The Cricketer rounds up the action from day two of the final round of LV= Insurance County Championship fixtures
Canterbury (second day of four): Somerset 202, Kent 405-7 - Kent lead by 203 runs with three first-innings wickets remaining
Kent marked "Stevo Day" at Canterbury by securing survival in Division One of the LV= Insurance County Championship, reaching 405 for 7 in reply to Somerset’s 202 all out, a lead of 203. Kent already have taken all eight available bonus points and Warwickshire's declaration against Hampshire at Edgbaston means their relegation rivals can now only overhaul Yorkshire.
The hosts honoured Darren Stevens’ 18-season contribution by announcing they were retiring his number three shirt and his teammates rose to the occasion, with Nathan Gilchrist taking career best figures of 6 for 61.
Lewis Goldsworthy was Somerset’s top scorer with 94, but he added just a single to his overnight score.
Tawanda Muyeye and Zak Crawley then responded with an opening stand of 176, the former making 85, the latter 79, while in his last match before joining Durham, Ollie Robinson made 52.
Gilchrist had taken two wickets from the final two deliveries before bad light stopped play on day one, leaving Jack Brooks to face the hat-trick ball at the star of the morning session. He survived a hopeful appeal but the visitors had added just seven to their overnight score of 195 for nine when Goldsworthy was caught behind off Gilchrist, six runs short of his hundred.
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Headingley (second day of four): Gloucestershire 190 & 204-6, Yorkshire 183 - Gloucestershire lead by 211 runs with four second-innings wickets remaining
Zafar Gohar-inspired Gloucestershire enjoyed an excellent second day at Headingley to heighten Yorkshire's Insurance County Championship relegation fears with two days of the summer remaining.
The Pakistan left-arm spinner claimed five of seven morning wickets as Yorkshire, replying to a first-innings 190, slipped from 80 for 3 overnight to 183 all out.
In all, 13 wickets fell in a helter-skelter day, with already relegated Gloucestershire’s second innings slipping to 74 for 5 during the late afternoon.
But they recovered either side of tea to close on 204 for 6 from 60 overs - a lead of 211 - thanks to sixth-wicket pair Ollie Price and belligerent Jack Taylor, who hit contrasting half-centuries and shared 122.
Yorkshire came into this game knowing a maximum of 10 points would seal Division One safety, given they held a 15-point cushion over second-bottom Warwickshire. They have so far only taken three.
Celebration time for Zafar Gohar (Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Edgbaston (second day of four): Warwickshire 272-4d, Hampshire 4-0 - Hampshire trail by 268 runs with 10 first-innings wickets remaining
Rob Yates completed his seventh first-class century but Warwickshire and Hampshire were again kept largely inactive on the second day of their crucial County Championship tussle at Edgbaston.
It was a deeply frustrating day for Warwickshire, who must win to have any chance of avoiding relegation, and equally so for the spectators. They saw a dearth of cricket in the day, just 32.1 overs, while both lunch and tea intervals were taken in dry weather and then the last 'session' was ended prematurely for bad light with the sun shining
Warwickshire declared on 272 for 4, Yates having made 104 (185 balls) and Ian Holland taking 3 for 85, before the visitors replied with four without loss in 19 balls before the close.
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Old Trafford (second day of four): Lancashire 512, Surrey 123-5 - Surrey trail 389 runs with five first-innings wickets remaining
Keaton Jennings and George Balderson both narrowly missed out on personal landmarks but Lancashire are sitting pretty at the end of a rain-effected day two of this final match of the County Championship against title winners Surrey.
Jennings fell agonisingly short of double century after he was dismissed lbw by a brilliant Jamie Overton inswinger for 199 before Balderson was the last man out four runs away from his maiden first-class century.
But after reaching 512 in their first innings, Lancashire took five Surrey wickets for 123 to put them firmly in the box seat at a damp Emirates Old Trafford.
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Northampton (second day of four): Essex 263, Northamptonshire 32-2 - Northamptonshire trail by 231 runs with eight first-innings wickets remaining
Ben Allison made his mark with bat and ball on a badly rain-affected second day between Northamptonshire and Essex at Wantage Road.
