The Cricketer wraps up events from across Division One and Division Two of the County Championship on another tantalising day of four-day cricket
Headlingley (second day of four): Yorkshire 181 & 5-0 v Hampshire 235
Hampshire hold the advantage at the halfway stage of their clash with Yorkshire at Emerald Headingley as Sam Northeast and James Fuller scored day-two fifties.
In bowler-friendly conditions, the second-placed visitors replied to a first-innings 181 with 235, a lead of 54.
Yorkshire, for whom David Willey took two for 52 and Ben Coad four for 41, closed on five without loss from three overs in the second innings.
In-form Northeast and Fuller posted 50 and 54 not out, the latter’s coming on his first-class debut for Hampshire and after taking three wickets with his seamers on day one.
Fuller had just started to open his shoulders before heavy rain arrived just after 3.40pm, forcing a two-and-a-half-hour delay. When play resumed, he reached 50 off 73 balls with a third six.
However, Coad bowled Mason Crane and Fidel Edwards in between Fuller's maximum and they were eventuallu bowled out for 235, before Yorkshire openers Adam Lyth and Harry Brook survived three testing overs at the end of the day.
Edgbaston (second day of four): Warwickshire 293 & 26-0 v Surrey 188
A marathon spell from captain Jeetan Patel put Warwickshire on top against Surrey on an engrossing second day of their tussle at Edgbaston.
Patel bowled unchanged from just before lunch to just before 6pm for figures of four for 53 from 31 overs which restricted the champions to 188 all out in reply to the home side's 293.
On a pitch on which fluent batting has proved difficult, a lead of 105 is significant and in 12 overs before the close Warwickshire enhanced that lead with a further 26 without loss.
Resuming on the second morning on 275 for eight, Warwickshire added only 18 before being dismissed, with Henry Brookes left unbeaten on 41, while Morne Morkel took three for 87 and Matthew Dunn three for 65.
In reply, Surrey soon lost Mark Stoneman, but Rory Burns' fluent 40 from 67 balls set a solid platform until he flayed Olly Hannon-Dalby straight to backward point.
Accurate bowling, led by Patel, then built pressure which triggered a collapse. Scott Borthwick fell lbw to Norwell before Patel took three wickets in an over as Dean Elgar lifted to extra cover and Ryan Patel and Will Jacks edged to second and first slip respectively.
Ben Foakes and Rikki Clarke added 58 in 19 overs before the former called for a sharp single and was dismayed to see his partner beaten by Dominic Sibley's direct hit from cover.
Foakes found another stubborn partner in Gareth Batty who helped add 37 before Brookes returned to trap Batty and Dunn lbw with successive balls.
The Bears then saw out 12 overs from Surrey in their second innings.
Chelmsford (second day of four): Essex 313 v Kent 182
Simon Harmer took three for 72 as Essex claimed a considerable first-innings lead at Chelmsford.
Kent were bundled out for 182 from 89 overs at the close on day two of the Specsavers County Championship match, still 131 runs behind Essex’s 313 all out.
Kent found scoring difficult all day, with their run-rate hovering around the two-an-over mark for much of the innings, and Harmer took advantage by dismissing Zak Crawley, captain Joe Denly and Wiaan Mulder.
It took the visitors 50 overs to reach three-figures, while the fifth-wicket partnership between Daniel Bell-Drummond, who top scored with 28, and Ollie Robinson added just 19 in 12 overs.
By way of contrast, Essex had scored at three an over in posting 313 in their first innings, even though Kent required just 32 balls to take the two remaining wickets after the hosts slumped to 303 for eight yesterday evening.
However, in Kent's reply, Essex's Jamie Porter and Sam Cook set the tone from the start, nipping the ball around, while Peter Siddle and Harmer found bounce and lift at their different speeds, with the former also taking three scalps.
Essex's 20-year-old wicketkeeper Michael Pepper, playing for the first time this season after an appendix operation, also took five catches behind the stumps, though he did require treatment just before the close after a ball from Porter slipped through his gloves and into his face.
Worcester (second day of four): Worcestershire 156 v Middlesex 221 & 195-2
Middlesex paceman Tom Helm returned career best figures before skipper Dawid Malan’s 23rd first class hundred established a position of strength for his side in their encounter with Worcestershire.
