County Championship Division One - day two (close)

Somerset 326 & 7-1 v Nottinghamshire 241-9

SPINNERS Dom Bess and Jack Leach bowled First Division leaders Somerset into a strong position on the second day of the Specsavers County Championship match with Nottinghamshire at Taunton.

The two England bowlers shared eight wickets as the visitors collapsed from 201 for two to 241 for nine in the final session, Chris Nash unable to continue his innings of 50, having retired hurt after being struck on the head by a Jamie Overton bouncer.

Bess finished with five for 59 and Leach three for 79, their combined efforts giving Somerset a first innings lead of 85. Jake Libby top-scored for Notts with 77, while Ben Duckett contributed an aggressive 38.

By the close, the hosts had made seven for one in their second innings and extended their advantage to 92.

The decision to send in nightwatchman Tim Groenewald ahead of Azhar Ali failed when he was caught behind without scoring off R Ashwin in the first of five overs.

For much of the day Notts were on top. They lost only one wicket in the morning session, Ben Slater, on 15, caught at cover attempting to loft an off side shot over the short boundary on the town side of the ground.

Jamie Overton was the successful bowler with the total on 35. But there was little assistance from the pitch for any of the Somerset seamers as Libby and Nash solidly took the score to 91 for one from 30 overs.

Libby progressed to a battling 99-ball half-century and Nash followed to the same landmark, having faced 90 deliveries and hit seven boundaries.

It was 121 for one when Nash had to go off with the pair looking well set, Overton’s extra pace catching him out as he looked to avoid a short ball.

Undeterred, Notts increased their scoring rate, Duckett hitting sixes off Leach and Bess as he and Libby took the score to 169. At that point neither spinner was getting more than the odd ball to turn significantly.

That changed after Duckett was caught behind off Bess, looking to play off the back foot to a ball that was too full for the shot. Libby and Steven Mullaney survived until tea, which was taken at 189 for two, but suddenly there were signs of threatening turn.

That continued after the interval. When Libby was caught at slip driving at Leach, having faced 192 balls and hit 5 fours, it proved a key moment as Notts lost six more wickets for the addition of only 40 runs.

Bess, bowling from the Somerset Pavilion End, took two of them with his poorest deliveries, Mullaney top-edging an attempted pull off a long-hop to be caught at mid-wicket and Ashwin bowled trying to reverse sweep a full toss.

Tom Moores and debutant Liam Patterson-White fell to bat and pad catches at short leg off Leach, the latter for a four-ball duck having missed most of the opening day through an attack of tonsillitis.

Luke Wood carved a catch to backward point off Bess, who ended the innings by having Luke Fletcher taken at backward short leg.

It was the 21-year-old’s first five-wicket haul of the season in his second match back from a loan spell with Yorkshire.

Somerset spinner Jack Leach said: "It was an excellent end to the day for us. At times it felt as though the pitch wasn't doing very much and we had to maintain our lines and lengths because any turn was slow.

"It was partly a case of judging what pace to bowl at.

"I started to do that just before tea and continued afterwards. I think the same applied to Dom Bess and there was definitely a bit more help for us in the final session.

"Now we are 92 ahead and in a great position. They have a dangerous spinner in Ashwin so we need to bat well and make sure we set a tough target."

Notts batsman Jake Libby said: "Chris Nash is okay. He was hit on the grille at the side of his face trying to sway out of the line of the ball.

"He suffered concussion and misses the rest of the game, but he is a tough old bird and will be fine.

"Samit Patel is on his way down to replace Chris.

"We are on the back foot in the game after starting the day so well, but if we bowl well tomorrow we can still be in the game.

"I enjoyed being back in the thick of the action after weeks of second XI cricket. Facing the pace of Jamie Overton got the old heart rate going!

"Somerset have two very good spinners in Bess and Leach, but we could have played them better at times. It was disappointing to be 80-odd behind on first innings from a decent position."

Patel, a left-arm spinning all-rounder, is only eligibly to bat and field for the remainder of the game.

Copy supplied by Richard Latham, ECB Reporters' Network