With another round of fixtures in the Specsavers County Championship getting underway yesterday – the final round before the beginning of the T20 competition – here’s a summary of the action from around the grounds.
DIVISION ONE
Lancashire v Surrey – Despite defeat last week at Durham, it’s been a strong start to the season for Ashley Giles’ Lancashire and they continued that yesterday by bowling Surrey out for 191 after Gareth Batty won the toss and elected to bat. Kyle Jarvis and Neil Wagner were the tormentors in-chief, taking nine of the 10 wickets and the Red Rose reached 16/0 in their reply.
Warwickshire v Durham – Andrew Umeed hit a century on Warwickshire debut on an evenly-fought opening day at Edgbaston between two closely-matched teams. The hosts will be disappointed to have collapsed from 201/2 to 273/8 at the close, as Durham’s bowlers staged a fightback led by James Weighell.
Middlesex v Somerset – Former Middlesex man Chris Rogers reminded his former employers of his quality with a fluent century to put Somerset in charge at Lord’s. Although the day was rain-affected, the visitors ended on 219/2 with Rogers (104*) and James Hildreth (60*) both well set. Somerset will aim for maximum batting points today.
Hampshire v Nottinghamshire – Neither side were able to take control of this encounter thanks to intermittent rain in Southampton, but Hampshire reached 149/4 in 57 overs, with Sean Ervine (38*) and Tom Alsop (34*) enjoying an unbroken stand of 65 before stumps.
DIVISION TWO
Derbyshire v Kent – Fluent run-scoring from Derbyshire’s middle order trio of Wayne Madsen, Neil Broom and Shiv Thakor powered the home side to 381/7 in just 96 overs at Derby as the Kent bowlers toiled. Madsen hit 103 before being snared by James Tredwell, while Broom fell agonisingly short on 96 and Thakor’s quick-fire 86 came from 97 balls.
Leicestershire v Worcestershire – Leicestershire’s experienced batting line-up prevailed once again at Grace Road, thanks in no small part to Paul Horton’s assertive 89. The former Lancashire man was ably supported by his opening partner Angus Robson and Number 3 Neil Dexter, who both hit fifties, while Mark Pettini’s unbeaten 45 led the Foxes to 243/4.
Northamptonshire v Gloucestershire – Josh Shaw took four wickets as Gloucestershire carried on where they left off against Glamorgan last week. Stephen Crook’s unbeaten 43 provided some resistance for the home side, who resume on 134/7 this morning.