Report: Somerset vs Warwickshire, Day Four, Rothesay County Championship

Somerset 208 & 435 drew with Warwickshire 330 & 98-2

Somerset 11pts, Warwickshire 13pts.

Warwickshire moved to within five points of Rothesay County Championship Division One leaders Nottinghamshire after drawing with Somerset at the Cooper Associates Ground, Taunton. Craig Overton completed his third Rothesay County Championship century of the season as the Division One contest drifted to a stalemate on the final day.

Captaining Somerset in the absence of the injured Lewis Gregory, Overton moved from an overnight 89 not out to 111, extending a seventh-wicket stand with Thomas Rew to 233 before Somerset were bowled out for 435 in their second innings, a lead of 313.

Teenager Rew was finally dismissed for 149, while left-arm spinner Manav Suthar finished with five for 100 from 46.5 overs. Warwickshire gave up any thought of chasing victory after slipping to 34 for two and closed a disappointingly tepid final day on 98 for two, Rob Yates unbeaten on 51 and Sam Hain 23 not out.

Somerset took 11 points from the game and Warwickshire 13, both moving to within five of Division One leaders Nottinghamshire. The home side could reflect on a stirring recovery from the brink of defeat on day three when they led by just 26 runs with only four second innings wickets in hand.

Rew, unbeaten on 133, and Overton had already added 193 when play began under more cloudless skies with Somerset 341 for six, leading by 219. Neither looked in any bother and a Rew single through the leg side off Ethan Bamber brought up the double-century partnership from 357 balls.

Overton went to his hundred with one of the best shots of a composed innings, a straight-drive off Bamber, which brought his 13th four. He had faced 206 deliveries and, together with Rew, transformed the game.

Their stand was finally broken with the total on 381 when Overton fell lbw to a ball from Yates, which turned and beat his inside edge. Rew quickly followed, feathering a leg-side catch to wicketkeeper Alex Davies off Beau Webster, having faced 287 balls and hit 19 fours.

With a lead of 259, Somerset required one more partnership to feel safe. It came from Jack Leach and Alfie Ogborne, who added 46 before the latter was bowled by the last delivery before lunch, sent down by Suthar.

Leach, celebrating his 35th birthday, was unbeaten on 25 when last man Jake Ball perished attempting a big hit off Suthar, who gained some belated success for his tireless bowling on a pitch offering no more than slow turn.

Any hope Warwickshire had of chasing down the target of 314 in a minimum of 61 overs evaporated with the early departures of Zen Malik and Dan Mousley. Both fell to Leach in his first three overs, Malik edging to Overton at slip and Mousley deflecting a catch to Archie Vaughan at leg-slip.

Yates and Hain quickly opted for a safety-first approach against spinner Leach and Vaughan. By tea, they had taken the score to 75 for two from 32 overs and Warwickshire still trailed by 238.

Not for the first time, a last-day pitch at Taunton had the final say as Somerset toiled in vain for a third wicket. The weather closed in at the start of the final session and the floodlights were required as Yates went to a 120-ball half-century, with nine fours.

Rain began to fall and, with a thunderstorm approaching, play was abandoned at 4.45pm, with a further 22 overs possible.