An intriguing final day is in prospect at Taunton where both Nottinghamshire and Somerset will be striving to record their second LV= County Championship victory of the season.

After Notts had been bowled out for 190 in their second innings, during the opening 85 minutes of the day, a challenging target of 401 had been set for the hosts.

With Marcus Trescothick and Tom Abell putting on 129 for the first wicket, home hopes of chasing down the daunting total were rekindled, but by stumps four further wickets had fallen to leave Somerset on 274 for five, still requiring 127 more.

Will Gidman took two of the wickets to fall, to add to a brisk 22 he’d made at the start of the day. The all-rounder admitted that both sides still have a chance.

“It’s in the balance and shaping up to be a fantastic game of cricket,” he said. “The second new ball is due early tomorrow morning and that’s going to be crucial. Whoever wins that first 45 minutes will be in a good position to win.

“It’s always important to bat with momentum when you’re setting up a target, especially after you’ve lost a couple of wickets. So I wanted to try and swing that momentum in our favour. I wanted to be positive and I was as upset as I’ve ever been when I got out.

“I was pleased to get a couple of wickets, I’ve been frustrated that I’ve not been able to contribute more with the ball in the matches that I’ve played but I mixed it up, tried to keep them guessing and got a couple of wickets with slower balls.”

In the eight overs before lunch Somerset’s openers put on 25 without any alarms and they carried that positivity through the course of a gloriously warm afternoon.

Trescothick led the charge, working the ball into gaps and repeatedly finding the boards. He reached his 50 from 112 balls and had gone on to 65 when he drilled a return catch to Samit Patel.

Tom Abell, 70, and James Hildreth, 4, were Gidman’s victims, both caught at short extra cover and Matt Carter removed Johann Myburgh and Tom Cooper – all in the final session.

The day had begun with Notts on 89 for four in their second innings with Riki Wessels and Luke Wood at the crease, with the visitors holding an overall lead of 299.

Wessels was unable to see out the first over, trapped lbw by Tim Groenewald for his overnight 28. Wood soon followed, bowled by Alfonso Thomas for 4.

Will Gidman and Samit Patel batted positively, adding 48 in 7 overs for the fifth wicket before Groenewald took a fine caught and bowled to remove the left-handed Gidman for 22.

Patel made 46, an innings that saw him pass 9,000 runs in first class cricket and hit Abdur Rehman for an enormous six before then clipping the spinner straight into the hands of Thomas at backward point.

Matt Carter also hit a maximum before being run out off a no ball. Ben Hilfenhaus had hit Thomas high into the off side. Tom Abell had taken the catch and maintained the presence of mind to hurtle the ball in, with Carter well out of his ground.

Jake Ball was bowled for four, leaving the home side with over five sessions to chase down their target and they have since kept the game alive to leave uncertainty about the final outcome.

 

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