Somerset go second after draw

Somerset 412 drew with Hampshire 284 and 224 for 4
Scorecard

Somerset overtook Yorkshire to move into second place in the First Division table but may feel they missed an opportunity to go one better against a Hampshire side reduced to seven fit players and one walking wounded.

The casualty count is a major concern for Hampshire ahead of Twenty20 finals day at the Rose Bowl on Saturday, when they did hope to mark their hosting of the showpiece event by winning the competition for the first time.

Michael Lumb, who played a key role in England's World Twenty20 triumph in the Caribbean in May, is definitely ruled out with a broken foot -- inflicted somewhat ironically by his England opening partner, Craig Kieswetter, when he was fielding at silly point on Wednesday. Lumb will miss the rest of the season. There are worries, too, over Sean Ervine and veteran skipper Dominic Cork, both of whom have back injuries, although Hampshire expect both will be fit enough to take part.

None of the three could field as Somerset continued their first-innings accumulation. Hampshire had to press their travelling physio, Craig DeWeymarn, into making up the numbers in addition to nominated 12th man, David Balcombe, and also sent out an emergency call to Adam Kelly, a club cricketer from Bath who attends university in Southampton and has helped out as a net bowler at the Rose Bowl.

DeWeymarn continued to wear Cork's spare shirt while Kelly had borrowed one from Balcombe, which explained why some spectators were looking puzzled. If that were not enough, Hampshire had another scare later when Dan Christian, their Australian all-rounder, suffered a nasty facial wound when a short delivery from Somerset's Zander de Bruyn struck him just under the peak of his helmet.

As blood poured from Christian's nose and from a gashed eyebrow, Cork hobbled to the railings on the Hampshire dressing room balcony to wave a white sheet of surrender. But Christian upheld his country's honour with an appropriate display of characteristic grittiness, pausing for the wounds to be patched while a groundstaff member covered the blood on the pitch with sawdust, but then continuing his innings. He went on, vitally in the circumstances, to make 36.

With Neil McKenzie contributing an unbeaten 60 off 131 balls, Hampshire had reached 224-4 when all parties agreed that a positive result was not going to happen. It was a gutsy effort by the visitors, who may yet find the three extra points earned for the draw to be hugely important in their battle to stay in the top division.

Somerset, for their part, will regret the loss of so much time to rain on the second day and skipper Marcus Trescothick was not off a mind that quicker progress on the third day might have tipped the time equation in his favour, negating the need to extend their second innings on the final morning. "There just was not enough time left in the game," he said. "The ball did not turn as much as we hoped it would for the spinners and I felt we did as well as we could have done."

Somerset had been 392 for 7 at the close of the third day and batted on for a further seven overs, eschewing the declaration even after James Hildreth was out for 130, caught at first slip as James Tomlinson claimed the sixth wicket in his haul of 7 for 85, or after the fifth batting point was clinched moments afterwards. Murali Kartik was the last victim for Tomlinson, whose career-best 8 for 46 came on this ground two years ago.

Hampshire were left with 87 overs to survive as Somerset waited for Kartik to enhance his already rich reputation with another match-winning performance with the ball.

The Indian left-armer broke the opening partnership when Jimmy Adams, attempting a sweep, looped a catch off the top edge to leg slip, but that was his only success as Hampshire applied themselves to the task.

Michael Carberry, trying to flick the ball away on the leg side, lost his off stump to Charl Willoughby but James Vince looked more assured against Kartik than he had in the first innings and he and McKenzie added 85 for ther third wicket before Vince edged De Bruyn to first slip.

Christian, who had scored only two when he suffered his injury, lost his wicket when he went down the pitch to Arul Suppiah, Kartik's fellow left-arm spinner, but by then Somerset's cause was effectively lost.

Trescothick's team are not without their injury concerns. Ben Phillips bowled only six overs and two balls before suffering a thigh strain and Hildreth, who took a blow on the hand before he had got off the mark on day three, did not field. Their fitness will be monitored, too, ahead of Saturday.