Two wickets apiece for Olly Stone and Liam Patterson-White helped Nottinghamshire restrict a strong batting effort from Somerset on a high-quality first day of the 2026 Rothesay County Championship in Taunton.
The hosts reached a bad light-enforced premature stumps on 292-6, having been restricted by Patterson-White’s brace, alongside wickets for Olly Stone, Dillon Pennington, and Rob Lord.
Former skipper Abell was their ringleader, notching 108 from 186 balls during exactly six hours in the middle, while James Rew supported with 64 and Josh Thomas contributed 40.
It was Abell and Rew’s stand of 140 for the fourth wicket throughout most of the afternoon session that proved the biggest test of Green and Gold character.
However, Patterson-White did for the latter on his way to 2/50, while Stone later removed the former as his 20 overs yielded 2/65.
It was Stone who produced the first breakthrough, bowling Tom Kohler-Cadmore for four in the fifth over of the day with an objective beauty that nipped and clipped the top of off.
That made Stone the first bowler in the entire 2026 Championship to take a wicket - at Edgbaston, Surrey’s Rory Burns had been removed earlier, but with his fate being a run-out, no bowler got the credit - and Pennington joined the party before long too.
Tom Lammonby could make only three before he pushed at Pennington and was caught behind by Kyle Verreynne, leaving the hosts stumbling at 14-2 from ten overs.
Somerset regrouped with a stand of 52 between Thomas and Rew over the next hour, but it was the introduction of Patterson-White that brought Notts’ next scalp just before lunch.
With his fifth ball, the left-armer located Thomas’ outside edge and Freddie McCann, lurking at slip, pouched a knee-height catch to see the hosts take lunch on 78-3.
The afternoon did swing Somerset’s way as despite Notts’ efforts, Rew and Abell doubled the score as both hit fifties in quick succession in a high-quality partnership.
Taking Somerset past the 200 mark, the stand lasted just shy of 40 overs before Patterson-White struck again to remove Rew.
He tempted the 22-year-old into a sweep that saw a bottom-edge flick up off his pad, and the ball was impressively snaffled, one-handed, in front of the stumps by a scrambling Verreynne.
The dismissal came just seven balls before tea, which Somerset reached at 208-4, and shortly after the resumption, the tireless Rob Lord finally got his reward as Lewis Goldsworthy edged behind to Verreynne for 18.
Abell went to his ton shortly after the hosts had passed 250, doing so with nine fours and two sixes, before the new ball, taken after 81 overs, brought about his demise.
It was Stone who produced the moment, seeing Abell edge behind to Verreynne for the South African’s fourth grab of the innings, leaving Somerset 286-6 in the 87th over.
Despite there being a further 9.5 overs scheduled after that point, only two ended up being possible as the light continued to creep in.
The enforced end to the day, which was also accompanied by a smattering of a shower, left stand-in home captain Craig Overton unbeaten on 32 and with Jack Leach for company.
