Somerset 554 (Banton 133, Rew 114, Gregory 77, Lammonby 69) and 194-2 (Renshaw 82*, Umeed 73) beat Kent 154 (Overton 3-38) and 564 (Crawley 238) by 8 wickets
Somerset have won their last two home games and with one round of this initial block of red ball games they find themselves second in the table, still unbeaten and by no means out of touch with the Surrey juggernaut. If we had started the season with genuine title aspirations, I’d be pretty pleased with that. Where many much wiser cricket brains than me forecast a relegation dogfight this season, this is an accomplishment to be proud of. But the biggest takeaway for me is the style of the win and the ever-growing sense that this is a team that believes in itself and its skipper.
Somerset’s last home game lasted two days this one almost every inch of the allotted four. The Essex game produced an aggregate of 592 runs, this one 1,490 runs with both sides producing an innings well into the five hundreds. Two very different wins, two confidence building performances.
But for Somerset fans it all came down to another run chase in the fourth innings. This one was slightly higher (189 compared to 170) and much calmer. But for a Somerset fan of my vintage this was not a relaxing Monday afternoon no matter how “unexciting” Anthony Gibson described it. The third wicket pair of Matt Renshaw and Andy Umeed however achieved the almost unthinkable calming the West Country as they serenely added an unbroken 132 in 30 overs and two balls. Renshaw ended 82*, the ever more impressive Umeed 73 – a career-high championship score for Somerset.
Umeed even managed a nod to our great club’s legacy, ending the game in the grand style. I like him more and more every time he plays.
Serene? There haven’t been many times in all my years that I’ve associated that word with my beloved county. Brian Rose was probably the closest to achieving that mindset always the calm at the centre of the excitement Sir Viv and Lord Ian perpetually spun us in. Even the personality maelstrom that is Matt Renshaw seems to be more measured, more calm.
As many know, I’d challenge anyone to be a bigger fan of Tom Abell, but the way Somerset went about their work on the last two days got me thinking. Does a cricket side at his level demonstrate the characteristics of its captain? Lewis Gregory is a much calmer individual, don’t mistake that for a lack of passion or will to win and here we saw evidence that his Somerset side are developing the same mentality.
Could it make a difference this year? It did over the last two days, there is no doubt of that.
They persisted in the face of the challenge of Kent’s second innings score reaching 378-1 on Sunday evening, took four crucial wickets before the close of the third day. When Denly and Stewart added 59 for the ninth wicket, taking the target above 150 there was still no alarm.
And thankfully for Somerset’s supporters the run chase was carried out in the same calm manner.
Somerset though prevailed at 5:37 this afternoon vanquishing a weak Kent side who at the denouement were down to just two seamers and a far from front line spinner. The maximum point win takes them second in the table which sees the top three 24 points clear of fourth and leaders Surrey with an 18 points gap at the top.
As many know from reading this blog, my Dad, bless him, always managed to find the negatives in any Somerset performance. He would cite that in allowing Kent to make 564 after enforcing the follow on was not acceptable. But the real contest was not between Somerset’s bowlers and the Kent batters but between Overton, Gregory & co and the Taunton pitch.
After Nottinghamshire’s run fest in the home game before last and the seamer-friendly low scorer against Essex this was somewhere in between. After losing the hapless Dickson the rest of the Somerset top seven all got starts, two got fifties and two got tons. But on the second day, in the late afternoon the possibility of 700 by lunch on Sunday seemed distinct with Banton and Rew into three figures and closing in on the 400 mark.
As it turned out neither survived to the close and with Craig also departing the fifth batting point seemed the limit of Somerset’s ambition. The skipper, with admirable help from none, ten and Jack (literally) contributed 144 pushing the lead to 376.
Lewis opted not to enforce the follow-on. There was a little of me that wanted them to bat again and set Kent 600+ in four and a bit sessions. But then reason prevailed as it thankfully had in Lewis’ mind.
The shame was that Zak Crawley chose this game to find his form. Having been unable to find a score so far this season he chose Taunton on a sunny Sunday to make up for it. With Compton, Bell-Drummond and Denly all making sixties Kent were able to beat their first innings score by a barely feasible 410.
But chasing less than 200 on this docile surface against a bowling attack that started without Wes Agar and Matt Parkinson and then further inhibited by injuries to Garret and Gilchrist was never going to be an issue.
