Hosts set Foxes mammoth first innings chase

 DAY TWO | Somerset CCC 461 for nine dec. v Leicestershire CCC 95 for three

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REPORT | Marchant de Lange records a new highest score for Somerset, whilst Josh Davey records a new first-class best as the duo pile on the runs in their ninth wicket partnership, as Somerset declare on 461.

Josh Inglis made his County Championship debut for the Running Foxes becoming the 492nd player to represent Leicestershire CCC in first-class cricket.

Day two got underway in Taunton with the outlook for the entirety looking a lot better than what it did as the first day of County Championship action got underway yesterday.

The Running Foxes would have been looking to knock off the remaining three Somerset wickets as soon as possible, and to get their first innings response up and running within the first session of the day.

Only six overs remained before the option of the new ball was available for Leicestershire, which the Running Foxes took at the first chance, after 29 runs were posted on the morning of day two from the remaining overs of the old ball.

Roelof van de Merwe was proving to be the pivotal wicket from the three remaining as he raced away to his half-century after eight second day overs, with the fifty coming from 105 balls, including six fours and one six.

The Somerset 300 runs came up next, swiftly followed the eight wicket’s 100th run with van de Merwe leading the way on 70, accompanied by Josh Davey on 30.

The next over, though, broke the 102-run eighth wicket stand as van de Merwe looked to drive Barnes back over his head for his eleventh four of the day.

The batsman did not catch all of it though, as Will Davis came in from long on to catch and dismiss the Dutch international for 76.

Marchant de Lange joined Davey at the crease and set his stall out early, looking to amass the runs as quickly as possible with aggression at the crease.

The South-African recorded a four and a six within his first over faced and soon found himself in the 20’s with the hosts approaching their fifth and final batting point, as the overs bowled exceeded 100 for the innings.

The half-century then came up for de Lange’s teammate at the crease, Davey, brought up in 134 balls, including eight fours.

Lunch was then signals following de Lange’s half-century as he cracked Griffiths away for his fourth six of the innings, from the last ball of the morning session.

The half-century was brought up in a rapid 38 balls, including four fours and fours sixes, with Somerset taking lunch on 408 for eight, de Lange 50* and Davey 52*.

The ninth wicket came soon after the beginning of the afternoon session as Marcus Harris caught de Lange down at long on for 75, as the South-African looked to send Parkinson back over his head.

Somerset were 446 for nine as Jack Brooks joined Davey in the middle.

Fifteen balls into the partnership and Davey brought up his first-class best with an offside drive for two off the bowling of Davis.

At the end of that over, the hosts brought their innings to an end with a declaration on 461 for nine, with Davey 75*, accompanied by Brooke 0* from his six deliveries faced.

County got their response underway, as they required 312 first innings runs to avoid the follow on, with Lewis Hill and Rishi Patel leading the Running Foxes out.

Craig Overton, who was captaining Somerset for the first time in Championship cricket opened the bowling for the hosts.

The duo got off to an assured start, with each batsman having got their boundaries off the mark within the first five overs of the innings.

The Foxes, and Hill specifically, were living a charmed life in the tenth over, after the batsman edged a Brooks delivery straight to Overton at third slip who did not manage to take the simple catch.

The drop by Overton did not cost any further runs for Hill (14), though, as the Somerset skipper made amends for his earlier blunder.

At the beginning of the eleventh over, Overton’s sixth of the day, the Somerset man claimed the wicket of Hill after pinning him infront with a delivery that look to have pitched outside-off.

County were on 36 for one as Marcus Harris made his way to the crease.

The Australian got off the mark immediately after driving Overton away for four from his first ball faced, which was quickly followed up with his second boundary from the penultimate ball of the same over.

The second wicket partnership was soon dismantled though, as Patel (21) edged Brooks’ delivery that seamed away from the batsman to the hands of Overton at third slip who made no mistake this time.

The third wicket duo saw County through to their fiftieth run, coming from Ackermann’s first of the innings after glancing Davey down to backward square leg.

Tea came with the wicket of Harris for 21, as Davey found the inside edge and Davies caught the Australian behind.

Ackermann was joined by Leicestershire’s latest County Championship debutant, Josh Inglis, as the Skipper got the evening session up and running with his first boundary of the contest.

The Skipper had recorded a flurry of boundaries with three coming from successive de Lange overs, to slightly relieve a bit of the pressure exuding from the scoreboard.

Inglis went on to record his second boundary of the day, after driving Brooks away before play was halted due to bad light which was swiftly followed by rain. The players came off the field at 5:17pm with the Foxes score on 95 for three, with Ackermann on 22* and Inglis on 15*.

Following the delay in play due to bad light, rain started falling in Taunton and got heavier the longer it went on.

This prompted the umpires to call time on day two in Somerset at 6:00pm, with the Running Foxes having chipped 91 runs off of their initial target of 312, for the cost of three wickets.

FIGURES (1st inns) | Davis 29-4-89-2, Barnes 19-4-96-1, Mike 20-4-70-1, Griffiths 20-1-93-3, Parkinson 27-4-98-2

Overton 12-3-33-1, Davey 9-2-19-1, Brooks 7.5-2-22-1, de Lange 7-2-19-0

TEAM | Rishi Patel, Lewis Hill, Marcus Harris, Colin Ackermann (C), Josh Inglis, Harry Swindells (wk), Ben Mike, Callum Parkinson, Gavin Griffiths, Ed Barnes, Will Davis

SOMERSET CCC | Devon Conway, Steve Davies (wk), Tom Lammonby, James Hildreth, George Bartlett, Lewis Goldsworthy, Craig Overton (C), Roelof van de Merwe, Jack Brooks, Marchant de Lange, Josh Davey

IMAGES | Thanks to John Mallett of Outside Off for providing the images throughout the game.