Somerset ended a surreal day of 15 wickets with a 30-run lead after bowling out Essex for just 149 in their County Championship Division One match at Chelmsford.
The visitors had Will Smeed racing across the breadth of the country from east Wales to take up injury substitute duties after Tom Kohler-Cadmore damaged his hand taking a catch.
Smeed, 24 and yet to make his first-class debut despite plentiful experience in white-ball cricket, had just posted an unbeaten 209 for Somerset seconds against Cardiff students at Abergavenny when he got the call.
At one point it looked to be touch and go whether Smeed, who wants to expand his career into the longer format, would make it in time to bat in the first innings as Essex threatened to run through Somerset in a repeat of their own first innings.
Essex had collapsed from a comparatively healthy 77-2 nine balls before lunch to 149 all out by mid-afternoon, Josh Shaw wrapping up the innings with figures of 3-30 on his debut after moving from Gloucestershire.
That Somerset did not fall apart after being 16-3, and had reached 179-5 at the close, was largely down to James Rew, who accumulated a patient 48, and some big-hitting by stand-in captain Craig Overton, who was unbeaten on 50 from 36 balls.
At the start of an eventful day, it took just eight overs for Overton’s decision to bowl first on a green-tinged wicket to bear fruit – and a further 43 overs to complete Essex’s downfall.
Jake Ball had looked lively from the start and make inroads with two wickets in three balls. Paul Walter had not looked particularly comfortable before falling lbw trying to whip a ball to leg that straightened.
Wiaan Mulder’s first knock on home debut was over before it had begun as he received one that jumped up and took the edge to provide a catch so sharp high to Kohler-Cadmore’s right at first slip that it ended the fielder’s participation.
Dean Elgar and Charlie Allison brought a sense of relative calm to the Essex batting for 22 overs, while putting on 68 for the third wicket. But, as before, and again later, one wicket begat another.
Elgar fell into a carefully baited legside trap and chipped up tamely a Tom Lammonby delivery to the deep fine-leg boundary. Three balls later, Matt Critchley, the star turn last week in Essex’s innings victory at Hampshire with 173, tickled behind to depart without scoring.
Allison looked the most assured of the Essex batsmen, hitting six boundaries in his 49, until diverting a ball from Migael Pretorius low to first slip, a position now occupied by Tom Abell.
Michael Pepper hammered Shaw for two sumptuous cover-drives to the boundary but was bowled through the gate by Overton. The Somerset leader struck again two balls later when Simon Harmer was lbw to a ball of full length.
And it got worse for Essex with a third wicket in 10 balls as Luc Benkenstein dragged on a wide ball from Shaw, who then accounted for Shane Snater and Jamie Porter.
Somerset sent in Jack Leach to open with Kohler-Cadmore now unavailable but the ploy failed as the erstwhile No11 was bowled to his 12th ball by a straight one from Porter.
Lammonby went in short order, edging Essex captain Sam Cook low to first slip and he also removed Josh Thomas.
Abell and Rew steadied things either side of tea, adding 57, before the former nibbled at one from Snater.
Rew was sensible in his resolve before Harmer turned one that took the left-hander’s outside edge, but the first of two straight sixes by Overton off Harmer took Somerset into the lead.
Report by ECB Reporters’ Network, supported by Rothesay.
