- Somerset pulled off a shock win over Surrey to put themselves in the title race
- Archie Vaughan and Jack Leach were the stars of Surrey’s unblocking with their spin.
- Somerset are now just eight points behind Surrey with two games remaining
Archie Vaughan and Jack Leach led Somerset to a sensational last-gasp victory over defending champions Surrey at Taunton to blow the title race wide open.
Vaughan, the 18-year-old son of Ashes-winning captain Michael, took five for 38, to finish with match figures of 11 for 140 in only his second first-class appearance.
Leach, recently called up for the Test tour of Pakistan, took five for 37, including the last two wickets in three balls with less than five minutes remaining.
The result leaves Somerset, who have never won the county championship, just eight points behind Surrey heading into their final two games.
Instead of chasing a target of 221, Surrey had attempted to block their way to a draw, with Dom Sibley and Ben Foakes surviving almost 30 overs as the final hour approached. But Leach removed both in quick succession to put the score at 96 for five, and Vaughan worked his way through the lower-middle order.
Somerset’s shock win leaves them just eight points behind Surrey with two games remaining
Archie Vaughan, son of Michael Vaughan, shone as Somerset beat Surrey on Thursday
He took five for 38 to finish with match figures of 11 for 140 in his second first-class outing.
Leach then ended Surrey’s ninth-wicket resistance by trapping Jordan Clark behind, before pinning last man Dan Worrall lbw, to spark huge celebrations at the County Ground.
“Archie has had a spectacular start to his career,” said Somerset head coach Jason Kerr. “He has shown incredible maturity and ability for someone so young and inexperienced as an off-spin bowler. We’ve also seen his class with the bat, and it’s very exciting.”
Elsewhere, Matthew Potts, who was ruled out of the third Test against Sri Lanka at The Oval, took nine for 68 as Durham beat Lancashire.
Meanwhile, Liam Livingstone has vowed to fight his way back into England’s 50-overs squad after being left almost alone during Wednesday night’s defeat by Australia in the first T20 in Southampton.
With the three-match series continuing in Cardiff on Friday, Livingstone has another chance to improve his figures of three for 22 and 37 innings of 27, rare moments of English success on an otherwise miserable night.
And he insists his body is in better shape than at any time in the past two and a half years, when he suffered ankle and knee problems.
England bowler Jack Leach took vital top-order wickets in Somerset’s thrilling win
Meanwhile, Liam Livingstone has vowed to fight his way back into England’s 50-overs squad.
England’s selectors lost patience after a poor 50-over World Cup, but Livingstone is intent on changing their minds.
“Unfortunately, I won’t be playing the ODIs against Australia, but it’s not something I’m going to give up on,” he said.
‘I’ve had a tough couple of years. My body has let me down a bit and I haven’t been up to par physically.
“If you take away the World Cup, I feel like I’ve had an impact on later games. But I’m 31 and I’m not going to cry about not being called up.”