Sunday 23 April 2017 20:54, UK
Gary Ballance frustrated Hampshire as they attempted to seal an innings victory over Yorkshire on day three in Division One of the Specsavers County Championship.
Ballance's first-innings century could not save Yorkshire from following-on as they trailed by 224 after both sides had batted once.
But the former England man's unbeaten 78 - and 150-run partnership with Alex Lees second time around - handed Yorkshire hope heading into the final day at the Ageas Bowl.
Yorkshire closed at 178-3, 46 runs adrift, after being dismissed for 231 in their first innings.
Gareth Berg did most of the damage, taking four wickets for Hampshire, with Kyle Abbott snapping up two - including the prized scalp of England captain Joe Root (2) - when Yorkshire batted again.
Liam Livingstone reached his highest first-class score of 168 as Lancashire bounced back against Somerset at Old Trafford.
The 23-year-old, standing in as captain for the injured Steven Croft, shared a third-wicket partnership of 245 with Alex Davies (130) as Lancashire finished the day on 423-7.
Lancashire had trailed by 169 on first innings, but they now have a handy lead of 254 going into the final day.
Surrey remain well on top against Warwickshire at Edgbaston - but their advance towards victory met some resistance.
Trailing by 105 after the first innings, Warwickshire ended the third day on 162-4 with Ian Westwood (52) and Ian Bell (68 not out) removing the unthinkable prospect of a third-successive innings defeat for the Bears.
Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara (105) had earlier completed his 58th first-class century as Surrey reached 437.
Stevie Eskinazi hit five of the final nine balls he faced for six as Middlesex piled the pressure on Essex at Lord's.
Middlesex bowled Essex out for 295, a first-innings lead of 212, but chose not to opt for the follow-on and piled on more runs.
Openers Sam Robson (77) and Nick Gubbins (64) added a quickfire partnership of 146 to their first-innings effort of 241 before Eskinazi swatted a whirlwind 62 from 34 balls.
Essex, chasing a notional target of 452 for victory, were 19 without loss at the close and will face a real battle to save the game on day four.
