The Cricketer sums up the action from across the County Championship on the first day of the current round of matches...
Nottinghamshire strengthened their overall advantage on the second day of their day-night pink ball Specsavers County Championship match against Worcestershire at Trent Bridge.
The home side closed their first innings on 499 for nine declared and then made steady inroads to leave the visitors on 215 for seven.
Joe Clarke top-scored with 40 and the remainder of the top order all reached double figures before falling, with Harry Gurney taking 3-60.
Earlier, Riki Wessels scored an undefeated 75 for Notts, joining first day batting heroes Chris Nash, Jake Libby and Samit Patel in registering their highest score of the summer.
Ryan ten Doeschate smashed a career-record 173 not out as Essex dominated the second day of the day-night Specsavers County Championship match at Chelmsford.
The Essex captain marked his first game back after serving a two-match suspension for disciplinary issues, by posting the first century by an Essex batsman in the Specsavers County Championship this season.
Ravi Bopara, with whom Ten Doeschate shared a record fifth-wicket stand of 294, was the second century-maker, finally departing for 118 shortly before the declaration.
Essex kept Somerset in the field for more than four and a half sweltering sessions, before calling a halt to the carnage at 517 for five.
On a flat, batsman-friendly pitch, only three wickets fell in the day, in contrast to the number of milestones that were passed at regular intervals. At the close, Somerset had seen out the final 42 overs in reducing the deficit by 140 for the loss of two wickets.
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Durham put forward a resilient response to Warwickshire's total of 424, leaving their Specsavers County Championship Division Two contest in the balance after day two at Emirates Riverside.
Jonathan Trott continued his fine form from the opening day to remain unbeaten on 170 as the visitors were able to record a potent score, with Matt Salisbury and Chris Rushworth both notching four wickets.
Durham were solid in their reply as Tom Latham and Cameron Steel put on 96 for the first wicket. Oliver Hannon-Dalby struck twice, but Steel and Graham Clark were unbeaten as the home side closed on 138 for two.
Tony Palladino led a Derbyshire fightback before Leicestershire’s bowlers regained control at the end of the second day of the day/night Division Two match at Derby.
The experienced seamer, who will be 35 on Friday, took 4-62 as Leicestershire slipped from 168 for one to 297 all out with skipper Paul Horton top scoring with 88.
But the visitors exploited helpful bowling conditions under the County Ground lights to make early inroads as Derbyshire closed on 43 for three, nine runs behind.
Usman Khawaja made history on the second day of Glamorgan’s Specsavers County Championship Division Two match against Northamptonshire at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.
But there was also a century for Northamptonshire’s opening batsman Ben Duckett, as he guided the visitors to 169 without loss at the close, a sizeable second innings lead of 196. They are in firm control after a lacklustre bowling and batting display by the Welsh county, with the notable exception of Khawaja.
Khawaja (103) became the first player in Glamorgan’s history to score a century in his first three Championship matches for the county, surpassing the two consecutive hundreds achieved by Javed Miandad (in 1980) and Shaun Marsh, earlier this season, with Khawaja adding to his centuries against Warwickshire (125) at Edgbaston and Derbyshire (126) at Swansea.
Reports courtesy of the ECB Reporters Network
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