County Championship: Lewis Gregory boosts Somerset title bid against Hampshire
Tuesday 17 September 2019 11:34, UK
Lewis Gregory's early three-wicket burst boosted Somerset's bid for a maiden County Championship title as they bowled Hampshire out for 196 at Southampton.
Gregory (3-63) reduced Hampshire to 24-5 inside the opening hour, but the home side fought back through Liam Dawson, who hit 103 and shared a valuable eighth-wicket stand of 92 with Keith Barker (40).
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A hostile opening spell from Kyle Abbott (2-1 in six overs) also gave the Division One leaders cause for concern as they reached 30-2 in reply before bad light ended play.
Second-placed Essex's hopes of applying pressure to the leaders were thwarted by bad weather at Chelmsford, which meant more than half the day's overs were lost in their match against Surrey.
When play did get under way, Jamie Porter and Sam Cook picked up two wickets apiece as Surrey advanced to 137-4, with Ben Foakes unbeaten on 31.
Veteran Kent all-rounder Darren Stevens dug his side out of a hole with a career-best innings of 237 to steer them to 482-8 against Yorkshire.
The 43-year-old arrived at the crease with Kent floundering at 39-5 thanks to Duanne Olivier (5-108), but he and Sam Billings (138) turned the contest around with an enormous partnership of 346.
Steven Mullaney and Joe Clarke both racked up centuries as relegated Nottinghamshire made their pitch for a belated first win of the season against Warwickshire at Trent Bridge.
Mullaney's career-best 179 from 173 balls and Clarke's knock of 125 enabled Notts, who were put in to bat, to amass 425-6 at stumps.
In Division Two, Lancashire were confirmed as champions as Tom Bailey's second five-wicket haul of the season put them firmly in command against Middlesex at Old Trafford.
The Red Rose posted 259, built around Liam Livingstone's 84 and an unbeaten 55 from Steven Croft, before Bailey's spell of 5-16 left Middlesex reeling at 39-6 in reply.
Second-placed Northamptonshire strengthened their bid to join Lancashire in the top flight after reducing Durham to 39-4 at Wantage Road, with three wickets falling to Ben Sanderson.
Northants skipper Adam Rossington had earlier hit 82 as his side totalled 217 all out, with Chris Rushworth returning figures of 5-68 for the visitors.
Worcestershire seamer Ed Barnard (3-16) hauled his side back into their game against promotion-chasing Gloucestershire after his side had been bowled out for 221 at New Road.
Riki Wessels top-scored with 72 for Worcestershire as they recovered from 71-5, with Gloucestershire closing on 87-4 in reply.
David Wiese (4-18) ripped through the Derbyshire middle order as Sussex continued their late charge for a promotion spot by bowling their opponents out for 138.
Luis Reece responded with two early wickets as Sussex slumped to 25-3 in reply before Stiaan Van Zyl's unbeaten 49 lifted them to 116-3 at the close, just 22 runs behind.
Half-centuries for David Lloyd and Samit Patel maintained Glamorgan's hopes of staying in the promotion race as they scored 300-4 against bottom side Leicestershire at Cardiff.
Lloyd (66) and Patel (66) ensured that the Welsh county finished the day on top, with Leicestershire's Ben Mike taking two of the four wickets to fall.