Helm finished with 5-36 from 19 overs to earn Middlesex a first innings lead of 65 as Worcestershire were dismissed for 156 in 63.5 overs shortly before tea.
It surpassed the 25-year-old’s previous best of 5-59 against Warwickshire at Edgbaston two years ago as he exploited a pitch of uneven bounce and received excellent support from veteran Tim Murtagh, who recorded figures of two for 25.
Then skipper Malan and Nick Gubbins cashed in during a marathon final session of 51 overs with an unbroken third wicket partnership of 175.
Malan leg glanced Ed Barnard for four to reach three figures off 121 balls with 14 fours and he accelerated to such an extent that his second 50 came from just 44 deliveries.
He ended the day unbeaten on 107 and Gubbins 72 not out as Middlesex closed on 195-2 an overall advantage of 260.
Hove (second day of four): Sussex 420 v Glamorgan 186 & 137-1
Glamorgan’s Nick Selman and Marnus Labuschagne put together an unbroken second-wicket stand of 137 to frustrate Sussex at Hove.
Already armed with a first innings lead of 234, after they had been bowled out for 420 in their first innings, Sussex seemed to be in control when Mir Hamza had Charlie Hemphrey lbw in the first over without a run on the board.
But the two Australians played with increasing authority during the final session with Labuschagne 77 and Selman 45 at stumps. After 15 wickets fell on day one the surface offered fewer problems for batsmen prepared to sit in and wait for the bad balls – a tactic the Glamorgan pair were happy to adopt as they reduced their arrears to 97, reaching stumps on 137 for 1.
Earlier, Sussex skipper Ben Brown had made 131 – his 17th first-class century – as he backed up his 156 in last week’s drawn game against Northamptonshire with another chanceless hundred.
Together with David Wiese, he took the initiative away from Glamorgan in the first session when 140 runs were scored with the sixth-wicket pair putting on 107 in 25 overs.
Leicester (second day of four): Leicestershire 120 v Derbyshire 139 & 160-8
Leicestershire picked up eight wickets in the final session of the day to put the result of the match firmly back in to the balance against Derbyshire.
The visitors ended the day leading by 179 runs with just two second innings wickets in hand after collapsing from 106-2 to 160-8.
The wicket that triggered the collapse was that of Wayne Madsen, who shortly after becoming the first batsman in the match to pass 50, edged a fine delivery from Mohammad Abbas, who took three for 42, to first slip.
Earlier, Tony Palladino picked up five for 29 as Derbyshire secured an unlikely first innings lead.
Having resumed on 55-4, the Foxes had taken their score on to 82 without obvious problems, but lost their last six wickets for just 38 runs.
Luis Reece and Billy Godleman compiled a partnership of 37 when Derbyshire began their second innings before some fluent strokeplay from Masden.
However, Derbyshire then suffered a collapse of their own, with Will Davis and Chris Wright taking two wickets apiece for the hosts.
Cheltenham (second day of four): Gloucestershire 205 v Lancashire 47-2
No play was possible on the second day of the Specsavers County Championship match between Gloucestershire and Lancashire at Cheltenham.
The players arrived at the College Ground to find that a fierce storm last night had caused some water to penetrate the covers.
There was a wet area on a length at the Chapel End, forcing umpires Jeff Evans and Paul Pollard to delay the start and opt to make an initial inspection at 11.30am.
Plans for a further look at 12.30pm were abandoned because of a heavy shower and an early lunch was taken with the intention of another inspection at 1.30pm.
By then more rain had fallen and play was abandoned for the day at 1.45pm amid continued concern that the nature of the pitch had changed.
Lancashire were due to resume their first innings on 47 for two in reply to Gloucestershire’s 205.
Reports courtesy of the ECB Reporters Network
For more outstanding county coverage, try The Cricketer for three issues free this summer. Click here to sign up today
Welcome to www.thecricketer.com - the online home of the world’s oldest cricket magazine. Breaking news, interviews, opinion and cricket goodness from every corner of our beautiful sport, from village green to national arena.