Saturday 13 April 2019 10:50, UK
Haseeb Hameed struck his first Championship century in over two years as his 117 put Lancashire in command of their Division Two match against Middlesex at Lord's.
The 22-year-old averaged just 9.70 in Division One in 2018 and managed a top score of only 31 as he suffered a tortuous campaign with the bat but batted with poise and fluidity on day two to bring up his three figures with a six off fast bowler Toby Roland-Jones.
Hameed, who is hoping to force his way into Ashes contention, also struck 17 fours in his innings before he was eventually caught-and-bowled off Dawid Malan.
Fellow opener Keaton Jennings (52) shared a 123-run first-wicket stand with Hameed, making a valuable half-century before being caught behind off James Harris.
Rob Jones scored an unbeaten half-century as he shared an unbroken 36-run fifth-wicket partnership with Dane Vilas (19) as Lancashire held a two-run lead as they ended the day 267-4.
Earlier in the morning, Tom Bailey completed his five-wicket haul when he had Roland-Jones caught by James Anderson for 35 as Middlesex were bowled out for 265.
Meanwhile, in Division One, Gary Ballance fell two runs short of 150 as Yorkshire's batsmen continued to boss their match against Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl. SCORECARD
Pace bowler Gareth Berg had the former England batsman caught behind and also dismissed visitors' captain Steven Patterson (34) before spinner Liam Dawson trapped Tom Kohler-Cadmore (41) lbw.
However, Jack Leaning and wicketkeeper James Tattersall put on 95 for the seventh wicket before the away side declared on 554-7.
The hosts lost two quick wickets with captain James Vince caught at first slip off Ben Coad for five and Joe Weatherley edging Duanne Olivier behind as Hampshire limped to 70-3 at the close.
Tom Abell and George Bartlett struck centuries as they shared a 223-run third-wicket to put Somerset on top against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge. SCORECARD
Captain Abell hit 10 fours in his 101 off 198 balls before eventually being caught behind off Luke Wood as the visitors dominated the second day.
Bartlett made a brilliant 133 before being bowled by Luke Fletcher and Lewis Gregory chipped in with 50 as the away side were bowled out for 403, a first-innings lead of 140 and Notts ended the day 25-2 as Jack Brooks dismissed opener Ben Duckett (4) and Chris Nash (0).
At the Oval, Ryan Patel scored his first century for Surrey with Freddie van der Bergh and Morne Morkel offering enough resistance against Essex to help the batsman reach the milestone. SCORECARD
Essex fast bowler Peter Siddle finished with figures of 6-104, completing his five wicket haul when he bowled Liam Plunkett for a five-ball duck in the second over of the day.
The hosts were bundled out for 395, with Patel unbeaten on 100 and made early inroads into the visitors' top-order as Sir Alastair Cook was caught behind off Tom Curran for 11 and Morkel trapped Nick Browne lbw for 11.
However, Tom Westley (41) and Dan Lawrence rebuilt, sharing a vital 96-run third-wicket stand and although the former became Curran's second scalp, the latter's unbeaten 87 took the visitors to 202-4 before bad play brought a premature end to play.
Resuming on 59, Kent batsman Ollie Robinson completed his maiden first-class century, striking 22 four in his innings before eventually being stumped for 143 off Warwickshire's Jeetan Patel. SCORECARD
The visitors opted to declare on 504-9 at the fall of Robinson's wicket and quickly picked up a scalp as Darren Stevens had opener Will Rhodes caught behind for 14.
Matt Milnes produced another fine effort with the ball, taking 2-18 off 11 overs to help restrict the hosts to 136-3 at the end of day two at Edgbaston.
Back in Division Two, Sussex polished off Durham's innings with ease after David Wiese saw Ben Raine (16) caught in the deep and fast bowler Ollie Robinson trapped Chris Rushworth (3) lbw to bowl the hosts out for 224. SCORECARD
The visitors' response got off to a disastrous start as Rushworth had opener Phil Salt caught in the slips off the final ball of the first over, before captain Cameron Bancroft took successive catches at second slip to reduce Sussex to 39-3.
James Weighell continued to cause damage, bowling Laurie Evans and trapping Ben Brown lbw for a duck but Luke Wells hit a brilliant unbeaten 98 to help Sussex recover from 71-7 to 202 all out.
Robinson required only five balls to claim his first wicket of the second innings, trapping Cameron Steel plumb in front, but Bancroft (14 not out) and Alex Lees (14 not out) battled to bat out the rest of the day and end on 31-1.
After scoring a brilliant century on day one, Glamorgan's Billy Root lasted just four balls on day two as he cut Luke Procter straight to Northamptonshire's Richard Vasconcelos to be dismissed for 126. SCORECARD
Kiran Karlson (111) could add just a further 10 runs to his overnight score before being caught at first slip off Nathan Buck with captain Chris Cooke finishing unbeaten on 70 when he opted to declare with the visitors 570-8.
Vasconcelos become the four centurion of the match, striking an impressive unbeaten 125 and shared an unbroken opening stand of 234 with Rob Newton (85) to leave Northants 336 runs adrift with all 10 wickets in hand.
Wicketkeeper Ben Cox scored his fourth first-class century for Worcestershire as the runs continued to flow against Leciestershire at Grace Road. SCORECARD
Cox and Ed Barnard (53 not out) shared an unbeaten 145-run sixth-wicket partnership with the visitors eventually declaring on 553-6 after Cox had reached three figures.
The hosts lost captain Paul Horton early on when he caught in slip off Josh Tongue before Hasan Azad was trapped lbw by Charlie Morris but Mark Cosgrove's quickfire 67 and opener Ateeq Javid's unbeaten 55 help his side reach 180-4.
Gloucestershire took control of their game against Derbyshire in Bristol after the visitors lost their final three first-innings for 35 to be bowled out for 291. SCORECARD
Ryan Higgins required just three overs before he trapped Anuj Dal lbw for three, Logan van Beek was bowled by Matt Taylor and and Benny Howell had Ravi Rampaul caught for nine as the hosts were bundled out 13 overs into the day.
In response, Chirs Dent (33) and James Bracey put on 84 for the second wicket but the former was bowled by Alex Hughes and Andy Palladino dismissed the latter for 65.
Wicketkeeper Gareth Roderick and Ryan Higgins both ended the day unbeaten on 33 as Gloucestershire closed on 202-5, trailing by 89 runs.
