Find out what happened across the LV= Insurance County Championship on the first day of the eleventh round of the 2021 competition
Group 1
Derbyshire v Essex
Derby (first day of four): Derbyshire 146, Essex 86-3
Essex kept alive their faint hopes of qualifying for Division One by exploiting Derbyshire’s brittle batting on the first day of the LV=Insurance County Championship match at Derby.
Shane Snater took 3 for 45 as Derbyshire were skittled for 146 after electing to bat with only Leus du Plooy offering any prolonged resistance with 43 from 91 balls.
Jamie Porter, Simon Cook and Jimmy Neesham each took two wickets to bowl Derbyshire out for less than 150 for the eighth time in 12 innings.
Derbyshire hit back with Fynn Hudson-Prentice, who is returning to Sussex at the end of the season, taking two wickets as Essex closed on 86 for 3, 60 runs behind.
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Durham v Nottinghamshire
Chester-le-Street (first day of four): Nottinghamshire 312-9
Nottinghamshire made a solid start to their LV= Insurance County Championship clash against Durham, finishing day one 312 for 9 after being inserted by the hosts at Emirates Riverside.
Ben Slater and Liam Patterson-White scored half-centuries, while Joe Clarke added 48 for the visitors. They showed great determination at the crease and battled their way to good score on the opening day amid fine precise bowling from the home side.
Chris Rushworth and Ben Raine led the way for Durham, taking three wickets apiece and Matt Salisbury added a couple, but Scott Borthwick's men were not able to inflict the damage they would have hoped after opting to bowl on home soil.
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Worcestershire v Warwickshire
Worcester (first day of four): Warwickshire 245-4
Pieter Malan struck his maiden century for Warwickshire on the opening day of the LV= Insurance County Championship derby with Worcestershire at New Road.
The South African and England opener Dominic Sibley laid the foundations for the visitors to post a substantial total in the battle to finish in Group One's top two with a second-wicket stand of 220.
Malan was rarely troubled in completing a 151-ball hundred – his 35th in first-class cricket – after Warwickshire captain Will Rhodes had opted to bat on a used pitch.
Worcestershire fought back with three wickets in quick succession, including Malan (141) and Sibley (80), and there was time for 17-year-old debutant spinner Josh Baker to claim a first wicket before an early close at 245 for 4 from 77.2 overs.
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Group 2
Gloucestershire v Hampshire
Cheltenham (first day of four): Gloucestershire 214-6
Gloucestershire and Hampshire played out an even first day in their winner-takes-all contest at Cheltenham with the home side making 214 for 6 before rain took out 30 overs.
Having won the toss, five of Gloucestershire’s top six got starts but none of could make a significant score as Hampshire chipped away.
Miles Hammond and George Scott shared 61 for the opening wicket but the innings then stuttered to 173 for 6 before Jack Taylor, with 34 not out, and Ollie Price, unbeaten on 18, came together.
The rain arrived at a bad time with their partnership making good progress, taking Gloucestershire into bonus-point territory.
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Middlesex v Leicestershire
Northwood (first day of four): Middlesex 280-3
Sam Robson’s first century since the season’s opening day gave Middlesex the early advantage in their LV= Insurance County Championship clash with Leicestershire at Merchant Taylors’ School.
After acting captain Tim Murtagh won the toss, the former England opener struck 13 fours in his unbeaten 138, sharing half-century stands with Josh De Caires, Stephen Eskinazi and Daryl Mitchell as the hosts reached 280 for 3 before bad light ended play three overs ahead of the scheduled close.
Ben Mike, Ed Barnes and Abidine Sakande took a wicket apiece for the visitors.
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Surrey v Somerset
The Oval (first day of four): Somerset 208-6
A fascinating first day, on a pitch expected to take more spin as the game progresses, saw Somerset’s James Hildreth battle to 107 in a hard-fought 280 for 6 against Surrey at the Kia Oval.
It was Hildreth’s 47th first-class hundred and he was well supported in a fourth-wicket stand of 144 in 50 overs by Lewis Goldsworthy, whose gritty three-hour 48 occupied 145 balls.
Hildreth, acting captain in the injury absence of Tom Abell, won an important toss before Somerset set out towards what they hope will be a match-defining first innings total in the final Group Two fixture before qualification for the end-of-season divisional finale that will decide who wins this year’s LV= Insurance County Championship title.
Somerset must at worst draw here to make sure of Division One status in August and September, while Surrey began the game 22 points behind group leaders Somerset and 17 points adrift of second-placed Gloucestershire (the top two qualify for Division One) and had only a mathematical chance of finishing second.
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Sam Robson, pictured here against Somerset, scored a century for Middlesex against Leicestershire
Group 3
Kent v Sussex
Canterbury (first day of four): Sussex 181, Kent 69-5
Sussex reduced a Kent side hobbled by a Covid-19 scare to 69 for 5 on day one of their LV= Insurance County Championship match at Canterbury, leaving them 112 behind the visitors’ first innings score of 181.
Jamie Atkins took 3 for 21 and Ollie Robinson 2 for 21 as Kent’s makeshift top order failed to build on their best red-ball bowling display of the season. 19-year-old debutant Jas Singh took 4 for 51 and Harry Podmore 3 for 49, while James Coles was Sussex’s top scorer with 36.
Singh was only selected after a positive PCR test forced 14 members of Kent’s first-team squad into isolation.
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Glamorgan v Northamptonshire
Cardiff (first day of four): Northamptonshire 128-4
Honours were pretty even on day one of the final round of games in the LV= Insurance County Championship Group Three group stage match at Sophia Gardens when rain stopped play 64 minutes into the afternoon session.
The predicted rain finally arrived after 44.5 overs with Northants 128 for 4. The Glamorgan seamers picked up four wickets, with Timm van der Gugten leading the way with 3 for 35 from 13 his overs.
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Yorkshire v Lancashire
Headingley (first day of four): Lancashire 273-2
Keaton Jennings became the 13th Lancashire player to score two Roses first-class centuries in a season as the visitors enjoyed a dominant opening day at Emerald Headingley.
The England fringe opener shared 163 for the first wicket with Alex Davies, who made a season’s best 84, as the Red Rose called Yorkshire’s decision to bowl first into question by closing day one of this LV= Insurance County Championship fixture on 273 for 2 from 96 overs.
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