A gritty and courageous fourth-wicket partnership between Tom Lammonby and Andrew Umeed was enough for Somerset to avoid defeat from a testing County Championship fixture at Worcestershire.

Starting the final day on 5-1 and with a deficit of 137 runs, Somerset knew the challenge was to hold out for the day and they were given a helping hand with the almost inevitable weather delay in this soggy spring.

When the action did get going, nightwatchman Jake Ball (29) did a great job of hanging around with opener Matt Renshaw, who demonstrated the tone of the innings with a stubborn 12 from 77 balls.

However, when Lammonby and Umeed came together, Somerset still trailed by 76 runs on 66-3. Lammonby was inspired in his unbeaten 81 and Umeed struck a fine 60, as they comfortably saw out the Worcestershire attack.

Somerset Head Coach Jason Kerr told the club website: “Coming into the final day, the first hour was going to be a challenging time and we had to get through this without any scares.

“Bally (Jake Ball) did his job overnight but also this morning very well and the guys played brilliantly throughout the day.

“Pluses from the game? We batted well as a unit so the confidence is high there and some spells with the ball were outstanding but we were not quite at our best collectively as a unit.

“Again the confidence of the group is really high and we are playing some good cricket. We have just got to be a little bit better.

“We try to pick the best 11 to take 20 wickets and we have not been far off.

“We are still searching for that first win because of a combination of the type of balls used, skills not quite being good enough, surfaces but we have been incredibly competitive in the draws so far.”

Somerset host leaders Essex at Taunton next week.