Specsavers County Championship Division 1
Day 4
Somerset 335 & 69-3 beat Lancashire 133 & 269 by 7 wkts

SOMERSET moved out of the County Championship Division 1 relegation zone thanks to a dominant win over Lancashire, which also handed Essex the Division 1 title.

Lancashire resumed on 247-8, ahead by 45 runs, but within half an hour their second innings was at an end as Craig Overton (3-39) struck twice to remove Kyle Jarvis (12) and Tom Bailey (17).

That meant Lancashire were all out for 269, and therefore the hosts needed 68 to win.

Somerset openers Marcus Trescothick and Eddie Byrom set about their task in lively fashion, reaching 19 before Byrom was bowled by Matt Parkinson for 10.

George Bartlett joined Trescothick and quickly settled, with two early boundaries off Parkinson to close in on the target.

Trescothick (21) slog-swept Parkinson for six but was then caught at mid-wicket by Liam Livingstone off the next ball, leaving Somerset 46-2.

Parkinson then claimed his third wicket, Hildreth going for a first-ball duck, bringing in Tom Abell - the Somerset captain hitting three off his first delivery faced.

Bartlett kept the stream of boundaries coming, hitting six off Parkinson to finish on 27no, and Abell (8no) finished the job with four off Stephen Parry.

The win takes Somerset up to fifth in the table on 123 points, ahead of the conclusion of Middlesex and Yorkshire's matches today.

Somerset's next task is an away match against Surrey, starting on Tuesday, September 19.