The Cricketer rounds-up all the events from the first day of the penultimate round of red-ball fixtures
Chelmsford: (first day of four): Essex v Surrey 137-4
The established new-ball attack of Jamie Porter and Sam Cook shared what spoils were going on the first day at Chelmsford as the tense Specsavers County Championship title race took several more twists and turns.
Porter and Cook took two wickets each as Essex tried to make up for lost time on a frustrating day shorn of 50 overs and book-ended by bad light.
Requiring a win from their penultimate fixture of the season to keep alive their challenge, Essex had been forced to sit and twiddle their thumbs in the pavilion as Somerset racked up three bowling points while Hampshire wickets tumbled in quick order at Southampton.
For more than four hours in total Essex were powerless to react as Somerset extended their lead at the top beyond the eight points with which they started the day.
However, by the close of a grey, foreshortened first day, Essex had collected one bowling point of their own – with the chance of adding to it in the morning – as they had Surrey 137 for four when the last bout of bad light ended play 25 minutes before the scheduled finish.
Southampton: (first day of four): Hampshire 196 v Somerset 30-2
Liam Dawson defiantly scored his first Specsavers County Championship century for three years to put the buffers Somerset’s title charge.
All-rounder Dawson saved Hampshire from an embarrassing first-innings total having arrived at the wicket with the hosts toiling on 18 for four.
The World Cup winner almost singled handily batted Hampshire into a strong position with his 103 from 156 balls, taking his side to 196 all out.
It was his eighth first-class hundred for Hampshire and first since notching 116 against Warwickshire in July 2016 – interestingly five of his tons for the county have now come in September.
Somerset took three bonus points from the day in their bid to beat Essex to the title, which would be the first in their history. They went into the penultimate round of fixtures with an eight-point advantage over the 2017 champions at the top of the table.
Liam Dawson made his first County Championship century since 2016 to thwart Somerset
Headingley: (first day of four): Yorkshire v Kent 482-8
Darren Stevens continued his bid for a new Kent contract with a quite remarkable career best 237 to help steer the visitors out of early trouble at 39 for five on day one against Yorkshire at Emerald Headingley.
Kent’s top order, including South Africa captain Faf du Plessis, was shattered by the pace of Duanne Olivier with the new ball at the start of this battle for third place in the Specsavers County Championship Division One.
A Test team-mate of du Plessis’ up until the start of the year, Olivier struck four times in a seven-over burst, only for Kent to close on 482 for eight from 96 overs.
Stevens, aged 43, united with captain and fellow centurion Sam Billings, sharing 346 inside 65 overs from mid-morning to mid-evening to change the complexion of this fixture in record-breaking fashion with 28 fours and nine sixes in 225 balls.
Billings, 138 off 209, justified his own decision to first of all opt for a toss and then elect to bat with his first century of the summer in his third four-day game.
Belligerent Stevens was told in July that Kent would not be offering him a new contract after 15 years with them.
But last week they hinted at a u-turn following 10 wickets in the match and a first-innings 88 in the win over Nottinghamshire.
This was his first 100 plus score since May 2017.
Trent Bridge: (first day of four): Nottinghamshire 425-6 v Warwickshire
Centuries from Steven Mullaney and Joe Clarke enabled Nottinghamshire to deliver their best batting performance since early April in their Specsavers County Championship meeting with Warwickshire at Trent Bridge.
The pair added 205 for the third wicket as Notts played with the freedom of a side whose fate has already been decided. Their defeat last week to Kent means that they’ll be playing second tier cricket next season.
That, coupled with their qualification for this weekend’s Vitality Blast Finals Day, enabled Notts to ring the changes and pile on the runs.
By stumps they had reached 425 for six after being invited to bat first, their highest score of the season.
Mullaney scored a career-best 179, scoring his runs from 173 deliveries, with 26 fours and five sixes.
Northampton: (first day of four): Northamptonshire 217 v Durham 37-4
Adam Rossington produced a murderous counterattack to revive Northamptonshire on the opening day of their crucial Specsavers County Championship promotion clash with Durham at Wantage Road.
Asked to bat in bowling conditions that couldn’t have been better designed, Northants were listing at 150 for 8 after Chris Rushworth’s fourth five-wicket haul of the season before captain Rossington struck 60 in just 22 balls to rescue a batting point.
