County Championship Division 1 – day two (close)

Somerset 243-5 v Surrey 380

JAMES Hildreth confessed to mixed emotions after he was dismissed 10 runs short of what would have been a 46th First Class century.

Hildreth’s 90 was the primary contribution to Somerset’s 243-5, made in response to Surrey’s 380 – Jack Leach (3-85) picking up three of the final four wickets to fall in the morning session.

Marcus Trescothick (4) fell early in reply but Hildreth and Azhar Ali raced along at nearly five an over before the Pakistan international chipped Gareth Batty to mid-wicket on 60.

Hildreth eventually fell to a leading edge which offered a simple return catch to Rikki Clarke, but Steve Davies batted nicely in the evening session and will resume unbeaten on 54 alongside Lewis Gregory (18*).

Hildreth said: “I’m pleased that I managed to get a score but I wanted to kick on.

“The wicket is pretty flat and there is not a lot going on.

“Often in First Class cricket, runs are pretty hard to come by, so when you get a situation like that you want to take advantage of it.

“It’s bittersweet. I’m disappointed I didn’t get a daddy hundred but I made an important contribution.

“As senior players we want to kick on and make those match-winning innings.

“Steve Davies is a class player and he’s showing what he is capable of. Hopefully he will be able to kick on and get that hundred.

“I probably see it about 60/40 in Surrey’s favour – we have probably lost one or two more wickets than we would have wanted to.

“But we back our lower order and we could easily bat a long time tomorrow.

“It will be tricky to force a win because of the wicket. A lot will have to go our way.

“But if we bat positively tomorrow you never know. Scoreboard pressure is a funny thing.

“We need a reasonable lead to have something to bowl at, then unleash Jack Leach on them.”