County Championship: Middlesex battle back against Nottinghamshire

The battle for the County Championship title remains in the balance after another intriguing day of the action in Division One.

While leaders Middlesex battled back into contention, after a terrible first day against bottom of the table Nottinghamshire, reigning champions Yorkshire did not have it all their own way against relegation-threatened Durham.

Middlesex had started day two at Trent Bridge on 9-3 in their first innings, having earlier bowled out the hosts for 241.

And after slipping to 81-5 during the morning session, the visitors recovered thanks largely to 22-year-old opener Nick Gubbins who struck a stoic 75 from 226 balls - after more than five hours at the crease.

James Franklin and Stevie Eskinazi helped the tail wag with knocks of 40 and 35 respectively, as Middlesex went on to post a total of 247 - a lead of six runs.

Jake Ball, who took a hat-trick late on Tuesday evening, ended with figures of 5-66 from his 21 overs.

In reply Notts, who must win to stand any chance of avoiding the drop, had reached 24 without loss in their second innings by stumps.

Meanwhile, at Headingley, Yorkshire added 119 runs to their overnight total of 341-5 to claim maximum batting points against Durham.

The key batsmen for the hosts were Azeem Rafiq (45) and Jack Brooks (36) who put on a sprightly 47 in under eight overs for the ninth wicket.

However, Durham refused to cave in to a team hoping to become the first side in 48 years to wrap up a hat-trick of County Championship titles.

By close, the most northerly county in the first-class game had reached 205-4, from their 70 overs.

And, at Taunton, there was a second remarkable day in the topsy-turvy contest involving Somerset and Warwickshire.

On Tuesday at the County Ground, a total of 41 wickets fell, with another 17 slipping away on Wednesday.

Starting off on 41-1 in their second innings, and with a lead of just 13, the home side struck a mediocre 211, with only one batsman passing 30.

This was soon-to-be-retired Aussie Chris Rogers whose 58 took almost three hours of total concentration at the crease.

The 39-year-old located eight boundaries from his 151 deliveries, to leave Warwickshire needing 184 for victory.

And the visitors appeared to be heading towards a heavy defeat, as they slipped to 34-5 and 61-8 in their second innings.

Skipper Ian Bell, who made a duck on Tuesday, could only score a single run on Wednesday.

But during the final 20 overs of the evening session, Warwickshire gave themselves hope of snatching victory from the jaws of likely defeat.

Thanks to Rikki Clarke and Chris Wright, 70 runs were added for the ninth wicket by stumps.

Clarke's 42 off 100 balls included a six, while Wright notched 38 from 53. They need another 53, with two wickets remaining, on Thursday.

Finally, the match involving Surrey and Hampshire at The Oval, appears to be evenly balanced thanks to a maiden first-class ton by Tom Alsop.

The 20-year-old struck an unbeaten 117 to help the visitors keep alive their chances of pulling off a desperately-needed victory. His ton came off 169 balls and yielded 27 fours.