Somerset on verge of clinching runners-up spot

Somerset closed to within touching distance of their first ever runners-up finish in the Championship as Matt Wood hit his maiden century on a rain-interrupted second day at Taunton.

It was a day of personal achievements as Northants batsman Mike Hussey passed 2,000 runs for the season and wicket-keeper Rob Turner broke a Somerset record by taking seven catches before the visitors declared on 463-9.

Both teams needed bonus points for different reasons. For Northants a maximum batting haul of five boosted hopes of overtaking Lancashire and avoiding relegation to the second division.

Having taken maximum bowling points by the skin of their teeth, Somerset needed just two batting points to be sure of bettering the five third place finishes they had managed in 110 years of Championship cricket.

That meant scoring 250. And it proved a memorable day for 20-year-old Wood as he and skipper Jamie Cox (82) put on 163 for the first wicket. By the time rain brought a premature close, Somerset were 224-2.

Wood reached his hundred off just 136 balls, with 14 fours and a six, batting immaculately until a nervous spell as he neared three figures. He was 102 not out when play ended.

Earlier, Hussey had become the first player in six years to score 2,000 first-class runs in an English season when he pulled Steffan Jones for four to take his score to 201 after Northants had begun the day on 382-5.

Hussey had batted for nearly seven and a quarter hours, facing 358 balls and hitting 30 fours, when he edged Johnson to Turner, having made 208.

Turner set a new record for his county when he caught Paul Taylor down the leg side off Richard Johnson. It was his seventh dismissal of the innings, beating a record he already had two shares in.