Somerset slipped further into the Division One relegation zone at Taunton today when they were beaten by Sussex by an innings, with one day to spare.

The overnight pair on Robin Martin Jenkins and Mark Davis took the Sussex overnight score of 522 for 7 onto 642 before Davis was dismissed, and 2 runs later they were all out.

Facing the daunting challenge of needing to score 374 to make Sussex bat again, the Cidermen got off to the worst possible of starts, losing Jamie Cox without a run on the board.

Matt Wood followed with the score on 23, and by lunch Somerset had reached 63 for 2, with Mike Burns not out 26 and Peter Bowler unbeaten on 20.

Immediately after the break Somerset lost Bowler for 20, and Keith Parsons without scoring, and at 64 for 4 appeared to be in trouble.

Burns and Blackwell came together and seemed to recover the situation, but on 98 Burns was unlucky to miss out on his century when he was caught off the bowling of Davis, and Somerset were 191 for 5.

After the tea interval Blackwell became the dominating force in the Somerset innings but despite his 114, and another rearguard action from the lower order batsmen,Matt Bulbeck (22) and Steffan Jones, who ended unbeaten on 37 they were eventually all out for 373, to give Sussex victory by an innings and one run.

At the end of the day Somerset coach Kevin Shine told me: "We are very disappointed with this result and all round this was a poor team display. To get bowled out for 270 we needed to claw it back but it just didn't happen and we didn't bowl in the right spot.If we had batted as well as we have been then we thought that we could make it safe , but after being 64 for 4 we were always struggling."

He continued: "All credit to them they stuck to their game plan and were very disciplined, and deserve to get their 20 points."

© SOMERSET