Somerset 208 all out, Warwickshire 92/2, trail by 116 runs.
Lewis Goldsworthy mustered a battling half-century to keep Somerset afloat on the opening day of the Rothesay County Championship First Division match against Warwickshire at the Cooper Associates Ground, Taunton.
On a day when Somerset’s batting misfired in large part, Goldsworthy contributed a crucial 90 from 184 balls with 13 fours in a below-par total of 208. Beau Webster proved Warwickshire’s destroyer-in-chief, claiming 4-23 in eight overs, while Ethan Bamber, Nathan Gilchrist and Manav Suthar weighed in with two wickets apiece as the home side were dismissed in 65 overs.
Warwickshire then consolidated their position in the final session, Sam Hain (37 not out) and Dan Mousley (37 not out) staging an unbroken third wicket stand of 78 as the visitors reached the close on 92-2, trailing by 116.
Somerset won the toss, elected to bat on a green-tinged pitch and saw their top-order batting fatally undermined by the new ball. Bamber struck twice in three balls in the third over, angling a delivery into Josh Thomas, who edged behind to Alex Davies, and then locating the outside edge to have Tom Kohler-Cadmore held by Rob Yates at second slip. When Jordan Hermann flashed hard at a ball outside off stump from Gilchrist and was pouched by Webster at third slip, Somerset were 21-3, having lost their top three in the space of five deliveries.
Charged with the task of rebuilding, Goldsworthy and Thomas Rew saw off the new ball threat posed by Bamber and Gilchrist before profiting from change bowlers Ed Barnard and Jordan Thompson to lead a partial recovery. Making only his third Championship appearance, teenager Rew marked the advent of Suthar by hoisting his slow left arm for six over long-on as the balance of power shifted in favour of the fourth wicket pair.
Their partnership was worth 65 when Rew blotted his copybook, shouldering arms to a straight one from Webster and falling lbw for 35. Warming to his task, Webster then extracted additional lift to find the edge, Archie Vaughan feathering a catch to first slip as lunch was taken with Somerset precariously-positioned at 94-5.
The home side continued to lose wickets following the resumption, Webster persuading stand-in captain Craig Overton to open the face and slice straight to Zen Malik at point and then bowling around the wicket to Jack Leach, who nicked behind with the score 97-7.
Staunch resistance was called for and Josh Shaw stood up to be counted, contributing a well-crafted 28 in a resilient alliance of 55 with Goldsworthy, the eighth wicket pair frustrating Warwickshire’s attempts to run through the tail. By the time Shaw gave Suthar the charge and succumbed to a fine catch by Hain on the long-on boundary, the home side had gone a long way towards saving face.
Goldsworthy may have lived a charmed existence outside off stump, but his commitment to the cause saw him chisel an extremely valuable half century from 137 balls. Accelerating as wickets fell at the other end, the 25-year-old Cornishman batted with intelligence to retain the strike as he closed in on three figures.
But Migael Pretorius was undone by a slower ball, offering a return catch to Suthar, and Goldsworthy was last man out, skying a ball from Gilchrist to Hain at backward point and falling 10 runs short of the hundred his efforts warranted.
Somerset made early in-roads with the new ball, Jake Ball having Davies held at first slip and Overton pouching a return catch to remove Yates and reduce Warwickshire to 14-2.
Adopting a low-risk approach, Hain and Rousley batted with discipline to shut out Somerset’s bowlers thereafter, going to a 50 partnership via 87 balls.
Warwickshire all-rounder Beau Webster said: “It’s been a very good day for us. Obviously, there is still a long way to go and the job is certainly not done, but the boys were great today. It’s a new ball itch and Ethan Bamber set things up for us, just as he’s been doing all season. We managed to get through their top order and then the pitch became flatter and drier. The ball was still doing a bit when I came on too bowl and it felt as though it was coming out of my hand nicely. Sam Hain and Dan Mousley then batted really well during the last couple of hours to put us in a good position. I’ve not bowled much for Warwickshire this year, so it was nice to be able to run in. As the game goes on, I think the spinners will come into it more.”