Mohammad Abbas snared his 800th career First-Class wicket but an early push for dominance by Nottinghamshire was blunted by Somerset centurions James Rew and Tom Abell on the first day at Trent Bridge.
Abbas claimed a trio of early scalps to reduce Somerset to 0-2 and then 25-3 on the first morning, of which the third, seeing Josh Davey caught by Joe Clarke, was his milestone scalp.
However, from there, Rew, who made an unbeaten 162, and Abell, who was dismissed late on by Dillon Pennington for 156, shared in a stand that covered a swathe of the day to see Somerset recover to 338-4 at stumps.
Somerset’s painful beginning to the day saw Abbas remove Lewis Gregory and Tom Lammonby in his first and second overs.
The visiting captain was leg before offering no shot, before Lammonby, with only defensive intent, nicked to Calvin Harrison, on his first red-ball appearance of 2025, at second slip.
Abbas was rewarded again before long, finding the outside edge of Davey’s straight bat to total 800 first-class wickets, of which 284 have come in the English county game.
Somerset were in some trouble, but Rew and Abell led their recovery to see them through to lunch at 90-3.
From that point on and as batting became easier against the softer Kookaburra ball, the two would ultimately go on to add 313 throughout 81 unbeaten overs.
Rew, who reached 51 from 75 balls with his first scoring shot of the afternoon, went to a century – his third of the season – from 138 deliveries, while Abell followed from 165.
After tea, however, with the clouds once again gathering, Rew’s touch seemed a little less sure, with both batters comparatively quieter as the Nottinghamshire spinners gained some control.
Both brought up their 150s, setting a county partnership record, before the character of the Green and Golds shone through when Pennington removed Abell for 156 late on.
He fell to a top-edged pull to Lyndon James, after which only two more deliveries were possible before failing light forced the players off 15 balls before the scheduled close.
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