Somerset were bailed out by their lower order after choosing to bat against Warwickshire on the opening day of their LV= Insurance County Championship game at Edgbaston.
After rain wiped out the first session, the visitors plummeted to 37 for six against a disciplined seam-attack led by the evergreen Chris Rushworth (four for 33).
But captain Tom Abell (22, 84 balls) and Lewis Gregory (39, 48) added 56 for the seventh wicket and, after they perished with the total still short of 100, Neil Wagner (55 not out, 50) and Josh Davbey (28 not out, 53) added an unbroken 84.
The comfort with which the ninth-wicket pair scored their runs must have embarrassed their top order colleagues. It also suggests that, on a good batting pitch, despite Somerset’s recovery, Warwickshire remain strongly placed.
