wasn’t able to last. Craig Overton soon ended Westley’s little cameo, trapping him lbw for 26 and further raising the jitters in the Somerset batting order.
When Somerset’s innings first began to get away from them, Andrew Umeed and Josh Davey inspired a short revival. Their defiant second-wicket partnership added 46 runs to the total. All the optimism from the stand-in captain was soon dashed, as Somerset crumbled to six wickets down in just 14.4 overs for the addition of just 51 runs. The resulting collapse had them spinned out and spinning down, unable to keep their balance in an increasingly one-sided game.
Things got even worse for Somerset when both James Rew and Lewis Gregory could not make it to the lunch break. Rew began the collapse when he was adjudged out, nicking a full length ball from Kasun Rajitha behind to the keeper. This dismissal heralded a jarring shift in fortune as Essex soon established an unrelenting attack on the Somerset batters.
Having dealt with so many of Somerset’s frustrations was Harmer’s knack for taking wickets at key moments. In taking 4 for 30, his bowling didn’t just take the important wickets – it destroyed any notion of solidity within the Somerset batting line-up. Lammonby continued to make the most of his fortune and skillfully directed a wide delivery from Harmer to the unprotected third-man boundary. Another deft late cut upped Somerset’s score to 49. But as it turned out, this was a brief victory in a rapidly deteriorating environment.
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