Somerset left relying on old guard

Somerset 138 and 137 for 3 (Trescothick 66*) lead Nottinghamshire 261 (Brown 63, Voges 63, Willoughby 5-81) by 14 runs
- Scorecard

A fifth-wicket partnership of 119 between Adam Voges and Ali Brown, who both scored 63, enabled Nottinghamshire to continue their domination over Somerset on the second day at Trent Bridge. However, a better batting performance by Somerset in their second innings means that they are by no means out of this match, and the fortunes of their two undefeated batsmen at close, Marcus Trescothick and Justin Langer, will probably be crucial to the result.

Nottinghamshire resumed this morning at 55 for 3, and almost immediately lost their opening batsman, Bilal Shafayat, who nudged a short ball from Charl Willoughby to the keeper for a simple catch for 19. This brought Brown in to join Voges, and they ensured that no more wickets fell before lunch.

Voges launched Notts on their way with a handsome cover drive for four, while the sunny conditions meant that batting was an easier task than it had been on the first morning. Willoughby bowled well though without further reward, but lacked adequate support from the other end. David Stiff again failed to get his direction right and bowled several off-side wides, while Ben Phillips generally bowled too short and Peter Trego was expensive.

Somerset did have one difficult chance, when wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter did well to get a hand to a nudge down the leg side from Voges when he had 18, but with the ball failing to swing they rarely had the batsmen in trouble. Brown settled in and played some thumping drives, in particular enjoying the bowling of Trego. Just before lunch Voges reached a quality fifty with one of his regular shots, a steer backward of point to the boundary. It took him 106 balls, and just after the interval Brown also passed the landmark, his taking 93 balls. Brown is no longer the explosive destroyer of his youth, but he remains a powerful batsman of real quality at county level, this being his first major score for his new team.

Eventually Voges fell lbw to a full-length delivery from Willoughby, while Trego enjoyed his revenge against Brown when the latter drove a low catch into the covers. Chris Read took over their mantle, and had useful support from Andre Adams (24) and Ryan Sidebottom (13). When he was last out for 41, skying a ball to mid-on to give Willoughby a thoroughly deserved five-wicket haul, his team had made 261 and almost doubled the Somerset total.

In better batting conditions, though, Somerset made a better fist of their second innings. Luke Fletcher was the bowler who had begun their slide the previous day, but Trescothick quickly made it his business to put the youngster in his place by taking ten runs off his first over, including fours from a drive and a square cut. His fluency was such that the opening partnership realized 50 runs in less than ten overs, before Aril Suppiah pushed at a ball from Andre Adams, who had just replaced Fletcher, and was caught at the wicket for 14.

For reasons not known, Langer held himself back to No. 5, but his replacement at three, Omari Banks, made only 4 before Sidebottom bowled a good ball that moved in and trapped him lbw. James Hildreth made 18 before he drove at Mark Ealham and was bowled through the gate, bringing Langer to the wicket at 92 for 3. Trescothick reached an apparently effortless 50 off 73 balls, including 10 fours, and after that put his shots away and played for the close. Langer, by way of contrast, batted busily and finished the day unbeaten on 26.

These two batsmen may well carry the destiny of the match in their hands, now that Somerset have a slight lead - but bowling conditions on the third day will also be important.