Find out what happened on day one of the third round of LV= Insurance County Championship fixtures
Division One
Canterbury (first day of four): Kent 271-7 vs Hampshire
A Daniel Bell-Drummond century helped Kent to 271 for 7 against Hampshire, after a fluctuating first day in their LV= Insurance County Championship match at Canterbury.
Bell-Drummond hit 149 from 231 balls, with 25 fours and a six, as he put on 126 for the fourth wicket with Kent's next highest scorer Jordan Cox, who made 51.
The hosts were on top for the first two sessions, but Hampshire used the new ball to bowl themselves back into contention, Keith Barker ending the day with 4 for 36 and Mohammad Abbas taking 2 for 57.
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Old Trafford (first day of four): Gloucestershire 252, Lancashire 11-1 - Lancashire trail by 241 runs with nine first-innings wickets remaining
James Anderson's much-vaunted return to red-ball cricket ended wicketless despite Lancashire enjoying the best of a contrasting first day.
At the close, Lancashire were 11 for 1 after the visitors were dismissed for 252, having chosen to bat, which will come as a severe disappointment for Gloucestershire after a superb opening session saw Graeme van Buuren's men go into lunch at 101 without loss and hopeful of building a competitive total.
But a calamitous middle session, during which they lost six wickets for just 69 runs, proved decisive as the visiting batters struggled to deal with the accuracy of Pakistani international Hassan Ali, who finished with excellent figures of 6 for 47.
Tom Abell celebrates his century against Surrey [Getty Images]
Northampton (first day of four): Yorkshire 296, Northamptonshire 26-2 - Northamptonshire trail by 270 runs with eight first-innings wickets remaining
Jordan Thompson starred with bat and ball at Wantage Road.
The Leeds-born allrounder struck in successive balls to remove Northamptonshire skipper Ricardo Vasconcelos and nightwatchman Simon Kerrigan as the hosts stumbled to 26 for 2 in reply to Yorkshire's 296 all out.
Thompson's double-strike followed his quickfire 51, which guided Yorkshire from the choppy waters of 206 for 7 to the brink of a third batting point.
Rising star Harry Brook top scored for the visitors with 84, sharing a stand of 131 with Dawid Malan, while Gareth Berg, still running in at the age of 41 snared 5 fpr 58, his seventh five-wicket haul in first-class cricket.
The Oval (first day of four): Somerset 283-6 vs Surrey
Skipper Tom Abell scored Somerset's first hundred of the season as his side finally found some batting form.
Beaten in their first two Division One games by Hampshire and Essex, Somerset took a bit of a risk when they opted to bat first on a green-tinged pitch.
But Abell, who came in during the 10th over following the dismissal of Tom Lammonby, batted through the rest of an absorbing, hard-fought day to reach 121 not out as Somerset, who are looking for their first Championship win at The Oval since 1995, closed on 283 for 6.
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Edgbaston (first day of four): Essex 168, Warwickshire 76-2 - Warwickshire trail by 92 runs with eight first-innings wickets remaining
Champions Warwickshire enjoyed a strong first day after the visitors' decision to bat first backfired at Edgbaston.
Essex chose to bat on a good-looking pitch but were bowled out for 168 as only Tom Westley (80) showed the requisite patience against an accurate home attack.
From a relatively solid 98 for 2 just after lunch, Essex suffered a post-lunch implosion of five wickets for 11 runs in 43 balls. Seam bowlers Olly Hannon-Dalby and Liam Norwell shared five wickets before Danny Briggs did a consummate spinner's job by briskly taking out the lower order with 4 for 31.
Warwickshire's batsmen were then made to work hard in reply but they reached the close on 76 for 2 with Dom Sibley unbeaten on 33 (79 balls).
A difficult day for Essex brought another worrying twist, for England too, in its closing stages when Lawrence pulled up sharply while chasing a Sibley drive, and limped off in some discomfort, clutching his hamstring.
Brett D'Oliveira hit a hundred for Worcestershire [Getty Images]
Division Two
Chester-le-Street (first day of four): Durham 230, Nottinghamshire 50-0 - Nottinghamshire trail by 180 runs with 10 first-innings wickets remaining
A five-for by Liam Patterson-White put Nottinghamshire firmly in the driving seat as the hosts failed to capitalise on a good start.
After a quick start to the session which saw a 50 partnership after the first hour and Sean Dickson pass 50, Notts removed both openers to help sow the seeds of a batting collapse, Dane Paterson getting rid of Michael Jones and Luke Fletcher pinning Dickson lbw.
Notts continued to plug away, Patterson-White spinning his way through the hosts lineup, and claiming the prized wickets of Scott Borthwick and Keegan Petersen to help reduce the hosts to 135 for 5.
Fletcher, Paterson and James Pattinson all chimed in with wickets to reduce the hosts to 230 all out, Ned Eckersley and Ben Raine making the score somewhat respectable for the home side.
Ben Slater and Haseeb Hameed both ended the day 23 not out as Notts made an excellent start to their response.
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Sophia Gardens (first day of four): Glamorgan 122, Middlesex 171-6 - Middlesex lead by 49 runs with four first-innings wickets remaining
Sixteen wickets fell on the first day as both seam bowling attacks made the most of a pitch with some life in it.
Having won the toss, Middlesex put the hosts into bat and had them bowled out after the lunch break for just 122. Shaheen Shah Afridi picked up three wickets on his Middlesex debut but it was Toby Roland-Jones who looked the most threatening throughout.
Middlesex finished the day on 171 for 6, 49 runs in front. While the lead is not yet significant, given the speed with which wickets have fallen in this game Middlesex are very well placed to push for their first win of the season.
Liam Patterson-White ends up on the floor during Nottinghamshire's game against Durham [Getty Images]
Grace Road (first day of four): Leicestershire 213, Derbyshire 36-1 - Derbyshire trail by 174 runs with nine first-innings wickets remaining
Derbyshire seamer Sam Conners continued his fine start to the season by taking 4 for 62 as Leicestershire were dismissed for 213 on the opening day at the Uptonsteel County Ground.
Opener Sam Evans top-scored with 63, South African allrounder Wiaan Mulder made 39 on his Leicestershire debut and Ed Barnes an unbeaten 34 but it was another disappointing first innings by the home side, who have picked up only four batting points from the first three matches of the season.
Sri Lanka Test fast bowler Suranga Lakmal, wicketless against Sussex last week, finished with 2 for 52 and saw two slip catches spilled, and 19-year-old seamer Nick Potts looked a decent prospect with 2 for 32 in only his second senior appearance, but 23-year-old Conners was Derbyshire's brightest spark with the ball, raising his wickets tally for the season to 14.
Derbyshire closed on 36 for 1 in reply, having lost skipper Billy Godleman. Pakistan star Shan Masood, already past 400 runs for the season in just his fourth innings for the county, is unbeaten on 20.
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New Road (first day of four): Worcestershire 338-5 vs Sussex
Brett D'Oliveira struck his second century in two games since becoming Worcestershire club captain.
The 30-year-old followed up his unbeaten 134 against Leicestershire with another superb knock of 106 not out to steer his side to 338 for 5 by the close.
Opener Ed Pollock's rapid 77 got the innings off to a flying start and then D'Oliveira and Ed Barnard, who made 75, pressed home the advantage during a fifth-wicket partnership of 166.
Sussex stuck to their task on a wicket which was not straightforward for batting, with some movement all day.
But they were left to regret Tom Alsop at first slip dropping D'Oliveira on 19 off Henry Crocombe.
Worcestershire ended the day in a position of strength and looking to press on for maximum batting points on Friday.
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