SOMERSET captain Marcus Trescothick said runs from the lower-order was a significant factor in Somerset claiming their first competitive victory of the season, as they bowled Nottinghamshire out inside two sessions on day four to seal a 133-run triumph at Trent Bridge.

Tom Groenewald followed up his nine wickets against New Zealand last week with 4-51, to help dismiss Notts for just 114, on a day that saw 22 wickets fall – but Trescothick was keen to point out vital batting contributions from Craig Overton, Alex Barrow, Lewis Gregory, Pete Trego and Groenewald, in setting the hosts a competitive fourth-innings target.

The captain told Somerset’s official website: “We are absolutely delighted because we have had a tough few weeks ahead of this game.

“We have tried to change a few things in this game and the reward that we have got for all of the hard work that we have put in is a very nice feeling.

“Now we have got to go on into the next few games and months and carry on in the same vein that we have in this game because we have done a lot of very good things.

“We needed to bowl as straight as we could and we probably let them get a few more runs than they should first time.

“We got into our bowling very quickly in their second innings and bowled straight at the stumps, which you can see from the volume of LBWs and bowled in the course of the game.

“One of the things we have talked about is lower order runs and certainly in this game our lower order has outperformed the Notts lower order by some way which is probably where the difference was made.

“Look at Craig Overton in the first innings with 50, then Lewis in the second and Alex Barrow getting runs in both innings - and Trego getting runs so the percentage of runs we got in the lower order was crucial in the context of the game.

“I think that this has given us a bit of confidence and given us something we needed after a tough start to the season - now we need to capitalize on it and move forward from now on.”