Wednesday 18 May 2016 13:42, UK
A cracking County Championship match is underway at Trent Bridge, where Keith Barker of Warwickshire dented Nottinghamshire's hopes of climbing to the top of the Specsavers Division One table with a late double-wicket salvo.
Barker (2-11) removed Steve Mullaney (0) and Michael Lumb (8) inside a four-over burst as Nottinghamshire were reduced to 21-3, chasing 227 for victory, on a day when 16 wickets fell in total.
Warwickshire had earlier been bowled out for 236 in their second innings, opener Varun Chopra top-scoring with 82 while Luke Fletcher (4-25) and Samit Patel (4-71) shared eight wickets.
Nottinghamshire began day three on 316-7 in their first innings and took their score to 383 (Brett Hutton 59, Rikki Clarke 4-72), securing a first innings lead of 10.
Warwickshire were cruising along in their second innings at 103-1, Jonathan Trott having raced to an imperious 59 from 60 deliveries, hitting seven boundaries in 12 balls at one point.
However, having added 77 for the second wicket with Chopra, he was undone by a Patel delivery which kept low and trapped him lbw.
A brilliant piece of fielding by Jackson Bird then ran out Laurie Evans (4) with a direct hit and Sam Hain (9) edged Bird through to wicket-keeper Chris Read, as Warwickshire slipped to 159-4.
And the visitors' last six wickets fell for only 56 runs at the start of the final session, even that tally only boosted by a last-wicket stand of 34 between captain Chris Woakes (20 not out) and Chris Wright (20).
Nottinghamshire set off in search of 227 to claim their second win of the season but Barker struck twice and nightwatchman Fletcher (4), who had bowled superbly in the Warwickshire innings, fell to Woakes.
Greg Smith (8 not out) and Brendan Taylor (1 not out) were at the crease at stumps, with Notts requiring 206 more runs to win on what could be a thrilling final day.
Surrey lost just four wickets on day three at the Kia Oval as they mounted a rearguard action against Middlesex.
Replying to 395, Surrey resumed on 134-6 and battled their way to 242 all out, Ben Foakes finishing on 59 not out, having batted for just under five hours, while off-spinner Ollie Rayner finished with 6-79 for Middlesex.
Surrey were short of the follow-on target and were made to bat again but reached 98-0 at stumps and have every chance of salvaging a draw on the final day, although they still trail by 55.
A crowd of almost 6,000 - a record for Surrey's third annual Schools Day initiative - saw Tom Curran (8) fall early on but skipper Gareth Batty (38) and Foakes added 62 for the eighth wicket.
Mathew Pillans hit out for a run-a-ball 20 but then skied Rayner to a tumbling James Harris at deep mid-wicket and Foakes was left stranded on 59 not out from 235 balls when Ravi Rampaul (0), batting with a runner because of a hamstring injury, was lbw to Rayner for a duck.
However, openers Rory Burns (57 not out) and Arun Harinath (37 not out) then took up the mission of thwarting the Middlesex attack.
The two left-handers have already batted for just under three hours and, having survived testing new-ball spells from Tim Murtagh and Toby Roland-Jones, they continued to battle on well against Rayner as he probed away into the rough on and outside their off stumps.
Durham are in charge of their clash with Lancashire at Chester-le-Street, thanks to a second century of the match for Scott Borthwick and a five-wicket haul for Barry McCarthy.
And, having made 134 in the first innings, Borthwick is 103 not out, emulating team mate Keaton Jennings, who made a pair of centuries in the same game earlier in the season.
Lancashire began day three on 205-4, replying to 411, and Dubliner McCarthy, playing just his third first class game, made inroads before lunch with a spell of 3-7 in 14 balls.
He then trapped Simon Kerrigan (48) lbw and finished with 5-70 as Lancashire's last five wickets fell for 44.
Durham began their second innings with a lead of 85 and openers Mark Stoneman and Jennings put on 55 before Jennings edged Kyle Jarvis to Liam Livingstone at slip.
Livingstone later caught Michael Richardson (35) at backward point and now has six catches in the match but, in between, Stoneman (62) and Borthwick added 91 for the second wicket.
The desire to press on after tea saw Stoneman depart, caught behind by Alex Davies after edging Tom Bailey, but Borthwick continued to thrive and reached his hundred in the penultimate over of the day, from 160 balls, with 10 boundaries.
At Taunton, Somerset have a chance of beating leaders Yorkshire if the weather holds, despite a century from Adam Lyth.
Replying to 562-7 declared, Yorkshire collapsed from 172-2 to 237-9, before closing on 306-9 thanks to last-wicket pair Steven Patterson and Jack Brooks.
The visitors were 127-1 overnight, with Lyth 80 not out, and the man who opened for England in the Ashes last summer went on to reach his third ton in seven matches at Taunton, before he was caught at slip for 106.
Andrew Gale (8) followed Lyth back to the pavilion and it was 213-4 when rain arrived to force an early tea on day three.
When the players returned, Yorkshire lost their way, as five wickets fell for 11 runs in 35 balls, three men departing with the score stuck on 232.
Jack Leaning (17) edged a Lewis Gregory (2-55) delivery to wicket-keeper Ryan Davies to make it 226-5, before Adil Rashid (0) was run out attempting a third run to Tom Abell on the boundary and Gary Ballance (37) was caught by Davies off the bowling of Tom Groenewald (3-50), who bowled Andy Hodd for a duck three balls later.
Liam Plunkett (4) also went to Groenewald but Patterson (32 not out) and Brooks (34 not out) then put together a gritty 69-run stand and survived until stumps, although Yorkshire remain 256 runs behind and need another 107 to avoid the follow-on.
