County Championship Division One roundup: Essex and Surrey well set for victory

The Cricketer wraps up the best of the action on day two of the 12th round of LV= Insurance County Championship matches in 2023

Southampton (day two of four): Hampshire 120 & 122-6, Essex 169 - Hampshire lead by 73 runs with four second-innings wickets in hand

Nick Gubbins gave Hampshire a sniff of saving their LV= Insurance County Championship fixture with Essex with a technically gifted unbeaten 44.

Hampshire looked on the brink of a fourth defeat of the season, which would have all but ended their title hopes, having given up a 49-run first-innings lead and lost four second-innings wickets before wiping out the deficit.

Jamie Porter was the main architect of the destruction with another three wickets to go with his first innings 5 for 37, but Gubbins showed a high level of control on a tricky pitch to reach the highest individual score of the match so far.

When the day-ending rain came at tea, he was six runs shy of a fifth half-century of the season and helped his side to a 73-run lead.

^{Jamie Porter was among the wickets once again for Essex [Alex Davidson/Getty Images]}

Edgbaston (day two of four): Warwickshire 60 & 189-4, Middlesex 199 - Warwickshire lead by 50 runs with six second-innings wickets in hand

Middlesex's first-day charge towards victory over Warwickshire was slowed first by stubborn batting and then by bad weather on the second day of their County Championship match at Edgbaston.

After chaos came calm as the frenetic opening day of 312 runs for 23 wickets was followed by a soporific second, which delivered 136 for 3 from 56.3 overs before rain wiped out the last session. 

Warwickshire, having been bowled out for 60 on the first morning, closed the second day on 189 for 4 in their second innings, leading by 50, after Sam Hain (66 not out, 174 balls) and Dan Mousley (58, 151) dug in to add 110 in 45 overs.

Middlesex remain very strongly placed but the home side have clawed their way back into the game. If Warwickshire can bat deep and set a target of around 250 they will scent a remarkable victory, though the absence of injured leading wicket-taker Chris Rushworth (42 wickets at 18.26 this season) means the pendulum is still massively in Middlesex's favour.

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Old Trafford (day two of four): Northamptonshire 342, Lancashire 121-1 - Lancashire trail by 221 runs with nine first-innings wickets in hand

An unbeaten 61 by opener Luke Wells helped Lancashire have the best of a rain-shortened second day of their County Championship against Northamptonshire at Emirates Old Trafford.

When the wet weather brought an early end to play with 37.5 overs still to bowl, the home side were 121 for 1 in reply to Northamptonshire's 342 and this was a fine effort given that the visitors had begun the day on 302 for 5 and with every prospect of putting together a formidable first-innings total.     

However, rather than build on the good work done by the centurion Emilio Gay and Luke Procter on the first day, Northamptonshire's later batters rather squandered that advantage, losing their last five wickets for 40 runs in less than 80 minutes' play, the final four of them to the spinners Jack Morley and Tom Hartley for 13 runs in 28 balls.

^{Sam Hain is leading Warwickshire's rebuilding job [Harry Trump/Getty Images]}

Trent Bridge (day two of four): Nottinghamshire 350, Kent 102-2 - Kent trail by 248 runs with eight first-innings wickets in hand

Injury-kit Kent finished on 102 for 2 in reply to Nottinghamshire's 350 all out on a rain-hit second day of their County Championship clash at Trent Bridge. No play was possible after tea.

With 10 first-team players either injured or unavailable, Jack Leaning's Kent side included two batters signed on emergency loan and another brought out of red-ball 'retirement' with the county's resources so stretched.

After Ben Slater's opening-day century, wicketkeeper Tom Moores made 94 as Nottinghamshire secured three batting points while 20-year-old Jas Singh finishing with 4 for 87 as Kent collected three for bowling. 

Both teams - Kent in particular - will feel happier with a win here ahead of the break for the Metro Bank One-Day Cup as they seek to preserve their Division One status.

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Taunton (day two of four): Somerset 170, Surrey 368 - Somerset trail by 198 runs with 10 second-innings wickets in hand

Tom Latham and Will Jacks fell agonisingly short of centuries as Surrey built a commanding position on a rain-shortened second day of their County Championship match with Somerset at Taunton.

Both players were dismissed for 99 in a first-innings score of 368 all out, which gave the Division One leaders a lead of 198. Matt Henry finished with 6 for 80, the 22nd time the New Zealand seamer had taken five wickets or more in a first-class innings.

Tea was taken at the fall of the final wicket and the rain, which had been threatening for much of the afternoon, arrived to finish play for the day, much to the relief of the Somerset batters, who would have faced testing conditions under lights against the Surrey seam attack.