The Cricketer rounds up the action on day one of the current round of County Championship matches taking place across the country
Action from the Kia Oval on Monday
Nottinghamshire vs Somerset
A century from James Hildreth, his third of the season, put Somerset in command on the opening day at Trent Bridge.
Hildreth scored 137 as the visitors reached stumps on 353 for seven.
Harry Gurney was the pick of the home attack, picking up figures of 5-66.
Surrey vs Essex
County champions Surrey were skittled for 67, their lowest championship total at the Kia Oval for 56 years, as Jamie Porter and Sam Cook bowled Essex into a position of first day dominance with four wickets apiece.
By stumps, on a pitch that eased significantly in the second half of the day, the 2017 title-winners were already 130 runs in front with Murali Vijay and Tom Westley putting on 146 in 43 overs for the second wicket to take Essex to 197 for two in reply.
Worcestershire vs Yorkshire
Yorkshire made sure of their Division One status for the 2019 season despite being on the receiving end of another century from Worcestershire opener Daryl Mitchell at Blackfinch New Road.
The Tykes needed two more points to stay up and that milestone was achieved when Ed Barnard was leg before to Jack Brooks in the paceman’s final game before leaving Headingley to join Somerset.
But they were made to wait until the 84th over after opting to bowl via an uncontested toss due mainly to the efforts of Mitchell who completed his fourth Championship century of the campaign.
He followed up his 178 in last month’s innings victory at Scarborough with another invaluable knock for his side before being eighth out at 270 for eight.
It enabled Brooks to complete his third five-wicket haul in five games since announcing he has signed a three-year contract at Taunton until the end of the 2021 season.
Worcestershire eventually closed on 319 for eight.
Hampshire vs Lancashire
Tom Bailey, the Lancashire fast bowler, celebrated his 60th Championship wicket of the season but late Hampshire wickets decreased the visitor’s hopes of avoiding relegation
Bailey used seam friendly conditions to his advantage to return figures of 4-57, and move above injured team-mate Graham Onions to the top of the Division One wicket taking charts.
He took the wickets of Jimmy Adams, Sam Northeast, Gareth Berg and Fidel Edwards as Hampshire were bowled out for 187.
For Lancashire to definitely remain in the top tier they need to beat Hampshire, with full bonus points, along with Nottinghamshire losing and taking five or fewer bonus points from their home game with Somerset.
And they started perfectly by electing to bowl with an uncontested toss and claimed the full three bowling points but despite a promising 81-stand between Liam Livingstone and Keaton Jennings, Lancashire’s hunt for batting points is looking difficult.
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Warwickshire vs Kent
Warwickshire took huge strides towards the Division Two title by totally dominating the opening day against rivals Kent at Edgbaston.
The two sides, already guaranteed promotion, went into their final game level on points so whoever takes most from this match will go up as champions.
It had all the makings of a titanic duel between the two standout teams in the division this season - but Kent endured a day to forget as they were bowled out for 167 before the home side eased to 148 without loss at the close.
Glamorgan vs Leicestershire
Glamorgan, still searching for their second victory in Division Two, reached 331 for eight at the close of the first day against Leicestershire at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.
In stark contrast to this season, the Welsh county built a series of solid partnerships to set the foundations of the innings, with five in excess of 50, a rarity for them in Championship cricket this season.
Derbyshire vs Gloucestershire
Craig Miles marked his farewell match for Gloucestershire with a five-wicket haul before Luis Reece put Derbyshire back in the Division Two County Championship match at Derby.
Miles, who is joining Warwickshire next season, took 5-50 as Derbyshire were bowled out for 184 with Reece top-scoring with 59 in his second game back after more than three months out with a broken foot.
Wayne Madsen completed 1,000 championship runs for the season but Miles and Matt Taylor with 3 for 32 ran through the home side who responded when Reece took four wickets to reduce Gloucestershire to 100 for 5 at the close.
Northamptonshire vs Sussex
Ben Sanderson took four wickets and slugged a merry 36 from No.11 to put Northamptonshire on top against Sussex after a first day’s play where 20 wickets fell at Wantage Road.
After surprisingly contesting the toss and choosing to bat first, Sanderson’s 4-32 helped bundle the visitors out for just 118 and then, from 111 for nine, his entertaining batting then pushed Northants to 171 all out and gave them a very useful advantage.
Durham vs Middlesex
Durham have made the perfect start to Paul Collingwood's final match, producing a strong performance to lead Middlesex by 106 runs on day one at Emirates Riverside.
Coach Jon Lewis demanded that his players put in a display to reflect the career of the former England all-rounder to respond from their humiliating defeat at the hands of Leicestershire last week. Matt Salisbury rose to the occasion with the ball, claiming his best figures in first-class cricket of 6-37 to bowl out the visitors for 121.
Gareth Harte and Michael Richardson made fifties to lead the way with the bat as Durham bounced back from their abject efforts from Grace Road. Collingwood's hopes of ending his career in style were dashed when he was dismissed for 32, although Harte was there at the close unbeaten on 76 with the home side ending the day 227 for five.
Reports courtesy of the ECB Reporters Network
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