The Cricketer rounds up the action from day two of the latest round of LV= Insurance County Championship fixtures
DIVISION ONE
The Oval (second day of four): Surrey 333, Yorkshire 179 & 89-2 – Yorkshire trail by 65 runs with eight second-innings wickets remaining
score card
Surrey have taken a step closer to winning their second LV= Insurance County Championship title in five years after forcing Yorkshire to follow on at the Micky Stewart Oval.
Their relentless seam attack bowled Yorkshire out for 179 and when they batted again 154 behind they quickly lost Finley Bean in the fourth over.
Adam Lyth and George Hill got their heads down to take the score to 78 then Jamie Overton came into the attack and with his fifth ball found some extra bounce and Hill (35) edged to second slip.
When bad light stopped play with nine overs not bowled Yorkshire were 89 for 2, 65 behind with Lyth unbeaten on 36. There is still work for Surrey to do, but they are in a strong position with two days to go.
After picking up six bonus points they now hold an 11-point advantage at the top and if they wrap up victory Hampshire would need to beat Kent to take the title race to the last round of matches next week when Surrey visit Lancashire and Hampshire are away to Warwickshire.
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Southampton (second day of four): Kent 165 & 269, Hampshire 57 & 105-4 – Hampshire need 273 runs to win with six second-innings wickets remaining
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Jack Leaning celebrated his second century of the season to boost Kent’s hopes of avoiding relegation as they set title-chasing Hampshire 378 runs to win.
Stand-in captain Leaning struck 112 as the pitch became more conducive to batting, following 23 wickets falling on a fast-forward opening day, as Kent totted up 269 runs.
It meant Hampshire, who had seen Mohammad Abbas claim 4 for 68, required the fifth highest chase in their history to keep themselves in the title race – with Surrey highly likely to pick up a win and six bonus points.
Joe Weatherley was exceptional for his unbeaten 54 but Hampshire lost openers Felix Organ and Ian Holland plus nightwatchman Keith Barker and Nick Gubbins while knocking 105 off the required total in 35 overs – with 273 runs still required to victory.
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Bristol (second day of four): Warwickshire 2574 & 58-5, Gloucestershire 255 – Warwickshire lead by 77 runs with five second-innings wickets remaining
score card
Tom Price spearheaded a dramatic late Gloucestershire fightback on day two of this compelling match against fellow strugglers Warwickshire.
Dismissed for 274 earlier in the day, Warwickshire bowled out Gloucestershire for 255 to establish a slender first-innings lead of 19, thanks largely to a superb return of 5 for 90 from Indian off-spinner Jayant Yadav.
But Price produced a blistering spell with the new ball to remove Dom Sibley, Sam Hain, Will Rhodes and Yadav, while David Payne accounted for Rob Yates as the Bears slumped to 58 for 5 at the close, a lead of just 77 with five seconds -innings wickets in hand.
Although Gloucestershire face having to bat last on a turning pitch which is expected to deteriorate further, they will now consider themselves favorites to register a first win of the season in red-ball cricket and plunge Warwickshire still deeper into the relegation mire.
Somerset’s Craig Overton celebrates a wicket [Harry Trump/Getty Images]
Taunton (second day of four): Somerset 389, Northamptonshire 184-6 – Northamptonshire trail by 205 runs with four second-innings wickets remaining
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Craig Overton marked his return to Championship cricket with four wickets as Somerset took control at Taunton.
Having extended their first innings total from an overnight 271 for 4 to 389 all out, the hosts reduced Northamptonshire to 184 for 6 in reply, Overton ending the day with four for 25 from 13 overs.
Off-spinner Rob Keogh had claimed 4 for 99 and seamer Jack White 3 for 84 in a carefully compiled Somerset innings, which occupied 137.3 overs.
But both were upstaged by Overton, who worked up good pace from the Marcus Trescothick Pavilion End, having missed the last two Championship matches through international duty and then a back problem.