Only 29 overs were possible, but Essex seamer Allison made the most of them, turning his overnight 37 not out into a career-best 69 not out before the visitors were finally bowled out for 263, Tom Taylor taking 4 for 59.
The tail-enders' latest batting escapade means he now has the remarkable stat of making more 50s (three) than single-figure scores in his short first-class career to date.
Allison and Sam Cook then struck early blows with the new ball as Northamptonshire struggled to 32 for 2 in bowler-friendly conditions before bad light called a halt.
Overnight and morning rain delayed the start until 2:30pm but just six balls were bowled before another heavy shower drove the players off once more.
Centurion Rob Yates (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Worcester (second day of four): Worcestershire 225, Middlesex 146-2 - Middlesex are 79 runs behind with eight first-innings wickets remaining
Pieter Malan struck a timely unbeaten half-century to help promotion-chasing Middlesex seize the initiative on a truncated second day of the LV=Insurance County Championship encounter with Worcestershire at New Road.
Malan had contributed scores of 0, 8 and 2 during the wins earlier this month over Glamorgan and Leicestershire which had reignited Middlesex’s push for a top two spot.
But the South African batter demonstrated the form which had brought him one hundred and four fifties in the Royal London Cup.
He steered his side to 146 for 2 from 44 overs after they had bowled Worcestershire out for 225.
Malan brought up his half-century in a grand manner with a six off Ed Barnard and by the close had moved onto 68 from 135 balls.
Middlesex still need a maximum of 16 points to ensure promotion after their rivals Glamorgan claimed maximum batting points against Sussex at Hove.
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Hove (second day of four): Glamorgan 533-9d, Sussex 88-1 - Sussex are 445 runs behind with nine first-inning wickets remaining
Chris Cooke and Shubman Gill both made impressive hundreds as Glamorgan put themselves into a strong position in their must-win game against Sussex.
Gill scored 119 – his first County Championship hundred – and Cooke 141 as they piled up 533 for 8 declared on the second day at the 1st Central County Ground.
Sussex responded positively and were 86 for 1 when bad light forced the players off with 13 overs still to be bowled at Hove after there had been two short rain delays earlier in the day.
Glamorgan need to win to have any chance of overhauling Middlesex and claiming the second promotion place from Division Two and although Sussex bowled well in the morning session when they took three wickets, their bowlers suffered thereafter with Cooke leading the charge as he made his tenth first-class century.
Steven Mullaney (Tony Marshall/Getty Images)
Nottingham (second day of four): Nottinghamshire 662-5d, Durham 53-2 - Durham are 609 runs with eight first-innings wickets remaining
Nottinghamshire added a new line in their county record books as they put one hand on the Division Two trophy by racking up a massive 662 for 5 declared against Durham on day two of the final match of their County Championship season.
The seventh highest total in their 181-year history was only the second to contain four individual hundreds, matching the achievement of the team that made 656 for 3 declared against Warwickshire at Coventry in 1928.
After Haseeb Hameed and Matt Montgomery posted centuries on day one - Montgomery extending his maiden ton to a magnificent 178 - Lyndon James, with a career-best 164 not out, and skipper Steven Mullaney, who made 136, further turned the screw against a chastened Durham attack, although Matty Potts (3 for 83) and Ben Raine (2 for 98) both went for under three an over.
Durham’s batters then had to face a Nottinghamshire attack boasting England pace bowler Stuart Broad for the first time since April. They closed on 53 for two, still 609 behind, fading light forcing an early close for the second day running.
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Derby (second day of four): Leicestershire 249, Derbyshire 356-2 - Derbyshire lead by 107 runs with eight first-innings wickets remaining
Billy Godleman and Luis Reece scored their first county championship hundreds of the season to put Derbyshire in a commanding position on the second day of the match against Leicestershire.
On a day of records at the Incora County Ground, Godleman, 158 not out, and Reece, 116, shared an opening stand of 251 to severely dent Leicestershire’s chances of ending their winless run in the championship.
The bottom club in Division Two endured three tough sessions in the field, taking only two wickets as Derbyshire closed on 356 for 2, a lead of 107.
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