Lancashire fight for survival, frustrating title-chasing Somerset

On the second day of the Vitality County Championship encounter at Old Trafford, Lancashire’s batsmen forced title-chasing Somerset work for every wicket and had amassed a commanding 292-run advantage by the end of play.

In the second innings of a contest that both teams sorely need to win—Lancashire to keep their hopes of escaping relegation, Surrey to stay in touch with Surrey at the top of the table—the home team finished on 298 for 7 thanks to Josh Bohannon’s 60 and Luke Wells’ undefeated 78.

During a morning session where Lancashire scored 90 runs in 27 overs for the loss of just two wickets, the disparity between the first and second days of play was evident.

Bowlers had to work harder for their wickets on a field that had lost much of its greenness and dried up. Will Williams, the nightwatchman, was the only batsman removed in the first hour when he was caught leg-before-wicket by Craig Overton for 7 in the morning’s third over.

After that, Harry Singh and Bohannon, who batted brilliantly to hit 60 off 76 balls, added 85 for the third wicket. But the fact that Bohannon’s half-century was only his fourth innings over fifty in 22 Championship innings was a sign of the issues he has faced this season.

Not that it took away from Somerset’s happiness in the last over before lunch, when Bohannon attempted to lift a delivery from Kasey Aldridge, only managing to deflect it to Tom Abell in the gully with his bat’s toe.

After the match, Singh and Rocky Flintoff held off Lewis Gregory‘s bowlers for fifty minutes. Eventually, Singh gave the New Zealander his maiden wicket for Somerset when he thin-edged a catch off Brett Randell.

After hitting three quick fours in 19 runs, Matty Hurst failed to match Singh’s patient resistance, giving up a catch to Overton at second slip after he had faced 142 balls in his 260-minute innings of 30.

Lancashire led 208 at teatime, but Well and George Bell saw their side through to 214 for 6, when Flintoff was bowled for 27 by Jack Leach’s arm-ball in the following over. And when play resumed, Bell and Wells took their seventh wicket partnership to 83 until Bell was dismissed for 23 after attempting to lift a low ball from Gregory.

For this match, Wells moved down into the middle order after struggling lately in his typical opening slot. Despite having to bat as low as No. 7 due to Williams’s deployment as a nightwatchman, he eventually followed in Bohannon’s footsteps and passed fifty for just the fourth time this season. What stood out most about his strokeplay, though, was when he struck three off-side boundaries in a single over from Gregory.

Also Read: Ryan Patel seizes moment as 134 drives Surrey to title

And Lancashire was leading the way when the day came to an end. Wells was undefeated at 78, and the Somerset fielders were incensed that George Balderson, who was seemingly run out by Overton’s slip, had not been declared out on 5. Earlier, the visitors were fined five runs for inauthentic fielding.