Somerset 196 for 5 (Rew 77*, Aldridge 55*, Abbott 4-20) vs Hampshire
Young guns James Rew and Kasey Aldridge batted Somerset out of a deep hole created by Hampshire seamer Kyle Abbott on a rain-interrupted opening day of the LV= County Championship match with Hampshire at Taunton.
The experienced Abbott, who boasts a prolific record against the Cidermen, claimed 4 for 10 from seven overs and a run-out as the hosts slipped to 80 for 5 after winning the toss on what looked an excellent batting pitch. But sixth-wicket pair Rew and Aldridge, with a combined age of just 41, then showed impressive maturity to put together an unbroken stand of 116 in 26 overs before the weather had the final say with Somerset 196 for 5.
Abbott ended the day with figures of 4 for 20. Altogether, 39 overs were lost, including 19 at the end of the day, but what action there was provided positives for both teams.
Somerset rested Craig Overton, Lewis Gregory, Matt Henry, Ben Green and Tom Kohler-Cadmore ahead of Saturday's Vitality Blast Finals Day at Edgbaston. Dom Bess returned to their team at the start of a short-term loan from Yorkshire as one of two specialist spinners, the other being Shoaib Bashir.
It was no surprise when home skipper Tom Abell elected to take first use of a dry looking pitch. Tom Lammonby and Sean Dickson took the total to 26 in the seventh over before Abbott, who had replaced Keith Barker at the Marcus Trescothick Pavilion End, made his first impact.
Lammonby, on 15, drove at a good length ball and edged a catch through to wicketkeeper Ben Brown. Soon it was 36 for 2 as Abell got a leading edge to Abbott and was caught and bowled for 5.
With five runs added, Dickson connected with a sweet straight drive, only to see Abbott deflect the ball onto the stumps at the bowler's end with George Bartlett out of his ground backing up. The crestfallen Bartlett departed for a duck to make it 41 for 3 and without addition Abbott pinned Dickson lbw for 21, playing a across a full delivery.
Andy Umeed, making his first Championship appearance of the season, took 19 balls to get off the mark before registering a four to third man.
Not for the first time, 19-year-old Rew looked more solid than some of the players higher up the order and the pair gradually set about repairing the early damage. At 50 for 4, Hampshire introduced spin in the shape of Liam Dawson from the River End and his first delivery to Rew turned sharply from outside off stump.
Rew and Umeed had added 33 for the fifth wicket when it started raining at 12.55pm and the umpires ordered an early lunch with Somerset 74 for 4. The game resumed after the interval, but for only a matter of minutes before a more persistent shower saw the heavy covers put on. Twenty overs were lost before another restart at 3.30pm.
Between then and tea, which was taken at 4.50pm, Somerset added 91 for the loss of Umeed, who had to drag himself off after carelessly pulling a short ball from Abbott straight to Felix Organ at midwicket and falling for 16.
Rew and 22-year-old Aldridge then batted positively on a blameless surface, the former looking particularly strong off his legs in moving to a 105-ball fifty, featuring seven fours. Already with four Championship hundreds behind him this season, Rew again demonstrated his huge potential in red-ball cricket, while Aldridge leant valuable support in a stand worth 85 by tea.
The final session saw Aldridge take the partnership past 100 with a top-edged pull for his sixth boundary and then move to an attractive half-century with four overthrows, having faced 73 balls.
Rew continued to accumulate steadily with few alarms and had faced 142 balls when the rain returned at 5.45pm. The covers were removed again shortly afterwards, but with more drizzle in the air and the floodlights casting shadows, umpires James Middlebrook and Ben Peverell abandoned play for the day..
