County Championship: Luke Fletcher's all-round effort puts Nottinghamshire on top against Somerset
Luke Fletcher hits half-century and takes four wickets as Somerset struggle against Nottinghamshire at Taunton in Division One; Lancashire fight back against Warwickshire; Yorkshire on top against hosts Hampshire
Tuesday 31 August 2021 19:35, UK
Nottinghamshire took control of their Division One game against Somerset on day two of the County Championship resumption thanks to Liam Patterson-White's maiden century and the all-round excellence of Luke Fletcher.
The 22-year-old added 55 to his overnight 46 at Taunton as the visitors racked up 240 for their final four wickets before being bowled out for 448.
Fletcher passed 50 for just the fifth time in first-class cricket and backed up his batting with the ball, removing four of Somerset's top five - including top-scoring Tom Abell (35) - as the hosts closed deep in trouble on 87/7.
Elsewhere in the top division, Hampshire struggled with the bat on home soil, conceding a first-innings deficit of 80 after restricting Yorkshire to 243 from their overnight 197/6. Hampshire vs Yorkshire scorecard
Dom Bess passed 50 in the morning and remains the only player to reach the landmark, though James Vince came within a run of doing so as Hampshire's response spluttered to 163 all out.
Vince looked as fluent as anyone on an unhelpful surface, but a miscued pull off Matthew Fisher precipitated the loss of six home wickets for 37 runs before the last pair of Kyle Abbott and Brad Wheal countered with a 40 partnership.
Yorkshire extended their advantage by 34 before the close for the loss of Adam Lyth.
On a day when batting around the grounds proved difficult, Lancashire bucked the trend to redress the balance of a dominant opening day for Warwickshire at Old Trafford. Lancashire vs Warwickshire scorecard
The Bears' overnight centurion Sam Hain was removed in the morning, and three wickets each for Matt Parkinson and Saqib Mahmood helped keep the visitors to 371 having been 268/3 early on day two.
That total looked plenty, nonetheless, when Lancashire opener George Balderson went for a duck, but Luke Wells and Josh Bohannon batted one ball shy of 42 overs for an unbroken second-wicket partnership of 94 as the home side closed on 100/1.
In Division Two, Glamorgan did well to take their Cardiff meeting with Essex beyond the halfway stage having been 29/6 in their second innings after a second batting collapse in as many days. Glamorgan vs Essex scorecard
Bowled out for 134 at the first time of asking, the hosts were 186 behind on first-innings scores, Nick Browne taking his overnight 50 onto 102 to punish Glamorgan for a missed chance on Monday when he had just eight.
Michael Pepper (63) and Shane Snater (48) provided beefy back-up, and the latter then added to his six day-one wickets with another and a run out as Glamorgan's top order went missing in the Sophia Gardens murk. It took a defiant captain's knock from Chris Cooke (39 not out) to prolong the game until bad light intervened.
Gloucestershire's line-up fared little better in Bristol, slumping to 90/6 in response to Northamptonshire's 327 in another game held up by the light. Gloucestershire vs Northants scorecard
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Ben Sanderson and Luke Procter did the damage with three wickets each after Adam Rossington had earlier fallen six short of an eighth first-class hundred, Northants' final five wickets adding 105 to their overnight score.
At New Road, several home batsmen failed to capitalise on useful starts to leave Worcestershire behind the game at the halfway point of their Division Three meeting with Sussex. Worcestershire vs Sussex scorecard
The top six all got to double figures, but none managed more than Jack Haynes' 47 as Worcestershire closed on 186/7, 78 short of equalling their opponents' first-innings 264.
Jack Carson's fine day-one counter-attack for Sussex was not to be repeated - he added just six to his overnight 81.
Middlesex failed to make the most of a strong first-innings position but responded with the ball to end day two against Derbyshire at Lord's with an 81-run lead. Middlesex vs Derbyshire scorecard
The home side were 236/5 at one stage before fizzling out to 282 all out, but Ethan Bamber and the wiles of the evergreen Tim Murtagh proved too much for Derbyshire's batters as they shared eight wickets to reduce old boy Billy Godleman's side to 201/9.
Leus du Plooy was the exception, the South African hitting 13 fours in a pleasing 90.
Kent continued to dominate Division Three's final game, dismissing Leicestershire for 109 and a first-innings lead of 123 before extending their advantage to 333 at stumps. Leicestershire vs Kent scorecard
The Leicestershire lower order added just 43 to their overnight 66/5, and although a five-for for left-armer Callum Parkinson held up Kent in their second dig, some familiar backs-against-the-wall belligerence from Darren Stevens took the visitors to 201/9.
The veteran's unbeaten 55 took him just 42 balls and featured 51 in boundaries.
