Luke Wood battles as Jamie Overton fires up Somerset

Somerset 337 and 44 for 0 lead Worcestershire 257 (Wood 65*, J Overton 4-61, Davey 4-68) by 127 runs
Scorecard

Jamie Overton and Josh Davey shared eight wickets to give Somerset the upper hand despite staunch resistance from Luke Wood and the Worcestershire lower order on day two of the Specsavers County Championship match at Blackfinch New Road.

Jamie Overton picked up his first Championship wickets of 2018 on his way to figures of 4 for 61 from 15 overs and bowled with considerable pace. He has gradually been built up to full match fitness via playing in the Royal London Cup and Vitality Blast and impressed in his second Championship game of 2018.

After Worcestershire were dismissed for 257 in their first innings - a deficit of 80 - Somerset openers Marcus Trescothick and Ed Byrom then extended their overall advantage to 127 by the close.

Their position would be even stronger but for the efforts of Wood, who is on loan to Worcestershire for a month from Nottinghamshire. The paceman came to the wicket at 120 for 7 and featured in crucial partnerships of 46 with Ross Whiteley and 84 with Dillon Pennington.

Wood ended unbeaten on 65 from 77 deliveries and struck 10 boundaries. His efforts not only enabled the home side to avoid the possibility of being asked to follow on but also secured two batting points.

But Worcestershire will still need a major turnaround in the overall trend of the opening half of the match if they are to stave off the threat of a fifth defeat in eight Championship matches. As well as Somerset bowled, some of their front-line batsmen will be disappointed at the manner of their dismissal.

Somerset had resumed on 324 for 9 and added 13 more runs before Jack Leach edged Ed Barnard to first slip.

Worcestershire quickly ran into trouble when they launched their reply with the quickfire dismissal of openers Travis Head and Daryl Mitchell. Head pushed forward to Davey and edged to Craig Overton at third slip and Mitchell flicked at a Craig Overton delivery and was caught down the leg side by Steven Davies.

Joe Clarke struck four boundaries but surrendered his wicket in a tame manner when he clipped Davey straight to midwicket.

Moeen Ali's innings was a mixture of class shots and being given a searching examination by Jamie Overton and after making 30 he drove loosely at the paceman and nicked through to Davies. Skipper Brett D'Oliveira was then trapped lbw by the same bowler in the last over before lunch.

Worcestershire continued to lose wickets at regular intervals with Barnard (29), who had been promoted to No. 6, and debutant Alex Milton both ousted on 120 in successive overs by Davey and Craig Overton respectively.

Wood and Whiteley played with freedom in putting on 46 in six overs before the latter was bowled by the returning Jamie Overton. But his dismissal brought in Pennington, playing only his second Championship match, and he showed his mettle and willingness for a fight in adversity alongside Wood.

The innings finally ended when Pennington was bowled by Jamie Overton and then Steve Magoffin popped a Davey delivery up on the on side.