Find out what happened on day two of the latest round of LV= Insurance County Championship matches
DIVISION ONE
Southport (second day of four): Somerset 446, Lancashire 164-0 - Lancashire trail by 282 runs with 10 first-innings wickets remaining
An unbeaten partnership of 164 between Lancashire openers Luke Wells and Keaton Jennings saw the hosts regain a semblance of control on day two of their LV=Insurance County Championship Division One clash with Somerset at Southport.
Wells will resume the third day on the rather precipitous score of 99 not out while Jennings is unbeaten on 61 with just five wickets falling throughout the three sessions of another fine day of cricket on the Sefton coast.
The Red Rose fightback came after the visitors were dismissed mid-way through the afternoon session for 446 with Roelof van der Merwe contributing a valuable half-century along with useful runs from Lewis Gregory and Jack Brook.
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Southampton (second day of four): Warwickshire 217 & 11-0, Hampshire 370-9 dec - Warwickshire trail by 142 runs with 10 second-innings wickets remaining
Ian Holland ended his County Championship woes with an excruciating 99 as Hampshire built an important first-innings lead over Warwickshire.
Opening batter Holland began his season with 81 against Somerset but averaged 14 in his subsequent 13 innings before alleviating his poor form with a stubborn knock.
Liam Dawson maintained his impressive form with 92 – having put on 137 with Holland – and Ben Brown an unbeaten 72 to take Hampshire to a 153-run lead, with Oliver Hannon-Dalby taking his season tally to 35 wickets with 5 for 86. Warwickshire sliced 11 off the deficit in six wicketless overs.
Chris Rushworth was in the wickets again for Durham (Ashley Allen/Getty Images)
Chelmsford (second day of four): Gloucestershire 136 & 140-6, Essex 310 - Gloucestershire trail by 34 runs with four second-innings wickets remaining
Sir Alastair Cook and Simon Harmer combined to leave Essex on the cusp of victory in their County Championship match with Gloucestershire at Chelmsford.
Cook recorded his 31st first-class century for his county on his way to 145 out of 310 all out before off-spin ace Harmer bagged 5 for 51 as the visitors capitulated against the spin wizard.
Cook occupied the crease for almost seven hours as Essex and with skipper Tom Westley, who scored 90, provided a significant second wicket partnership worth 196.
Trailing by 174 runs on first innings, Gloucestershire were flummoxed and confused by the wily Harmer who was introduced into the attack for the sixth over and by the close, had tantalised the visitors to the brink of defeat.
Ollie Price reached the close unbeaten on 42 and will resume with Zafar Gohar on 10 but winless Gloucestershire look set for another reverse.
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Canterbury (second day of four): Northamptonshire 303, Kent 287-5 - Kent trail by 16 runs with five first-innings wickets remaining
Kent were 287 for 5 after day two of their County Championship game with Northamptonshire at Canterbury, trailing by 16 with five first innings wickets remaining.
Hefty partnerships of 91 between Joe Denly and Ben Compton and then exactly 100 between Jack Leaning and Jordan Cox helped Kent close in on Northamptonshire's first innings score of 303.
Cox was unbeaten on 63 at stumps, while Denly and Leaning also both made 63. Jack White had the visitors' best bowling figures with 2 for 40.
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Scarborough (second day of four): Yorkshire 521, Surrey 191-1 - Surrey trail by 330 runs with nine first-innings wickets remaining
England fringe Test opener Rory Burns led a strong Surrey response to Yorkshire's first-innings 521 with a largely unruffled 94 not out on day two at Scarborough.
A high-scoring County Championship draw is already on the cards with two days remaining, after Adam Lyth and Jonny Tattersall recorded Yorkshire's first ever triple century partnership for the sixth wicket in first-class cricket.
Lyth made 183 off 306 balls and unbeaten Tattersall a career best 180 off 344 before Burns' effort came off 166 balls in Surrey’s 191 for 1 from 53 overs.
Toby Roland-Jones ended with four wickets for Middlesex (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
DIVISION TWO
Northwood (second day of four): Middlesex 188 & 180-6, Worcestershire 191 - Middlesex lead by 177 runs with four second-innings wickets remaining
Luke Hollman's unbeaten knock of 37 tilted a see-saw contest fractionally in Middlesex's favour as they built a 177-run advantage against Worcestershire in their County Championship match at Merchant Taylors' School.
Hollman – who top-scored with 62 in the first innings – shored up the lower order after Dillon Pennington's three wickets had reduced his side to 139 for 6 second time around, extending that total by a further 41 at stumps.
It sets up the prospect of an enticing finish on day three after Worcestershire had posted 191 to secure a wafer-thin three-run lead in their first innings, built around Ed Barnard's undefeated 69.
Toby Roland-Jones, who finished with figures of 4 for 60, then played a valuable role with the bat, keeping Hollman company at the crease until bad light brought play to a close.
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Chester-le-Street (second day of four): Derbyshire 283 & 19-2, Durham 296 - Derbyshire lead by six runs with eight second-innings wickets remaining
Tom Mackintosh scored a maiden first-class half century to lead a Durham fightback against Derbyshire on day two of their County Championship Division Two contest at Seat Unique Riverside.
The hosts were reduced for 142 for 7 in their first innings amid fine bowling from Toby Pettman, who claimed figures of 3 for 40 to race through the Durham batting order. However, Mackintosh led the way with 51 as he and tail provided 154 for the final three wickets. Chris Rushworth, Ben Raine and Stanley McAlindon offered useful cameos to propel the North-East outfit into a narrow lead.
There was time for Rushworth to make inroads into the Derbyshire ranks before the close, leaving the visitors 19 for 2 at stumps, six runs ahead of the home side heading into day three of the contest.
Rory Burns was in the runs for Surrey (Harry Trump/Getty Images)
Hove (second day of four): Sussex 588, Leicestershire 159-1 - Leicestershire trail by 429 runs with nine first-innings wickets remaining
Leicestershire produced an impressive response after Sussex racked up 588 on the second day of their County Championship match at Hove.
The Foxes lost Hassan Azad to the first ball of their reply, but Rishi Patel and Louis Kimber batted with increasing authority in an unbroken stand which took them to 159 for 1 at stumps. They still trail by 429 but a slow pitch is showing little sign of deterioration.
Earlier, Sussex had piled up their highest total for seven years, after Ollie Carter, Delray Rawlins and James Coles, the 18-year-old making only his fifth first-class appearance, all scored half-centuries.
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Cardiff (second day of four): Glamorgan 318 & 53-0, Nottinghamshire 285 - Glamorgan lead by 86 runs with 10 second-innings wickets remaining
Veteran Aussie paceman Michael Hogan and James Harris both came up with four wickets as they ruined top-of-the-table Nottinghamshire's hopes of surpassing Glamorgan's opening day total of 318 in the Division Two County Championship.
Having resumed on 19 without loss overnight, Notts moved effortlessly to 233 for 3 and then 255 for 4 before losing their last six wickets for a mere 30 runs. That meant they found themselves 33 runs short of the Welsh county's first innings score.
Glamorgan had 17 overs to face at the end of the second day and they successfully negotiated that test to end on 53 without alarm, taking a very handy 86-run lead into day three as skipper David Lloyd ended unbeaten on 21 and Eddie Byrom 28.
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