He was last out for 82 but pushed his side to 217. Ben Sanderson then put Northants on top with three wickets as Durham slipped to 37 for 4 when bad curtailed the day.
Rossington targeted the short leg-side boundary towards the Clark Road and shuffled across his stumps to slog sweep seven sixes - three of them in one over from Brydon Carse that went for 27 and four off Rushworth, including the biggest that brought up the batting point.
It was the perfect time for a captain’s innings and gave Northants something to bowl at, which looked unlikely when Rushworth ran through them after lunch.
Conditions were tailor-made for he and the Durham attack with a heavy grey cloud clinging over the ground and the floodlights the only reason play was possible. Ned Eckersley could have declined the toss from the changing room.
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Old Trafford: (first day of four): Lancashire 259 v Middlesex 39-6
What had seemed almost certain for over a month was finally confirmed just after 4.30pm on the first day of this game when Lancashire clinched the Second Division championship.
Northamptonshire’s failure to get more than one batting bonus point from their game against Durham combined with Lancashire gaining two points for their first innings total of 259 against Middlesex at Emirates Old Trafford meant that the home side had secured its third promotion in seven seasons.
And after posting a total that seemed no better than par on a good cricket wicket, Lancashire’s bowlers celebrated their side’s success by taking three Middlesex wickets for no runs in seven balls to reduce the visitors to 15 for three before Max Holden and Martin Andersson, the latter making his first County Championship appearance of the season, tried to restore order.
But Andersson was lbw for four and thereby joined Nick Gubbins and Dawid Malan as victims of Tom Bailey. But the Lancashire new-ball bowler was not finished there.
He was fortunate to trap the Middlesex nightwatchman, Miguel Cummins, lbw for two but he then pulled off a brilliant caught and bowled, low to his right, to remove Max Holden for five and the visitors finished on 39 for six after 18 overs, Bailey having taken five wickets in the space of 24 balls and ending the day with five for 16 from nine overs.
Sophia Gardens: (first day of four): Glamorgan 300-4 v Leicestershire
Glamorgan, who need to win this game and probably the next and final game of the season against Durham to be in contention for promotion, were on course for a respectable first innings total against Leicestershire at the end of the first day at Sophia Gardens.
They will resume on 300 for 4, after two batsmen scored 66. There were four partnerships of 50 or more and three batting points gained with 19.4 overs left to gain the maximum.
David Lloyd and Samit Patel were both dismissed for 66, with the Welsh county putting together a healthy effort in a bid to reignite a faltering promotion charge.
Murali Vijay fell cheaply yet again as Somerset lost two early wickets in their reply against Hampshire
New Road: (first day of four): Worcestershire 221 v Gloucestershire 87-4
Riki Wessels continuation of his recent impressive form and a three wicket burst from Ed Barnard tipped the scales in Worcestershire’s favour on day one of the Specsavers County Championship match with promotion-chasing Gloucestershire at Blackfinch New Road.
Wessels played a major role with 72 in enabling Worcestershire to recover from 71-5 to total 221 all out after they had been put in via an uncontested toss in seamer-friendly conditions.
Barnard had accompanied him in a crucial partnership of 82 and then came on first change and accounted for openers James Bracey and Chris Dent plus Miles Hammond as Gloucestershire closed on 87-4.
Wessels mixed trademark strokes with responsible batting after Ryan Higgins (18-1-55-4) and David Payne (16-3-57-3) had given Gloucestershire early ascendancy.
Derby: (first day day of four): Derbyshire 138 v Sussex 116-3
Reece Topley marked his return to first-class cricket after an absence of more than two years by helping promotion-chasing Sussex bowl Derbyshire out cheaply on the opening day of the match at Derby.
The England seamer, whose career has been blighted by back injuries and was making only his sixth championship appearance in just over five years, took 2 for 23 as Derbyshire were dismissed for 138.
David Wiese led the Sussex attack with 4 for 18 and only Anuj Dal with 35 gave the home side a semblance of respectability.
But Sussex also struggled, losing three cheap wickets, before Stiaan Van Zyl, 49, and Delray Rawlins, 26, carried the visitors to 116 for 3 at the close.
Courtesy of the ECB reporters network
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