CCD1 review: Middlesex dent Yorkshire, Somerset in strong position

Seamer Toby Roland-Jones took 4-31 as Middlesex turned the screw on title rivals Yorkshire on day two of the Specsavers County Championship clash at Lord's.

Roland-Jones dismissed Alex Lees, Gary Ballance and Andrew Gale for ducks as Yorkshire, replying to their hosts 270 all out, found themselves in dire trouble at 57-4 despite Adam Lyth's 43.

Andy Hodd (64), dropped on 22 by Nick Compton, shared a fifth-wicket stand of 116 with Tim Bresnan before he became Roland-Jones' fourth victim - trapped lbw on the full.

But Bresnan battled on to reach 72 not out at stumps - Yorkshire closing on 235-6, 35 runs in arrears - after David Willey had rattled up 22 off 27 balls.

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If Yorkshire get bowled out for under 350 and Somerset beat Nottinghamshire at Taunton, then the defending champions' reign will be over. In such a scenario, Middlesex would need to beat Yorkshire to deny Somerset their first-ever Championship success.

Earlier, Middlesex's added just 65 runs to their overnight score of 205-5 as Jack Brooks returned 6-64 - Nick Gubbins, who resumed on 120no, caught at slip by Lyth off Bresnan for 125.

Somerset chose not to enforce the follow-on at Taunton after bowling already-relegated Nottinghamshire out for 138 in just 64.5 overs, to earn a first-innings lead of 227.

Slow bowlers Dominic Bess (5-43) and Jack Leach (3-42) took full advantage of the spin-friendly conditions to roll over the visitors, opener Jake Libby (42) the only player to pass 30.

Bess' haul included a brilliant one-handed return catch to remove Michael Lumb (29), while Ryan Davies executed a smart stumping to send back Samit Patel.

Bess now has combined figures of 13-102 in his first three Championship innings as a bowler.

Brett Hutton trapped Tom Abell lbw for 10 at the top of Somerset's second innings and Marcus Trescothick (39) also fell before the home side reached stumps on 105-2 with a lead of 332.

Earlier, Bess (41) shared a final-wicket stand of 43 with Leach to steer Somerset to 365 in their first innings and a fourth batting point after starting the day on 322-9.

Warwickshire's Keith Barker took 4-30 against the county of his birth to plunge Lancashire into danger of relegation on a shortened second day at Edgbaston.

Lancashire enjoyed the best of day one by bowling their hosts out for 219 but the Bears, also in danger of the drop, battled back superbly with the ball to bowl the visitors out for 152 and claim a first-innings lead of 67 just before tea.

If Hampshire beat Durham at the Ageas Bowl, the loser of this match goes down. A draw is enough for Lancashire, but already looks unlikely in a low-scoring encounter.

Only Steven Croft and Jordan Clark, with 45 and 34, made it to 30 as Barker moved to 58 wickets for the season. Lancashire lost 4-4 in 35 balls to slip from 35-0 to 39-4 before lunch, including new England opener Haseeb Hameed lbw to Rikki Clarke for 17.

Warwickshire faced only seven overs in their second innings after tea, reaching 12-0, before bad light and rain accounted for the loss of 33 overs.

Hampshire's hopes of staying up were boosted as Brad Wheal picked up three Durham wickets late on day two.

Wheal got rid of dangerman Ben Stokes, while spinners Mason Crane and Liam Dawson also chipped in on a turning Rose Bowl track.

An early trio of wickets for Hampshire fluttered away the relegation nerves and Durham reached stumps on 242-7 in response to the hosts' 411.

Live coverage of the County Championship title run-in continues on Sky Sports 1 from 10.25am on Friday.