County Championship: Hildreth & Trescothick punish Middlesex
Last updated on .From the section Counties
| LV= County Championship Division One, Taunton |
| Somerset 408: Hildreth 187, Trescothick 140, Harris 5-83 |
| Middlesex 10-0 |
| Somerset lead by 398 runs |
| Somerset 5pts, Middlesex 3pts |
| Match scorecard |
Marcus Trescothick and James Hildreth set a new Somerset partnership record against Middlesex as both hit centuries on the opening day at Taunton.
They put on 261, eight runs better than the previous best for any wicket against the visitors.
Trescothick hit 140, after an escape on 95, before a brilliant catch by James Harris gave Adam Voges his wicket.
Hildreth made 187, but fell in a flurry of wickets as Somerset were all out for 408, with Middlesex 10-0 at stumps.
| Re-writing the record books |
|---|
| The previous record stand for any wicket for Somerset against Middlesex was 253 by Marcus Trescothick and Jamie Cox at Bath in 1999 |
| The previous best for the third wicket for Somerset against Middlesex was 249 by Nigel Popplewell and Martin Crowe at Bath in 1984 |
Trescothick and Hildreth came together after Tom Abell and Tom Cooper departed in successive overs and were soon cruising along as Middlesex skipper Voges' decision to put the home side in backfired.
Between lunch and tea, they added 169 runs, with Trescothick reaching his hundred first off 129 balls, with the help of a six and 19 fours.
It was a massive relief for Middlesex when he lofted the ball away and Harris sprinted around from long-on before taking a low diving catch.
Hildreth needed 10 balls fewer than Trescothick to reach three figures, having also had a let-off on 49 when Nick Gubbins put him down at square leg, but he suddenly began to run out of partners as Harris produced an excellent spell after the tea interval.
The Welshman finished with 5-83 as the last seven wickets went down for 31 runs in the space off 11 overs, and there were five ducks on the Somerset card as Middlesex showed commendable spirit to recover from their earlier punishment.
Somerset batsman Marcus Trescothick:
"It was not particularly easy batting out there at times, but we managed to fight through and I was delighted to score a hundred.
"We could have batted a bit longer and taken our innings into tomorrow.
"But at the same time they showed that if you put the ball in the right places then batting can be quite tricky.
"I think 400 was a pretty good score, but we won't really know how good it is until tomorrow."
Middlesex pace bowler James Harris:
"I didn't think I was at my best, but I managed to bowl a decent spell towards the end of their innings.
"I've taken a five-for, but I still feel I can bowl better and more consistently.
"We gave them too many balls to hit in the first two sessions, but dragged it back after tea and that it was important we didn't let the game get too far away from us.
"Marcus Trescothick and James Hildreth are two very fine players and they played two very fine innings, but we dropped them both and they made us pay."
