County Championship round-up: Dane Vilas' 266 puts Lancashire on top against Glamorgan
Weather frustrates leaders Essex; Somerset struggle at Edgbaston
Monday 19 August 2019 19:25, UK
Lancashire skipper Dane Vilas posted 266 – the highest score of his career – as his side strengthened their push for promotion back to Division One against rivals Glamorgan.
Vilas batted for just over five hours, hitting 35 fours and six sixes in his colossal innings to steer the Division Two leaders to 544-9 at Colwyn Bay, a lead of 287.
He shared a seventh-wicket stand of 111 with Danny Lamb, who fell one short of a maiden first-class 50 as Lancashire dominated the bowling on day two.
In Division One, Sam Cook completed his first five-wicket haul of the season for Essex - but the County Championship leaders made slow progress on the second day of their game against Kent.
Rain restricted play again at Canterbury, with Kent's Harry Podmore hitting an unbeaten 54 as he and Matt Milnes (31) staged a fightback from 138-8 before Cook (5-42) wrapped up the innings for 226.
Podmore then picked up the early wicket of Nick Browne (6) as Essex laboured to 32-1 at the close, with Alastair Cook (8 not out) and Tom Westley (10no) at the crease.
Second-placed Somerset found themselves on the back foot against Warwickshire at Edgbaston after Oliver Hannon-Dalby took two wickets in two balls to leave them in trouble at 44-3.
The Bears posted 419 all out before making early inroads when Somerset replied, but Steven Davies reinvigorated his side with an unbeaten 89 to take them to 167-5 at stumps.
Ryan Stevenson registered his maiden first-class half-century, sharing a ninth-wicket stand of 114 with Kyle Abbott (72) as Hampshire totalled 367 all out against Surrey at The Oval.
Surrey's former England bowler Rikki Clarke finished with season's-best figures of 7-74, but the home side lost two early wickets to Fidel Edwards before Mark Stoneman steadied the ship with 52 not out to guide them to 109-2 in reply.
Duanne Olivier took 4-60 and Ben Coad 3-58 to swing the game back in Yorkshire's favour at Scarborough, bowling out rock-bottom Nottinghamshire for 184 to claim a first-innings lead of 48.
Adam Lyth then hit 81 to help extend that advantage to 225 at stumps, with Gary Ballance undefeated on 52 as the White Rose reached 177-2 in their second innings.
Gloucestershire are chasing promotion from Division Two - and captain Chris Dent and Ryan Higgins both notched centuries against Derbyshire, putting together an enormous sixth-wicket partnership of 221 to build a substantial lead at Derby.
Dent (169) and Higgins (101) joined forces at 143-5, still 57 runs behind Derbyshire's first innings total, but turned the tide in Gloucestershire's favour as they closed on 396-7.
South Africa all-rounder Dwaine Pretorius recorded a century on his County Championship debut to keep Northamptonshire on top at home to Worcestershire.
Pretorius (111) and Alex Wakely (102) lifted Northants to 376 all out, a 190-run first innings lead and Worcestershire then slid to 42-4 second time around, with Ben Sanderson taking all four wickets to fall.
Durham's stand-in captain Ned Eckersley hit an unbeaten 71 against former county Leicestershire as his side amassed a daunting first-innings total of 544-9 declared at Emirates Riverside.
Eckersley and Brydon Carse (43) put on 93 for the ninth wicket before the skipper called a halt to the innings - and Carse then starred with the ball as well, taking three wickets to reduce the Foxes to 152-4 despite half-centuries from Hasan Azad and Paul Horton.
Sussex paceman Ollie Robinson enjoyed a cameo with the bat to follow his eight-wicket haul on day one at Hove as the home side closed in on victory against Middlesex.
Robinson (37) helped Will Beer (77) to extend Sussex's first-innings total to 309 - a lead of 234 - before adding another two wickets as Middlesex struggled to 149-4, still 85 adrift despite Sam Robson's unbeaten 61.
