Late wickets kept Glamorgan‘s contest with Somerset in the balance after Tom Abell‘s resistance led the visitors to 337 for 9 on the opening day of the Rothesay County Championship fixture at Sophia Gardens.

The former Somerset captain continued his strong start to the season in making 86, but was one of three wickets to fall inside the final four overs. The recovery came following an afternoon wobble courtesy of 18-year-old debutant Tom Norton, who took 3 for 75. Joshua Thomas earlier continued his form with 71 after his new opening partner James Rew was bowled loosely driving for just 4.

Rew, Somerset’s 22-year-old wicket-keeper who has spent the majority of the season batting at No. 4, opened for the first time in his 62-game first-class career, amid speculation around England’s selection for the first Test match of the summer starting on June 4.

The change to Somerset’s batting order meant Thomas and Rew became the fourth opening partnership in five games. This was in part due to an injury to Tom Kohler-Cadmore, form at the top of the order impacting Archie Vaughan, and Jack Leach taking up the role while Will Smeed travelled from south Wales to Chelmsford as an injury replacement.

A century partnership between Thomas, fresh off the back of 136 against Yorkshire, and Tom Lammonby halted Glamorgan momentum, coming in from their first Division One win in over two decades against Hampshire last week. The pair’s fluent run-scoring meant Rew’s was the only wicket to fall before lunch, beaten between bat and pad looking to drive extravagantly in the day’s third over.

Thomas chopped on against the extra pace of Ryan Hadley, followed by Lammonby being adjudged lbw padding up to Norton for the teenager’s maiden first-class wicket. The two wickets falling with the score unmoved dragged Glamorgan back into the contest.

Four wickets inside an hour in the afternoon meant Abell had to dig in to prevent any further trouble, playing with experience to punish overpitched deliveries while standing firm when necessary, on a pitch offering assistance to bowlers.

A cover drive in Zain-ul-Hassan’s 17th over of the day moved him to 82 and with it past 500 runs for the season, placing him second in the Division One charts.

As the seamers continued to toil, with Ben Kellaway and Mason Crane, expectedly for day one, unable to offer much in form of threat, Abell managed to take advantage against the old ball, forming noteworthy partnerships of 71 and 66 with Craig Overton and Lewis Gregory respectively.

Zain’s two wickets inside the final four overs of the day, both times drawing edges of the set batters – Abell and Gregory – to accompany a last-ball wicket from Hadley gave the hosts momentum to take into day two after Gregory had an earlier reprieve, dropped by Colin Ingram at slip on just 6 to deny Timm van der Gugten his third wicket.