SOMERSET’S batters gave a good account of themselves to ensure that they earned a draw from their rain affected match against newly promoted Worcestershire at Kidderminster which ended on Monday afternoon, writes Richard Walsh..

At the start of the game Somerset had been put into bat on a green damp surface and after reaching 174 for three, of which Andy Umeed had made 47, West Indian paceman Jason Holder snapped up three quick wickets as they slipped to 181 for six and looked to be in danger of being bowled out cheaply .

However Tom Banton stepped up to the plate and played a sensible steady innings, probably his best in the red ball game for a while and along with Migael Pretorius added 76, of which the hard hitting South African made 49 off 34 balls before being dismissed.

By this time Banton was heading towards his century for the second time in as many matches, but on 92 he was run out, shortly after which Lewis Gregory declared on 309 for nine.

Much of the second day was lost due to the rain but when play did eventually get underway at 2.50pm with the total on 23 Jake Ball claimed the wicket of Adam Finch leg before wicket.

However Cornishman Jake Libby and ‘keeper Gareth Broderick then came together and took control of the situation, adding 194 together before Shoaib Bashir accounted for Libby for 97.

Roderick stayed put until he had helped his side onto 325 when Ball had him caught by Banton for 122. Later in the order the home skipper Brett D’Oliveira hit 66 and Joe Leach an unbeaten 43 before Worcestershire declared on 451 for nine 

Batting for a second time facing a deficit of 142 the Cidermen resumed their innings on the final day four for one and had slipped to 66 for three before the in-form Tom Lammonby was joined by Umeed, and the pair batted out most of the rest of the day, adding 120 together for the fourth wicket in 39 overs, before the latter departed for a hard grafted 60 from 127 balls and two and a half hours out in the middle.

Lammonby remained unbeaten on 81 when the game ended as a draw with Somerset on 190 for four, of which he had scored from 171 deliveries in a stay of over three and a half hours.

Somerset take 12 points from this drawn match and after four rounds in the county championship in which they are still unbeaten find themselves fourth in the division one table with 53 points, two behind Warwickshire who are immediatley above them while Surrey and Essex share top spot with 71.

Somerset host Essex at Taunton starting on Friday, 3rd May.