Jack Leach bowled Somerset to a crushing eight-wicket win over Essex at Taunton on Sunday, took five wickets in the second innings, and pushed the county closer to a first-ever County Championship title.
The left-arm spinner returned figures of 5-81 from 55.2 overs as Essex, following on, folded for 412 after resuming the final day on 314-3. Somerset then chased down a target of 102 in just 19.2 overs, and lost only two wickets, to seal the win at the Cooper Associates County Ground.
The result lifted Somerset to 22 points and moved them within two points of Division One leaders Nottinghamshire, while Essex managed only two points from the match. It marked the first time since September 2019 that Somerset had won a Championship game without seamer Craig Overton, who sat out after the birth of his daughter. Leach’s match haul of 9-118 across both innings adds to a season in which the 35-year-old continues to press his case for further Test selection.
Leach Breaks Essex Resistance
Essex began the day well placed, with Charlie Allison and Matt Critchley having built a stand worth more than 200 runs the previous evening. Gregory’s two overs at the start of play proved costly, but Leach soon changed the tempo. He found the edge of Critchley’s bat with the total on 339, and Tom Abell held a juggling catch at second slip to end an innings of 94.
Allison’s contribution of 114, compiled over 254 balls, ended shortly after when wicketkeeper James Rew took a sharp catch. Leach struck twice more in quick succession, removing Michael Pepper and Noah Thain with Abell holding both catches, and left Essex 367-7 and only 56 runs ahead.
Vaughan Cleans Up the Tail
Archie Vaughan took over after the interval and dismantled the Essex lower order. He turned one delivery back into the stumps to bowl Shane Snater, then removed Simon Harmer for 24 with a similar delivery before trapping Jamie Porter lbw to finish with figures of 3-123.
The last seven Essex wickets fell for just 73 runs, completing an innings collapse that handed Somerset a straightforward chase.
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Thomas and Lammonby Seal the Chase
Somerset’s Josh Thomas and Tom Lammonby put on a half-century opening stand off just 6.5 overs before Harmer, given the new ball, had Thomas caught for 31 off a top-edged sweep. Lewis Goldsworthy fell cheaply to the same bowler, but Lammonby, dropped on 27, stayed unbeaten on 39 as Somerset reached the target with eight wickets in hand.
Speaking after the match, Leach credited the team’s focus on Essex’s early collapse in the first innings. Essex director of cricket Chris Silverwood said his side lost the game across three of the four days and admitted the team fell short of its best. With five rounds remaining, Somerset now sit firmly in contention for a maiden County Championship title.
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