SOMERSET ended day one of their County Championship match against Lancashire with a slender lead of 44 after a bowler-friendly day which saw 18 wickets fall at Old Trafford.

Craig Overton starred with a five-wicket haul as Somerset tore through Lancashire's batting line-up to dismiss the hosts for 109, but only Dean Elgar could make any impression with the bat for the visitors as they reached the close on 153/8.

Tom Abell made use of the no toss rule and opted to bowl first, a decision that immediately paid dividends as Josh Davey - called up to replace Roelof van der Merwe - removed Lancashire openers Haseeb Hameed and Alex Davies without scoring.

Liam Livingstone and Luke Procter staged a brief recovery before Overton entered the fray, dismissing the latter for 24 before going on to remove Rob Jones (0) and Dane Vilas (9) in quick succession as Lancashire fell to 39-5.

A late change to the Somerset line-up saw Tim Groenewald replace Jamie Overton, and the seamer made an instant impact by having Ryan McLaren caught by Dean Elgar at first slip in his second over.

Lancashire went into lunch on 64-6, and Somerset continued making inroads through the early afternoon as Overton brought up his five-for after tempting Jordan Clark into a loose drive and then dismissing Stephen Parry for a duck.

Having held an excellent catch to dismiss Davies early on, Marcus Trescothick took another as Groenewald had Kyle Jarvis edging to second slip before the same bowler ended Liam Livingstone's crucial knock of 68 as the hosts were bowled out for 109.

Overton ended with 5-47 from his 13 overs, while Groenewald finished with 3-8 from 8.4 miserly overs and Davey took 2-33.

In reply, Somerset’s opening pair of Marcus Trescothick and Dean Elgar survived testing opening spells by Jimmy Anderson and Kyle Jarvis to add 42 for the first wicket before the 41-year-old edged behind off the bowling of Ryan McLaren for 20.

Tom Abell’s lean start to the season continued as he was pinned in front for 1 in McLaren’s next over, and Somerset lost their third wicket when James Hildreth dragged a short Luke Procter ball on to his stumps to leave the visitors on 63-3 at tea.

Anderson was re-introduced into the home attack after the interval and, after seeing Elgar dropped at third slip, had Steve Davies caught behind for a single.

Peter Trego joined Elgar and added 52 with the South African opener for the fifth wicket before perishing lbw to McLaren for 19, and Somerset's chances of building a sizable lead received a further blow when Procter removed Lewis Gregory and Josh Davey in successive deliveries.

Gregory was adjudged leg before with his score on 9 before Davey shouldered arms to his first ball and only succeeded in inadvertently steering the ball to second slip.

After Overton was out for 8, Jack Leach helped see out the day with Elgar, who walked off unbeaten on 66 from 151 balls and holds the key to helping Somerset increase their narrow advantage when the game resumes tomorrow morning.