A miraculous turnaround saw Lancashire record their first Championship win of the season as they overcame being bowled out for 109 on the first day to beat Somerset by a hefty margin of 164 runs at Old Trafford.
Somerset collapsed to 130 all out on the final day after being set 295 runs to win, but four wickets from Ryan McLaren inspired victory for the Red Rose county after centuries from Liam Livingstone and Alex Davies brought the hosts back into contention.
Lancashire started the day with a lead of 254 runs after McLaren and Stephen Parry's overnight partnership of 44 runs ensured the home side had three more wickets in hand. The pair went on to add 77 runs for the eight wicket, before the final three Lancashire batsmen fell for seven runs.
South-African all-rounder McLaren proved instrumental towards the latter stages of the match, using the swinging conditions to his advantage to finish with figures of 4-37 and a match haul of 8-103 after scoring 45 alongside Parry (44).
In reply to Lancashire's 463 all out, Somerset capitulated, with James Hildreth top-scoring with 43 and veteran Marcus Trescothick (36) the only other significant contributor to a dismal second innings for the visitors.
Just five balls were bowled on the fourth morning before a brief rain delay saw five overs lost, with Lancashire pushing for a possible declaration to force victory. McLaren and Parry brought up their fifty partnership soon after the resumption and set about bolstering the overnight lead into a substantial target.
Parry achieved a career-best score, smothering Craig Overton for successive boundaries to keep the scoreboard ticking under grey skies and floodlit conditions. McLaren reached 45 before Lewis Gregory (5-74) had the all-rounder caught by Dean Elgar at mid on, with Lancashire on 456/8.
Kyle Jarvis (0) did not last long, falling to an impressive diving catch in the covers by Jack Leach off Tim Groenewald (1-87) before Gregory proceeded to dismiss the other overnight batsman at the end of his next over, edging behind to Davies to become the third wicket to fall in the space of 13 balls.
A tantalising finish was on the cards when Somerset were asked to chase 295 runs in a minimum of 77 overs, but a rampant bowling display from McLaren, James Anderson and Jordan Clark chiefly dented any hopes of a victory for the visitors, who went on to suffer their second four-day defeat in was many attempts.
Somerset's run chase started brightly and Trescothick was given a potentially crucial life when he was only on 6, as Davies jumped across Livingstone at first slip and failing to hold on. The visitors went to lunch on 29/0 and there was a feeling this missed opportunity could cost Lancashire, but no more runs were added after the interval before Elgar (8) was bowled by Jarvis, starting a devastating spell of bowling.
Lancashire claimed seven wickets for 78 runs in the afternoon session, with captain Tom Abell the next to depart for a 16-ball duck, edging McLaren's eighth ball of the innings behind to Davies down the leg side.
Trescothick kicked on from his lifeline to hit seven boundaries and used his experience as a former Test opener to keep Somerset in with a chance of winning the match, but when he fell for 36 at 78/3 to a good low catch from McLaren off Anderson at second slip, there were significant doubts about the likelihood of Somerset chasing 295.
Anderson (2-30) had beaten the bat of both Somerset openers before lunch for no reward, but he bagged his second wicket when he bowled Steve Davies for 3. Crucial wickets continued to tumble after lunch, with Peter Trego (7) edging Jordan Clark (3-12) to Livingstone, before Hildreth fell for a defiant 43 when he was trapped lbw by McLaren at 103/6.
Josh Davey became the seventh casualty of the session when he too was pinned on the crease by McLaren for 2, sending Somerset to tea on 107/7 with little hope of rescuing the match. After being bowled out cheaply in their first innings, Lancashire went on to secure one of the greatest victories and certainly one of biggest comebacks in history, as Somerset's tail offered little resistance to Lancashire's bowlers.
There were still 37 overs left for Lancashire to finish the job, but it reality the home side needed only eight more overs to secure a 19-point win. Gregory (4) followed the example of Trego by edging Clark to Livingstone for a smart and instinctive catch at slip, while Leach took a swing at a rising delivery from Clark two overs later and was held at third man by Haseeb Hameed.
Fittingly, it was McLaren who wrapped things up for Lancashire with his fourth victim, bowling Groenewald for a duck to bowl Somerset out for 130 and secure an emphatic 164-run win, a margin that could hardly have been comprehended after the Red Rose were skittled for 109 on a crazy first day.
Livingstone's heroics with the bat ensured he made a winning start to his tenure as stand-in skipper on home soil, while Somerset remain rooted to the bottom of the Division One table after being beaten by Essex in their first game.
| Lancashire 109 & 463: Livingstone 168, Davies 130, McLaren 45 & Gregory 5-74 |
| Somerset 278 & 130: Hildreth 43, Trescothick 36; McLaren 4-37, Clark 3-12, Anderson 2-30 |
| Lancashire (19 pts) beat Somerset (5 pts) by 164 runs |
No comments:
Post a Comment