Nottinghamshire 145 for 4 (Slater 67*, Matt Henry 2-33) trail Somerset 163 (Kohler-Cadmore 38, Hutton 5-34) by 18 runs
Brett Hutton claimed a five-wicket haul as Nottinghamshire took control on the opening day of the LV= Insurance County Championship match with Somerset at Taunton.
The hosts could post only 163 all out after winning the toss on a bright morning, Tom Kohler-Cadmore top-scoring with just 38 and Kasey Aldridge contributing 35. Hutton's 5 for 34 and Matt Carter's 3 for 43 did most of the damage for an accurate Notts attack.
In reply, the visitors slipped to 105 for 4 on a seemingly blameless pitch, but opener Ben Slater's unbeaten 67 saw them to 145 for 4 at the close, just 18 behind.
With the sun shining brightly for most of the day, it was strange that 14 wickets should fall. Inability to post meaningful first-innings totals has been a long-standing problem for Somerset, and again there was a fragility about their top order as Hutton maintained an exemplary line and length from the Marcus Trescothick Pavilion End.
Sean Dickson and George Bartlett were both dismissed shouldering arms to the experienced seamer; the former bowled for 1 and the latter leg before for 13 to a ball that nipped back. Sandwiched in between was the wicket of Tom Lammonby, who edged Hutton to first slip having made 24.
From 48 for 3, Tom Abell and Kohler-Cadmore added 40 in positive style before the introduction of Carter's offspin from the River End. With the first ball of his second over, he had Abell caught at slip, driving, for 19. Kohler-Cadmore looked strong through the off-side, producing some sweet drives and depositing Carter over long-off for six. By lunch, he had helped Somerset to 106 for 4.
The afternoon session began disastrously for the home side as, with only four runs added, they lost first James Rew, caught at short leg off bat and pad to give Carter his second wicket and Kohler-Cadmore lbw to Dane Paterson, having faced 53 balls and hit four fours and a six.
There was no way back from 110 for 6, despite the valiant efforts of Aldridge, who reverse-swept Carter for six and struck five fours. He quickly ran out of partners as Craig Overton edged Hutton into the slips where Carter's left hand scooped the ball up for Joe Clarke to complete the catch.
Hutton returned after an opening spell of 3 for 27 from eight overs to mop up the tail, bowling Matt Henry and having the advancing Aldridge caught behind. His wickets were largely the result of keeping the ball on the spot and taking advantage of batting errors.
Somerset had been bowled out in just 48.1 overs and it looked like a well below par total in the conditions. Henry struck an early blow in the Notts' reply by beating Haseeb Hameed's defensive push and bowling him for a duck. By tea, the visitors had reached 23 for 1. Soon Slater and Matthew Montgomery were building confidently on that total under increasingly clear skies.
They had put together a stand of 71 in 23 overs, with few alarms, when Montgomery, on 33, got an inside edge onto his leg off Aldridge and was powerless to prevent the ball rolling back onto his stumps.
Slater edged Aldridge just short of wicketkeeper Rew and Somerset's fightback continued when 19-year-old off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, making his first Championship appearance at the Cooper Associates County Ground, pinned Clarke lbw on the back foot for 12 to make it 94 for 3.
Slater went to fifty off 104 balls before Henry struck another blow for Somerset with the total on 105, Lyndon James edging to Abell at first slip and departing for the second duck of the innings. But Steve Mullaney hit a six and two fours off a Bashir over as Notts regained some momentum before the close.
Before the start of play, the teams lined up for a minute's applause in memory of 19-year-old local club cricketer Barnaby Webber, who lost his life in the Nottingham stabbings earlier this month. Signed shirts from both counties were laid on the pitch at the toss and then presented to his mother, father and brother as tokens of support.
