Centuries from James Rew and Tom Abell in a county record partnership enabled Somerset to take an opening-day advantage over Nottinghamshire in a meeting between second and third in Division One of the County Championship, closing on 338-4.
Rew (162 not out) and Abell, who fell for a career-best 156 moments before the close, added 313 in 81 overs, overtaking the 310 shared by Peter Denning and Ian Botham against Gloucestershire at Taunton in 1980 as Somerset’s biggest fourth-wicket stand.
It was all the more impressive for Somerset having been two wickets down in three overs without a run on the board when Rew walked to the crease, and 25-3 when he was joined by Abell.
Pakistan seamer Mohammad Abbas – who reached the milestone of 800 first-class victims – took all three wickets in a difficult first hour for the visitors after losing the toss, but they were the only successes for the Notts attack until the final minutes of the day.
Rew earned a call-up to the England squad for the one-off Test against Zimbabwe in May after two centuries in the first month of the season. The 21-year-old did not make the cut on that occasion but senior international recognition must surely come in time.
Notts began this round of matches – the 11th of 14 – a point behind leaders and defending champions Surrey, with Somerset third after their victory over Durham last week.
Somerset had a painful beginning to the day when Abbas removed Lewis Gregory and Tom Lammonby in his first and second overs – the captain leg before offering no shot to a delivery he clearly judged would slide harmlessly past his off stump, before Lammonby, with only defensive intent, nicked to second slip.
Under heavy cloud cover after a damp early morning, conditions looked ideal for the veteran Abbas. Haseeb Hameed, the Notts captain, duly gave him an extended spell while the Kookaburra ball retained its hardness.
He was rewarded again, finding the outside edge of Josh Davey’s straight bat. With this dismissal, Abbas totalled 800 first-class wickets, 284 of them in the English county game.
Somerset were in some trouble, but Rew had already shown a glimpse of his class when he drove Abbas to the cover boundary, and pulled him for four in the same over with two high-quality strokes. More would follow.
As batting became easier, Abell began to look as assured as his partner, the two adding 65 in what remained of the opening session, which proved to be a platform from which they dominated the afternoon.
Rew, who reached 51 from 75 balls with his first scoring shot of the afternoon, lofting left-arm spinner Liam Patterson-White clear of the straight boundary, went to a century – his third of the season – from 138, adding two more sixes to the shorter side of the playing area off Calvin Harrison, the leg spinner. Other than an edge off Patterson-White on 92, the ball looping out of even the tall Harrison’s reach at slip, he had looked in complete control.
By tea, Abell having completed his first hundred of the year, Somerset had added 137 for no loss to be 227-3 and Nottinghamshire, though there had been signs of turn, needed some inspiration.
Thereafter, Rew’s touch seemed a little less sure, both batters comparatively quiet as the Notts spinners gained some control.
They attacked the second new ball with some success, although Rew, cutting vigorously, survived a half-chance to second slip off Brett Hutton on 148 before going to 150 from 239 balls.
Abell in turn reached 151 from 245 balls, setting the partnership record with two into the offside off Dillon Pennington, before falling to a top-edged pull off the same bowler, after which only two more deliveries were possible before failing light forced the players off 15 balls before the scheduled close.