SOMERSET director of cricket Matt Maynard was left to rue a below-par bowling performance on day two, after Somerset crashed to a 120-run defeat at Durham in the LV County Championship.

Maynard admitted his side had ‘missed their opportunities’ in the evening session, allowing Durham’s lower-order to add 170 runs in the second innings and leaving the batsmen too much to do on a bowler-friendly wicket.

Maynard told Somerset's official website: “We missed our opportunities on Monday evening.

“We didn’t bowl well in that last session and that has cost us dear - and the amount of runs their lower order got was more than the difference between the sides.

“This wasn’t a wicket where you would expect the lower order to add 170 runs and we just didn’t keep to our disciplines as well as we had.

“Our batters gave it a good go, they fought hard, but the Durham seamers kept coming and hitting their length all the time and made it very difficult for us.”

Chasing 279 for victory, Somerset were bowled out for 158 in their second innings, with only five players making double figures.

Marcus Trescothick and Pete Trego top scored with 35 apiece, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Somerset from slipping to a fourth County Championship defeat of the campaign.