Sussex 208 and 311 for 2 (Machan 137, 76) lead Somerset 274 (Hildreth 82, Trego 81, Overton 53*) by 245 runs
Scorecard
Matt Machan would clearly love to roll this Taunton wicket up and carry it round with him whenever he plays. After scoring his maiden first-class hundred here two years ago, he brought up his fourth century and highest first-class score of 137 not out on the third evening to put Sussex firmly in the driving seat with a lead of 245 and eight wickets intact.
It brings to an end a lean spell for Machan, the 24-year-old Scotland international, whose last six innings - including a first ball duck in the first innings here - have yielded just 81 runs at an average of 13.5.
Today on a pitch which was clearly flattening out and reverting to type, Machan took the attack to Somerset's bowlers under sunny skies with an innings full of exciting strokeplay. He had some luck early on, some balls dropping short or going through the slips, but played some highly effective attacking shots, hitting the ball with great power, including some crunching cover drives, hooks and punches down the ground. The innings clearly meant a lot to Brighton-born Machan who kissed the Sussex badge on his helmet on reaching three figures.
He shared two century stands throughout the afternoon and evening as Sussex made batting look increasingly easy, finding the boundary regularly and maintaining a run rate approaching five an over as Somerset's spirits dropped.
First Machan joined Ed Joyce in a 122-partnership for the second wicket in 24.4 overs after Luke Wells was caught at slip soon after lunch. The pair quickly wiped out the 66-run advantage which Somerset had ground out during the morning and started to build a sizeable lead of their own. Joyce reached only his second Championship half-century of the summer by pulling Craig Overton for successive boundaries, but once he was out, caught at deep midwicket off a mistimed pull shot, Machan forged an unbroken 161-run stand, this time with Chris Nash in 37.5 overs. If anything Nash upped the tempo, bringing up his own half-century off just 58 balls with a flurry of boundaries and finishing unbeaten on 76.
"I've got nice memories of batting here," Machan said. "I like to be an attacking cricketer; a bit of live or die by your own sword."
Throughout the afternoon Marus Trescothick rotated his bowlers frequently, but with less assistance from the conditions, it was becoming easier for the batsman to come forward and drive anything pitched up. But in truth, while Somerset stuck at their task, the batsman were not put under as much pressure as they could have been, something which James Hildreth later admitted.
Somerset had the best of a busy morning in which they added a further 98 to their overnight total for the loss of six wickets. After Hildreth and Peter Trego brought up their 150-run partnership, Ollie Robinson, whose sledge inspired Trego to go for his shots last night, had the last laugh, sending the allrounder's leg stump flying out of the ground for an excellent 81.
Next over, Lewis Gregory and Michael Bates fell in successive balls to leave Somerset on 200 for 7. It was a strange decision to promote the pair ahead of the in-form Craig Overton, who, after being dropped off a hard chance on 1, immediately went on the offensive. He hit a massive six straight down the ground off Robinson into the Botham Stand to take Somerset into the lead. The 62nd over from Robinson went for 4, 6, 4, 0, 0, 4.
Sussex responded to the onslaught from Overton by putting every man, bar the keeper, back on the boundary. The allrounder replied by calmly dispatching the ball high over deep mid-off into the construction site. But after that, Overton seemed content to work the field, taking ones and twos as he took the lead past 50.
There was a brief break in play after Overton ducked into a bouncer from Matthew Hobden, but thankfully after being checked out by the medics he was given the all-clear to continue. After Hildreth fell for 80 and Rehman for 11, the innings ended when Alfonso Thomas went for a wild swipe against Wells and was stumped, leaving Overton stranded on 53 from 44 balls at the other end.
"We weren't happy with the lead we had," Hildreth said. "There were runs to be had if we applied ourselves. It was a disappointing day."
The draw has to be the favourite at this stage, but if Sussex can continue this momentum in the morning then a lunchtime declaration may give Steve Magoffin time to see if he can work his magic against Somerset one more time.
