Specsavers County Championship - Division 1
Day 2
Somerset 436 all out v Surrey 69-1

STEVE Davies scored his first century for Somerset as the hosts were all out for 436 in their first innings at the Cooper Associates County Ground.

In reply, Surrey ended the day on 69-1, Rory Burns the man to depart, to trail by 367 runs.

The home side resumed on 234-4, with Davies and skipper Tom Abell at the crease.

Abell worked his way up to within touching distance of a century, only to fall short on 96 (caught behind off the bowling of Rikki Clarke).

Even so, it was a superb innings from Abell on his return to the County Championship side, especially given his side were 46-3 when he entered the fray.

Jim Allenby (9) and Craig Overton (0) both fell in the same over to Stuart Meaker, but Davies – now joined by Dom Bess – continued to go well against his former employers.

He secured his century with a boundary off Tom Curran, moving to 102 off 147 balls (with 12 fours and a six), and the hosts were 357-7 at lunch.

Following the interval, Bess scored his first Somerset half-century in style, with three consecutive 4s off Clarke, before being bowled by Gareth Batty for 55.

Davies finally departed for an exceptional 142 (caught by Jason Roy off Sam Curran), before a shower interrupted play with Somerset on 394-9.

A quick-fire 31 from Tim Groenewald, supported by Jack Leach (17no), brought maximum batting points for the home side, who had 436 on the board when Groenewald fell to Scott Borthwick.

The Surrey reply reached 28-0 before a half-hour delay due to more rain, and they were on 58 when the hosts made the breakthrough late in the day, as a mix-up between the openers saw Burns (30) run out by Tim Rouse.

The visitors made it to 69-1 at the close, with Mark Stoneman on 34no and Borthwick 0no.