Twenty-six wickets fall at Lord's as Middlesex and Northants batsmen struggle; Kent shot out for 64 by Gloucestershire
Saturday 14 April 2018 20:47, UK
Jake Ball ripped through Lancashire with 5-43 before Nottinghamshire struggled in reply on day two of the Specsavers County Championship clash at Old Trafford.
Ball trapped fellow England hopeful Haseeb Hameed (3) lbw at the start of Lancashire's innings before cleaning up the final four wickets as the hosts were bundled out for 158 following a day-one washout. SCORECARD
Keaton Jennings (11) and Liam Livingstone (9) also fell cheaply - Livingstone bowled leaving a Luke Wood delivery - while Luke Fletcher dismissed Shiv Chanderpaul (11) in his first competitive appearance for Nottinghamshire since being hit on the head during a T20 Blast game in July last year.
However, Lancashire paceman Tom Bailey bagged three wickets and new overseas signing, Australian Joe Mennie, picked up two on debut as the away side closed on 127-6 to trail by 31.
Hampshire hold the edge over Worcestershire after an intriguing day at The Ageas Bowl, where James Vince's side lead last year's Division Two champions by 242 with two second-innings wickets intact. SCORECARD
Worcestershire slumped to 127-7 in reply to their hosts' first-innings total of 290, before Ben Cox (65) and Ed Barnard (40) shared an eighth-wicket stand of 76 to help the visitors to 211 all out.
Pears skipper Joe Leach then added three scalps to his first-innings four-for, while Tom Fell ran out Hashim Amla (36) and Steve Magoffin ousted Vince (12) as Hampshire struggled to 163-8 before stumps.
There was no play at Headingley for the second day running, though, with a wet outfield continuing to frustrate Yorkshire and defending champions Essex despite brighter conditions overhead.
There was plenty of action at Lord's as a whopping 26 wickets tumbled in the Division Two match between 2016 champions Middlesex and Northamptonshire. SCORECARD
Middlesex were in complete control when, having been dismissed by Northants for 214, they shot out their opponents for just 71 - James Harris bagging 5-9 in 32 balls and Tim Murtagh pocketing four scalps.
But the Londoners slumped from 54-1 to 112-9 in their second dig before last-wicket pair Murtagh (31) and Tom Helm (16no) helped them up to 159 all out, setting Northants 303 for victory.
Ben Duckett (5no) and Rob Newton (4no) then successfully negotiated two overs in the evening gloom as the visitors ended on 9-0.
Eighteen wickets fell at Canterbury as Kent's game with Gloucestershire got underway after lunch on day two, with the hosts capitulating to 64 all out and the visitors closing on 110-8 in reply. SCORECARD
Zak Crawley (15) was the only man to reach double figures for Kent as left-arm quick Matt Taylor struck four times, while Gareth Roderick (51) was the standout Gloucestershire batsman as the evergreen Darren Stevens, soon to turn 42, earned three dismissals.
Plus, Ian Bell (70) and Tim Ambrose (76no) hit half-centuries as Warwickshire closed on 284-9 against Sussex at Edgbaston, Ambrose sharing an unbroken last-wicket partnership of 62 with Chris Wright (17no). SCORECARD
India seamer Ishant Sharma claimed two wickets on his Sussex bow, while David Wiese took four, including Bell caught at backward point and Jonathan Trott (15) pouched at first slip.
