Somerset have two wins and a draw from their opening three matches and are top of Division One Rothesay County Championship, Division One, Utilita Bowl (day four) Hampshire 238 & 336: Gubbins 83, Brown 66, Lehmann 50; Gregory 5-42 Somerset 288 & 288-8: Abell 101*, J Rew 59; Baker 5-62 Somerset (20 pts) beat Hampshire (3 pts) by two wickets.

Somerset stalwart Tom Abell's 22nd first-class century maintained his side's unbeaten start to the County Championship season with a thrilling two-wicket victory over Hampshire. Former captain Abell controlled a chase of 288 with a flawless 101 to give Somerset the spoils in a match which had veered one way then the other.

Sonny Baker made things tricky by taking his third career five-wicket haul, but Abell held his nerve, and won both the match and scored his hundred at the same time. Somerset earned 20 points and extended their lead at the summit – albeit having played a game more than Nottinghamshire and Sussex – after starting the season with two away wins and a draw.

Day three: Rew steers Somerset towards win at Hampshire Day two: Hampshire fight back well against Somerset Day one: Bowlers & Rew help Somerset get on top against Hants.

Somerset needed 148 runs to win on the final day, but they certainly did not hold down the accelerator to get to their target. The old adage of slow and steady wins the race was the mantra in the morning session, with Hampshire accurate in their bowling to pile the pressure on and claim the remaining seven scalps.

Only two runs had been added in the first 16 minutes of the day before James Rew – who had seemed the great hope for a serene chase – edged behind. Rew's departure – which left him with an average of 75.8 after five knocks this season – also meant that a sixth innings had been cut short between 50 and 100 in the match. The 21-year-old had chipped off 89 runs with Abell, but the wicket didn't change the calmness that Abell exuded at the crease.

Hampshire bowlers found a tight channel to prevent easy runs and added further questions to the batters with variable bounce when bowling from the Rod Bransgrove Pavilion End. Only 34 runs were scored in the first hour, and just 84 came before lunch. Will Smeed earned a life when Codi Yusuf couldn't hang onto a diving catch at backward point, but when Jake Lehmann moved to field in the same position, he didn't make the same mistake.

However, the 49 runs Smeed had contributed with Abell kept Somerset pointing in the right direction, although when Craig Overton was bowled, missing a hack, it soon appeared the hosts might have clawed back the momentum of the day.

Gregory, who had already contributed 8-87 with the ball in the game, was the last recognised batter, and another 91 runs wouldn't have been guaranteed with the tail. It wouldn't be plain sailing. Gregory almost chopped onto his own stumps, while Tom Prest's single over before lunch brought three catching opportunities. But post-lunch, the duo's experience, and deep adoration for Somerset were displayed; both are desperate to bring a first-ever Championship title to Taunton, and a second victory of the season would increase hopes of quelling 135 years of near misses and failures.

Hampshire's hopes relied on the second new ball, which materialised with 42 runs still required. That number had ticked down to 25 when Baker came alive against his former county. He uprooted Gregory's middle stump – to end a 65-run stand – and, in the following over, he had his former housemate Alfie Ogborne caught behind.

Abell, who captained the county from 2017 to 2023 before passing on the baton to Gregory, managed the last few runs with grit. He only scored eight boundaries in his 229-ball, and 314-minute, vigil before slotting the winning runs through midwicket.

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