Somerset dominate Brown Caps

Somerset continued to dictate terms on day two of their LV= County Championship Division One clash with Surrey at The Oval.

The hosts closed on 286 for six in response to Somerset's foreboding 512 for nine declared.

Surrey, who need another 77 to avoid the prospect of following on, were indebted to a third-wicket partnership of 122 in 29 overs between centurion Steven Davies (104) and Zander de Bruyn (52) for their slender grasp on the game.

Resuming on 441 for five, Somerset lost Peter Trego for 21 to a routine catch at second slip off the second ball of the day.

Three further wickets fell in the space of nine deliveries to make it 474 for nine.

George Dockrell nibbled at Jon Lewis to fall for 11, with the veteran seamer striking again five balls later when Craig Meschede edged to first slip.

Vernon Philander was next, caught behind off Stuart Meaker, but then the Overton twins, Craig and Jamie, frustrated their hosts with an unbeaten 10th-wicket stand.

Jamie Overton, who was dropped in the slips on nine, took the visitors past the 500-mark with the first of two successive legside boundaries and finished 34 not out.

After the declaration he then marked his first-class debut with the scalp of Jacques Rudolph, clean bowling the South African with only his fifth ball.

The hosts quickly settled into a scoring rate of six an over until Jason Roy (28) fell to a superb catch by Meschede at deep square leg, skying a pull shot off Vernon Philander.

Three overs later, Davies moved to a run a ball half-century. The Surrey wicketkeeper was dropped on 74 when, in an effort to take a catch at deep mid-wicket, Jamie Overton carried the ball over the rope for six.

Davies went to 98 with another maximum off Dockrell and brought up his first hundred of the season, which came off 113 deliveries and included 11 fours and two sixes, three overs later.

De Bruyn moved to his fifty, off 74 balls but immediately after tea lost his partner, Dockrell finding some extra bounce to see off Davies.

That sparked a collapse that saw Surrey slide from 188 for two to 227 for six.

De Bruyn perished to a catch at first slip off Philander, who picked up a third wicket when Rory Hamilton-Brown attempted to work to leg only to bag a duck.

Chris Jordan got off the mark with a pull for six but picked out Philander at deep-backward square-leg off the bowling of Trego.

It was left to Tom Maynard (63 not out) and Gareth Batty (18no) to ensure there were no further mishaps.

Maynard straight drove Dockrell for six on his way to an 84-ball half-century and, in alliance with Batty, added an unbeaten 59 in 20 overs for the seventh wicket.