Somerset is in a strong position in their First Division County Championship match against Worcestershire courtesy Azhar Ali's debut ton for the club. Azhar Ali scored 125 off 188 balls, including 13 fours and two sixes, before he was last man out in a Somerset total of 362 for nine declared at New Road.

"I'm really happy. It is my first game for Somerset and I've been made welcome," Azhar told the county's website.

"I really enjoyed batting out there and it was really pleasing to get some runs in the first game and hopefully I can build on that."

Reflecting on his innings, Azhar, who played in Pakistan's drawn Test series in England earlier this season, added: "Moeen started to turn the ball out of the rough so I thought attacking him early on was the right option because if you are bogged down, they can bring a short leg into play so, I had to go after him to start with.

"I'm really happy. It is my first game for Somerset and I've been made welcome," Azhar told the county's website.

"I really enjoyed batting out there and it was really pleasing to get some runs in the first game and hopefully I can build on that."

"We wanted to score runs as well to be in a position to boss the game. That is why I played positively and it paid off," explained Azhar, who was eventually caught off a reverse-sweep against Moeen.

Somerset have had a superb return from their overseas batsmen so far this season after deciding not to go ahead with bringing Cameron Bancroft to Taunton following the Australian's role in a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa earlier this year.

Matt Renshaw who was signed as a replacement for Bancroft paid instant dividence for the club as he scored three hundreds at an average of before breaking a finger against Surrey last month -- an injury that paved the way for Azhar's inclusion, an opportunity which he grabbed with both hands on his club debut. 

(Inputs  from Cricketnext)