Wood stars on return as wickets tumble at Taunton

Durham 154 for 7 (Stoneman 35, van der Merwe 3-47) trail Somerset 184 (Wood 3-24, Rushworth 3-47) by 30 runs
Scorecard

Mark Wood struck in the first over of his first-class comeback on day of contrasts at the Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton, as 17 wickets fell on the first day of the Specsavers' County Championship game between Somerset and Durham.

Having chosen to bat first, Somerset were bowled out for 184 with Durham's four-man seam attack taking all 10 wickets inside 42 overs. When Durham took to the crease, it was the Somerset spinners Roelof van der Merwe and Jack Leach who did the damage. The pair took six of the seven wickets to fall as Durham finished the day on 154 for 7.

Somerset found themselves in early trouble with the bat, as Chris Rushworth and Graham Onions grabbed a wicket apiece to remove openers Tom Abell (0) and veteran Marcus Trescothick (6).

Captain Chris Rogers and James Hildreth did stem the tide with a 55-run stand for the third wicket. However, when Rogers drove a Paul Coughlin delivery to point, Somerset were 61 for 3 after 13 overs.

Enter Wood, who hadn't featured in a first-class contest since the second Test against Pakistan in Dubai last October. After undergoing ankle surgery earlier in the summer, he struck with his sixth delivery when Hildreth was bowled for 34, and followed that up five balls later when van der Merwe edged to Borthwick for a duck. Wood later added the scalp of Peter Trego, bowled for 16, to finish with the impressive figures of 3 for 24 in seven overs.

Thankfully, for Somerset, Craig Overton pitched in with a useful 42 off 51 balls, with eight fours, and Ryan Davies 31. The wicketkeeper struck two fours and as many sixes before he departed at 166 for 8.

Overton was next to go and when Tim Groenewald became Chris Rushworth's third victim off the first ball of the 42nd over, Somerset were all out for 184.

Durham, in reply, looked in little or no bother as Mark Stoneman (35) and Keaton Jennings put on 38 for the first wicket, off one ball short of 11 overs. However, for the visitors, it was the calm before the storm.

Stoneman was dismissed by Leach at 38 for 1 and with Somerset holding their catches, the visitors capitulated, either side of tea. Scott Borthwick (16) and Jennings (14) played one or two decent shots, but with the ball turning off a length, they became van der Merwe's first two victims of the day, at 58 and 65 respectively.

Michael Richardson fell to Leach, four runs later, for 0 and after van der Merwe had sent back Stuart Poynter (7) at 73 for 5, Gordon Muchall (13), who had travelled down from Durham during the morning as a replacement for the injured Paul Collingwood, was trapped lbw by Leach.

Coughlin, who bowled so well during the morning and early afternoon, batted well too. He helped himself to 30 and with Adam Hickey, added 39 for the seventh wicket before being bowled by Overton at 141 for 7.