Will Young kept Northamptonshire in the game with a defiant 85, but found little support of the rest of his team’s top six, who mustered just 37 between them.
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DIVISION TWO
Leicester (second day of four): Middlesex 297, Leicestershire 273-9 – Leicestershire trail by 24 runs with one first-innings wicket remaining
score card
Leicestershire recovered from 66 for 5 to 273 in reply to Middlesex’s 297 on a day when finishing places in Division Two looked a little less clear cut than they had before the penultimate round of matches began.
With Nottinghamshire 27 points clear before play began on Tuesday, Middlesex were more concerned with winning the race for the second promotion spot but the Trent Bridge side’s troubles at New Road may yet bring the title back into play if Tim Murtagh’s team can conjure a win here .
Yet that might be less straightforward than it looked when they had seemingly winless Leicestershire on the ropes at lunch, only for Harry Swindells (67) and Tom Scriven (65) to rescue the bottom-of-the-table team with a stand of 125 for the sixth wicket. A gutsy unbeaten 31 from Ed Barnes helped close the deficit to 24 runs.
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Chester-le-Street (second day of four): Sussex 162 & 6-3, Durham 459-7d – Sussex trail by 291 runs with seven second-innings wickets remaining
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Durham scored runs with ease before taking three wickets to leave Sussex staring at an innings defeat.
In blue sky conditions, Scott Borthwick wasted no time in pushing Durham forward, as he and Michael Jones reached their half-centuries before lunch and accelerated Durham into the lead.
James Coles struck shortly after lunch, removing Borthwick lbw for 82, before Jones was caught down the legside by debutant keeper Charlie Tear four short of a century.
Nic Maddinson added fifty partnerships with David Bedingham and Chris Benjamin before he chopped on for 90 off Faheem Ashraf as Durham pushed towards a declaration.
Bad light played its part again as the teams left the field just before 5pm, with Durham just short of maximum batting points, but they returned shortly after to gain the final batting pont and declare with a lead of 297.
Durham then turned the screws as Ali Orr was run out after a mix-up with Tom Haines, before Ben Raine removed Tom Alsop and Tom Clark for ducks to leave Sussex 6 for 3, still 291 behind.
Middlesex could yet make a play for the Division Two title [Getty Images]
Worcester (second day of four): Worcestershire 390, Nottinghamshire 128 & 129-6 – Nottinghamshire trail by 133 runs with four second-innings wickets remaining
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Division Two leaders Nottinghamshire were forced to follow on and are facing defeat after losing 16 wickets on the second day at New Road.
Worcestershire added 93 runs to their overnight 297 for 7, with Gareth Roderick completing an excellent hundred.
On a seamer-friendly pitch, Dillon Pennington and Ed Barnard took the honors with four wickets apiece as Nottinghamshire were bowled out for 128 in just 34.2 overs.
It was a similar pattern when Nottinghamshire followed on, as Ben Gibbon and on-loan Matthew Waite reduced them to 66 for 5.
Only a fighting half century from Haseeb Hameed denied Worcestershire the prospect of a two-day win.
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Cardiff (second day of four): Glamorgan 550-5d, Derbyshire 135-5 – Derbyshire trail by 415 runs with five first-innings wickets remaining
score card
Glamorgan captain David Lloyd got the highest ever first class score by a Welshman – 313 not out – to put his side in control against Derbyshire.
They declared on a massive 550 for 5, and Lloyd’s day got even better as New Zealand spinner Ajaz Patel and the Welsh county bowlers reduced Derbyshire to 135 for 5 at the close, still 415 behind.
The records kept falling for Glamorgan and Lloyd. The second highest score by a Glamorgan player, behind Sam Northeast’s 410 against Leicestershire earlier this season, making it the first time that two players at the same county had registered quadruple and triple centuries in the same season.
It was also the highest score for a Glamorgan captain, while things went from bad to worse for opposite number Ben Godleman. He followed up the decision to insert Glamorgan with a duck opening the batting to set the tone for his side.
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