Find out what happened on day three of the fourth round of LV= Insurance County Championship fixtures
Division One
Chelmsford (third day of four): Northamptonshire 390, Essex 193 & 149-3 - Essex trail by 48 runs with seven second-innings wickets in hand
Paul Walter and Matt Critchley staged a belligerent rearguard action to frustrate Northamptonshire’s hopes of claiming a morale-boosting victory at Chelmsford.
The fourth-wicket pair came together at 58 for 3 shortly before tea and were still there at stumps having put on 91 valuable runs as Essex fought to save the LV= Insurance County Championship match.
Essex, eventually dismissed in their first innings for 193, with Ben Sanderson finishing with 4 for 32, were asked to follow-on by Northamptonshire. By the close on day three they were 149 for 3, requiring another 48 to make the visitors bat again. Walter was 40 not out, Critchley 44.
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Bristol (third day of four): Surrey 603, Gloucestershire 443-2 - Gloucestershire trail by 160 runs with eight first-innings wickets remaining
Rediscovering his best form when it was most needed, Chris Dent scored a superb double hundred and batted all day to frustrate First Division leaders Surrey and usher Gloucestershire towards safety on day three of this County Championship match at Bristol's Seat Unique Stadium.
Responding to Surrey's imposing first-innings 603, Gloucestershire reached the close on 443-2, thanks in large part to Dent's defiant knock of 207 not out, an innings spanning eight hours so far.
The Bristolian shared a record-breaking opening stand of 296 with Marcus Harris, who raised an impressive 124, and then staged an unbroken third-wicket alliance of 147 with Miles Hammond, his fellow left-hander finishing undefeated on 75.
In the process, Dent passed the notable personal milestone of 10,000 first-class runs, and Gloucestershire attained maximum batting bonus points for the first time this season. They still trail by 160 and will need to summon further resistance on the final day, but any outcome other than a draw is now inconceivable.
Harry Brook [Nathan Stirk/Getty Images]
Southampton (third day of four): Hampshire 246 & 344, Lancashire 240 & 9-0 - Lancashire trail by 342 runs with 10 second-innings wickets in hand
Nick Gubbins scored twin centuries in a County Championship match for the first time in his career as Hampshire set Lancashire 351 to win at the Ageas Bowl.
Left-handed batter Gubbins followed his innings rescuing 101 not out with an effortless 130 to give Hampshire a hefty lead on a pitch which had previously benefited the bowlers.
He joined forces with Ben Brown, who scored a high-quality 72, to put on 144 for the fifth wicket to grind down Lancashire.
Hampshire were eventually bowled out for 344, with the visitors reaching nine in six wicketless overs by close.
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Headingley (third day of four): Kent 291 & 118-2, Yorkshire 591 - Kent trail by 162 runs with eight second-innings wickets remaining
Harry Brook fell narrowly short of a maiden career double century before lunch on day three as Yorkshire edged towards victory in their County Championship clash with Kent at Headingley.
Brook, the Division One’s second leading run-scorer behind unbeaten Kent opener Ben Compton, continued his super start to the summer by advancing from 131 overnight to 194 and taking his tally of runs to 512 in five innings this summer.
Yorkshire were replying to 291. They started day three on 326 for 5 with a lead of 35 and were bowled out by mid-afternoon for a record 591 and with a lead of 280.
Later in the day, Kent impressively resisted to close on 118 for 2 from 50 overs, giving them plenty of hope they can avoid a third defeat in four games to start 2022.
Liam Trevaskis [Mike Hewitt/Getty Images]
Division Two
Hove (third day of four): Durham 223 & 169-0, Sussex 538 - Durham trail by 146 runs with 10 second-innings wickets in hand
An unbroken opening stand of 169 between Alex Lees and Sean Dickson gave Durham an excellent chance of saving their County Championship match against Sussex at Hove after they had conceded a first-innings lead of 315.
Dickson completed his century just before the close, off 137 balls with 15 fours, while the more subdued Lees finished with 50 not out.
Earlier, Sussex had continued to dominate their fixture against one of the favourites for promotion as their overseas stars Cheteshwar Pujara and Mohammad Rizwaz put on 154 for the sixth wicket. Pujara scored 203, his second double century in three matches – and there was another hundred in the other match – while Rizwan found his form on his home debut with an innings of 79 as Sussex piled on 538.
There are enough cracks on the pitch to encourage the Sussex spinners on the final day. But Durham, who are 146 runs behind, feel they have a good chance of a fighting draw on what is still a good surface.
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Derby (third day of four): Derbyshire 368 & 170-2, Glamorgan 387 - Derbyshire lead by 151 runs with eight second-innings wickets in hand
Derbyshire’s Shan Masood fell agonisingly short of a world record on the third day of the County Championship match against Glamorgan at Derby.
The Pakistan opener was out for 42, failing by three to beat the most first-class runs in April, set by Nick Compton who scored 715 for Somerset in 2012.
Marnus Labuschagne had earlier scored 130 from 199 balls out of Glamorgan’s 387 with Sri Lankan fast bowler Suranga Lakmal taking 5 for 82.
Derbyshire wiped out the slender deficit of 19 and with Wayne Madsen cruising to an unbeaten 58, they closed on 170 for 2, a lead of 151.
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