Kyle Abbott, James Vince lead the way as Hampshire secure second-place finish
Somerset’s disappointing end to season ends in five-wicket defeat at Taunton
ECB Reporters Network28-Sep-2024
James Vince produced a matchwinning fifty•Getty Images
Skipper James Vince led from the front as Hampshire clinched runners-up spot in the Vitality County Championship with a five-wicket Division One victory over third-placed Somerset at Taunton.The home side added 120 to their overnight second innings score of 60 for four before being bowled out for 180, skipper Lewis Gregory top-scoring with 59 and Jack Leach making 33 not out. Kyle Abbott finished with five for 37 from 18 overs.Set 121 to win, Hampshire lost wickets to the first two balls of their second innings, bowled by Gregory, who was denied a hat-trick when Kasey Aldridge spilled a low chance at second slip offered by Vince.It proved an expensive miss as Vince went on to hit 54 and Liam Dawson 44 not out, helping the visitors to reach their target on the third afternoon from 27 overs.Hampshire took 19 points from the game to guarantee second place behind Surrey and Somerset only three, having seen their concerted challenge for all three trophies end without winning one is a desperately disappointing end to the campaign.Hopes that their fifth-wicket pair Tom Kohler-Cadmore and James Rew could build them a significant lead in the morning session were soon dispelled when Kohler-Cadmore was bowled by Mohammad Abbas, having added only two to his overnight score of 15.At 62 for five, the hosts led by just two runs. With a further 13 added, Aldridge, on 11, became Abbott’s fourth victim of the innings when edging to third slip. That brought in Gregory, who wasted no time in launching a spirited counter-attack, hitting Liam Dawson for three successive fours and a six in the 32nd over.James Rew, unbeaten on eight overnight, began solidly and the pair had taken the score to 108 when he drove loosely at a wide delivery from Abbas and was caught behind for 19.Gregory went to a defiant 38-ball half-century, with eight fours and a six, while Leach looked more competent with the bat than some of Somerset’s top order in a partnership of 55 that frustrated Hampshire for 12 overs.Inevitably, it was Abbott who ended it, scattering Gregory’s stumps with a ball that nipped back between bat and pad to make the score 163 for eight, a Somerset lead of 103. Off-spinner Felix Organ then chipped in with the last two wickets as Alfie Ogborne was caught behind cutting and Shoaib Bashir bowled pushing forward, while Abbott finished with match figures of nine for 74.Lunch had been delayed for the fall of the final wicket and Hampshire’s second innings began after the interval. It could hardly have started more dramatically as Toby Albert was caught behind off Gregory’s first ball and Nick Gubbins edged to fourth slip off the second.The chance offered by Vince off the third was far from easy, but Aldridge appeared to get two hands to the ball just before it touched the ground. With so few runs to defend, Somerset had to take every opportunity.Still they had hope as Fletcha Middleton edged Gregory to wicketkeeper James Rew to make it 21 for three and Leach gained a leg before verdict against Tom Prest, reverse sweeping, at 46 for four.But that was as good as it got for Somerset. Dawson joined Vince in defying the spin attack of Leach and Bashir, calming any nerves in the visiting dressing room with a solid stand of 57 in 14 overs.Vince went to his fifty off 58 balls with a four through mid-on off Bashir, misfielded by Leach, who looked the more menacing of the two England spinners in both innings, as his match figures of seven for 77 compared to Bashir’s none for 78 illustrated.By the time Vince was stumped dancing down the pitch to Leach, Hampshire needed only 18 more runs and the outcome was all but settled. Dawson had the satisfaction of hitting the winning runs off Bashir at the end of a crucial 56-ball contribution.