Find out what happened across the LV= Insurance County Championship on day two of the third round of divisional fixtures
Division One
Hamsphire v Nottinghamshire
Southampton (second day of four): Hampshire 226 & 133-7, Nottinghamshire 155 - Hampshire lead by 204 runs with three second-innings wickets in hand
Third-placed Hampshire edged an absorbing second day of the LV= County Championship Division One clash with leaders Nottinghamshire, opening up a 204-run lead at the Ageas Bowl.
In perfect seam bowling conditions, 16 wickets fell with Keith Barker taking a career-best 7 for 46 as the visitors were dismissed for 155 in response to Hampshire's first innings score of 226.
But Dane Paterson inspired a Nottinghamshire fightback, reducing the hosts to 133 for 7 at the close after James Vince and Liam Dawson had bolstered the hosts' advantage with an 82-run stand having come together at 28 for 4.
It leaves a fascinating match firmly in the balance although heavy rain is expected to disrupt much of day three.
Somerset v Lancashire
Taunton (second day of four): Lancashire 373, Somerset 90 & 226-4 - Somerset trail by 57 runs with six second-innings wickets in hand
Jack Blatherwick marked his first LV=Insurance County Championship bowl for Lancashire with four wickets as Somerset were put to the sword on the second day of the Division One match at Taunton.
After extending their first innings total from an overnight 364 for 8 to 373 all out, the visitors made short work of a fragile home batting line-up, bowling them out for 90.
Blatherwick finished with 4 for 28 and Tom Bailey 3 for 9, forcing Somerset to follow on 283 behind. Only Azhar Ali, who made 39, offered more than token resistance.
The hosts made a better fist of their second innings, reaching 226 for 4 by the close. Tom Lammonby led the way, hitting a fluent 100, off 103 balls, with 12 fours and three sixes, but his side still trailed by 57.
Yorkshire v Warwickshire
Headingley (second day of four): Warwickshire 155 & 176, Yorkshire 108 & 50-3 - Yorkshire need 174 more runs to win
The crucial LV= Insurance County Championship match between title chasers Yorkshire and Warwickshire has edged the way of the visitors courtesy of three evening wickets in defence of 224 on day two at Emerald Headingley.
The winner of this penultimate round Division One fixture will set up a final week title push, while the loser will be all but eliminated. Yorkshire closed on 50 for 3, including losing Dawid Malan to the day’s last ball.
Eighteen wickets fell on day one followed by 15 during a second day which saw Tim Bresnan contribute with the bat and in the field against the county he won two Championship titles with in 2014 and 2015.
Division Two
Glamorgan v Gloucestershire
Sophia Gardens (second day of four): Glamorgan 309, Gloucestershire 224-4 - Gloucestershire are 85 runs behind with six first-innings wickets in hand
Two superb catches by Glamorgan skipper Chris Cooke, and two wickets in three balls by off-spinner Andrew Salter, stopped Gloucestershire from romping to a big second-day total in their LV= Insurance County Championship at Sophia Gardens.
Cooke dived full length to take one catch with his left hand and then took another in similar fashion with his right to remove Miles Hammond (34) and then Tom Lace (12) off seamers Michael Hogan and David Lloyd.
Lace went with the score on 90 and that allowed Dent and Graeme van Buuren to wade into a home attack that lacked punch. They put on 96 for the third wicket, with Dent playing the anchor role until he attempted to inexplicably ramp Salter and was clean bowled.
He left for 75, his fifth half-century of the season. Two balls later, Ryan Higgins went back to another Salter delivery and was plum LBW to make it 184 for 4. Van Buuren was the aggressor throughout and reached his 50 off 87 balls with his 10th four of the day. He was unbeaten on 65 when the players went off for bad light at 4.47pm
Northamptonshire v Durham
Northampton (second day of four): Northamptonshire 183 & 10-0, Durham 400 - Northamptonshire trail by 207 runs with 10 second-innings wickets in hand
Matty Potts and Liam Trevaskis both collected half centuries during a record-breaking ninth-wicket partnership as Durham gained complete control at Wantage Road.
Tailenders Potts and Trevaskis added 149 for the penultimate wicket – a Durham record against Northamptonshire and one shy of the outright best against any county.
For both the 22-year-olds it meant their highest first-class scores – Potts scored 81 while Trevaskis was left unbeaten on 77.
Their contributions, coupled with Scott Borthwick’s 73 and 40-odds for Graham Clark and Coughlin, gave Durham a 217 run first-innings lead, which Northamptonshire knocked down to 207 during a nervy four-over spell under the floodlights.
Surrey v Essex
The Oval (second day of four): Essex 439, Surrey 107 for 7 - Surrey trail by 432 runs with three first-innings wickets in hand
Hashim Amla was left fighting a lone hand as Surrey struggled to 107 for 7 on day two at the Kia Oval after Essex totalled 439 in their LV= Insurance County Championship second division match.
Surrey captain Amla, who came in at No.3, remained a defiant 58 not out as 14 wickets fell overall on a day in which batting seemed far more difficult than it did 24 hours earlier when Sir Alastair Cook’s unbeaten 140 had guided Essex to their overnight total of 299 for 3.
Graeme van Buuren has endured a frustrating season but he made a half century for Gloucestershire
Division Three
Derbyshire v Kent
Derby (second day of four): Kent 285 & 147-1, Derbyshire 156 - Kent lead by 276 runs with nine first-innings wickets in hand
An incisive new ball burst from Grant Stewart has put Kent firmly in charge of the LV=Insurance County Championship match against Derbyshire at Derby.
The all-rounder ripped through Derbyshire’s top order to take 4 for 6 in nine overs and ended with 5 for 23 as the home side were bowled out for 156 with fast bowler Sam Conners scoring a career-best 39 off 28 balls.
That gave Kent a lead of 129 and when bad light ended play early, they were 276 in front on 147 for 1 with Zak Crawley scoring his second half century of the match and Jordan Cox an unbeaten 58.
Leicestershire v Sussex
Leicestershire (second day of four): Sussex 359-9, Leicestershire 291-2 - Leicestershire trail by 68 runs with eight first-innings wickets in hand
Centuries from Hassan Azad and Lewis Hill raised Leicestershire’s hopes of ending their LV=Insurance County Championship home campaign on a winning note.
On a day shortened by seven overs by bad light, Azad finished unbeaten on 122 - his first hundred since April - but Hill’s 109 not out - his third of the summer - came only a week after his 113 against Derbyshire in what has become comfortably the best season of the 30-year-old’s career.
The two have shared an unbroken stand of 183 to take Leicestershire to 291 for two, trailing by 68.
Middlesex v Worcestershire
Lord's (second day of four): Middlesex 144 & 233-6, Worcestershire 171 - Middlesex lead by 206 runs with four second-innings wickets in hand
John Simpson led Middlesex’s fightback from 39 for 4 with an unbeaten half-century in their LV= Insurance County Championship clash against Worcestershire.
A three-wicket burst by Charlie Morris had put the visitors on top at Lord’s, with Middlesex only 12 ahead after teenager Josh Baker’s maiden half-century saddled them with a first-innings deficit of 27.
Tim Murtagh finished with 5 for 64 as Worcestershire were eventually bowled out for 171.
Max Holden and Martin Andersson both contributed valuable runs before Simpson’s unbroken stand of 80 with Luke Hollman steered the Seaxes to 233 for 6 at stumps, an overall advantage of 206.
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