Sunday 17 August 2014 21:07, UK
Kane Williamson converted his maiden century for Yorkshire in his final home appearance into a superb 189 to put the home side on top against Sussex, who crumbled in response, on the third day at Scarborough.
Sussex closed on 98-4, still trailing by 27, leaving Yorkshire well placed to take a maximum 24 points from the contest to tighten their grip at the top of the First Division table.
Having stretched out their first innings to 493, Yorkshire wasted little time in destroying the Sussex top-order, starting with Luke Wells who was comprehensively bowled by Ryan Sidebottom without scoring.
Jack Brooks then saw Alex Lees fumble a catch at first slip from Chris Nash but it was not expensive because two balls later the opener could not avoid another testing delivery and this time Jonathan Bairstow made no mistake behind the stumps.
Yorkshire were already scenting victory and moved a significant step closer in the next over when Ed Joyce was lbw pushing forward to Sidebottom to leave Sussex on 20-3.
Tim Bresnan was the next to strike by having Craig Cachopa caught at second slip by Adam Lyth, but Luke
Wright gamely went on the offensive and dashed to his 50 off only 53 balls with nine boundaries to remain unbeaten on 56 with Steffan Piolet on 10.
Varun Chopra hit a century to bat Warwickshire into a winning position on the third day of the clash with Somerset at Taunton.
The experienced opener, who boasts a double hundred at the ground, hit a solid 117 off 264 balls, with 12 fours and a six as his team ran up 322-7 declared in their second innings to lead by 403
Rikki Clarke contributed 83 and Tim Ambrose 54 after Warwickshire had been 82-4 at one stage. Somerset contributed to their own problems with dropped catches and will need to bat well to escape with a draw. They closed on one without loss.
Speaking afterwards, Chopra said: "Somerset bowled very well at the start of the day and we had to get through a tough period with as few wickets down as possible. Because we did that we were able to cash in when the bowlers got tired.
"It's a good cricket pitch. There is something for the seamers with the new ball and if you have a good spinner in the side he can come into the game too.
"We have an inexperienced bowling attack in this match, but they did well in the first innings and hopefully we can take 10 wickets tomorrow."
A fine score of 106 from Ashwell Prince helped Lancashire to a valuable first-innings lead on a rain-shortened third day against Durham at Old Trafford.
Resuming on 252-5, Glen Chapple's side ended on 421 to lead by 81 before the visitors replied with 59-1, Mark Stoneman being caught at short leg by Steven Croft off Simon Kerrigan for 29 seven overs before the close.
However, the Lancashire slow left-armer extracted enough turn and bounce from the pitch used for the Test match against India to give his side some hope of forcing a victory on the last day of the game – with the hosts needing a win to increase their chances of avoiding relegation.
However, their hopes may be dependant on rain, which trimmed 33 overs off Sunday's play, keeping clear of Manchester on Monday
Northamptonshire's batsmen put up a strong show of resistance on the third day against Nottinghamshire at Wantage Road.
With Adam Rossington making 80 and Andrew Hall and Rob Keogh both passing 50 the home side reached 338 in their second innings, leaving Notts to chase 211 to maintain their title challenge.
In the one over of their second innings that was possible before stumps, the visitors were nought without loss, with nightwatchman Ajmal Shahzad seeing out the solitary David Willey over.
Shahzad had also been at the crease at the start of the day but quickly lost his final two partners, to close on 68 not out, as Nottinghamshire's first innings ended on 388.
