SOMERSET dominate day one at the Utilita Bowl following an impressive all round display on day one.
Rothesay County Championship, Division One, Utilita Bowl (day one)
Hampshire 238: Lehmann 76; Gregory 3-45, Overton 3-50
Somerset 154-3: Rew 77*; Baker 1-18
Somerset (3 pts) trail Hampshire (1 pt) by 84 runs
Hampshire won the toss and skipper Ben Brown elected to bat first and initially his desicion looked to be vindicated as Hampshire openers Nick Gubbins and Toby Albert put on 25 for the opening wicket, the latter playing some confident shots in the process.
Gubbins was the first to depart for seven in the sixth over but Albert rebuilt with Tom Prest to take the score past the 50 mark.
Jake Lehmann was the only Hampshire batter to offer any sort of meaningful resistance to the Somerset attack but men constantly fell around him.
Lewis Gregory struck twice in quick succession first taking the scalp of opener Albert for a well made 42, then the big wicket of skipper Ben Brown for a duck. Brown was coming into this innings off the back of a match winning century in Hampshire’s victory over Yorkshire.
A middle order collapse after lunch saw Hampshire lose three wickets in as many overs thanks to the combination of Jake Ball and Craig Overton leaving the hosts 126-7. Both Kyle Abbott and Eddie Jack provided counter attacks to take the score comfortably past 200.
Lehmann was the last to depart top scoring with 76 but that wasnt enough to see Hampshire gain a bonus batting point, ending 238 all out.
Initially, the Hampshire fightback was promising as Josh Thomas edged behind without scoring in just the seventh ball of the innings. Tom Lammonby departed just a few overs later to leave the visitors in a perilous position of 25-2.
James Rew joined opener Archie Vaughan at the crease in attempt rebuilding the innings. The youthful pair saw off the new ball and put on 69 for the third wicket before Vaughan hooked a Sonny Baker bouncer to long leg.
Rew then accelerated ending the day 77 not out to compliment his 64, 122 and 48 in his previous encounters in the County Championship. The 22 year old is certainly making a claim to be involved in some capacity this summer.
Along with Rew, Tom Abell took his side to stumps trailing by just 54 runs with seven wickets in hand, to end a perfect day for the visitors. The foundation has been set for an even more dominant display on day two for the side who lead the County Championship.
