Somerset seal second

Northants 463-9 dec and 89-1 Somerset 65

It took Somerset just 15 minutes to clinch second place in theFirst Division and get their hands on the £50,000 prize money. Not content with that, they then set about trying to add a further £2,000 – the money at stake for winning the match.

All day the records tumbled, and with each one Northamptonshire's hopes of avoiding relegation crumbled that bit more. Matthew Wood's 17th boundary earned Somerset their fifth point and confirmed them as the second best side in the Championship, unfortunately though, it was Wood's last scoring stroke.

Mark Lathwell hogged the strike up to the three minutes silence at 11am, and Wood was out hooking the first ball after that solemn and sad interval.

After Wood's departure Lathwell and Keith Parsons laid waste to everything that came their way. Lathwell looked on target to reach three figures for the first time since September 1998, until he drove loosely to mid-on.

Parsons and Ian Blackwell maintained the onslaught and 212 runs were added in the morning session in what was Somerset's highest score on this ground, their second highest total ever and their highest against Northamptonshire.Steffan Jones then claimed the wicket of Alec Swann in his first over to leave the Northamptonshire opener with a pair.