Find out what happened across the LV= Insurance County Championship on the latest day of the seventh round of the 2021 competition
Group 1
Derbyshire v Durham
Derby (third day of four): Derbyshire 258, Durham 20-2 - Durham trail by 238 runs with eight first-innings wickets remaining
Durham record-breaker Chris Rushworth celebrated another milestone on the third day at Derby.
The 34-year-old, who last week became Durham’s leading first-class wicket-taker, claimed his 29th five-wicket haul, finishing with 6 for 49, while England fast bowler Mark Wood took 2 for 84.
Derbyshire captain Billy Godleman scored 41 before Wayne Madsen, 42, shared in a stand of 99 in 28 overs with Matt Critchley who during his 49 became only the 28th player for the county to score 4,000 runs and take 150 wickets in all formats.
The home side had to bring in Anuj Dal as a concussion replacement for wicketkeeper Harvey Hosein who was hit on the back of the helmet by Brydon Carse and he steered Derbyshire to 258 before Ben Aitchison struck twice to reduce Durham to 20 for 2.
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Essex v Warwickshire
Chelmsford (third day of four): Warwickshire 166 & 0-0, Essex 217 - Warwickshire trail by 51 runs with 10 second-innings wickets remaining
Sir Alastair Cook and Ryan ten Doeschate used their vast experience with half-centuries as Essex claimed a first-innings lead.
Cook and Ten Doeschate have a combined age of 76, have scored 35,820 runs in 516 first-class matches and used all that knowhow on a tricky pitch which nipped around.
Former England captain Cook scored 57, the 185th half-century of a glittering career, and on his 200th first-class appearance Ten Doeschate totted up 56.
Liam Norwell and Will Rhodes both snared three wickets apiece as Essex were bowled out for 217, a lead of 51, before Danny Briggs blocked out one over for no runs.***
Nottinghamshire v Worcestershire
Trent Bridge (third day of four): Nottinghamshire 400-5d, Worcestershire 53-6 - Worcestershire trail by 347 runs with four first-innings wickets remaining
An unbeaten 177 from Ben Duckett and five wickets for Luke Fletcher at last gave spectators something to cheer.
Duckett, who earned four Test caps in 2016, shared partnerships of 205 with allrounder Lyndon James, who made 78, and 142 with skipper Steven Mullaney, who smashed four sixes in a 73-ball 88 as Nottinghamshire racked up maximum batting bonus points.
They then added two batting points, reducing their opponents to 46 for 6 in a frenzied 85 minutes at the close, Fletcher taking 5 for 20 including three in the same over.
Duckett’s hundred was his fifth for Nottinghamshire, his first of the season and his biggest for the county in the Championship from an innings that mixed some impressive conventional strokeplay from the punchy left-hander with some characteristic improvisation.
Nottinghamshire declared on 400 for 5, after which Worcestershire lost former Nottinghamshire opener Jake Libby to a brilliant one-handed catch by Ben Slater at short square leg off Fletcher, Tom Fell gloved one off Stuart Broad and Fletcher, bowling full and straight, dismissed Daryl Mitchell, Brett D’Oliveira and Riki Wessels in the space of five balls, all leg before, Mitchell offering no stroke, completing his third five-wicket haul in consecutive matches when Jack Haynes went the same way.
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Group 2
Gloucestershire v Somerset
Bristol (third day of four): Somerset 300-8d, Gloucestershire 16-2 - Gloucestershire trail by 284 runs with eight first-innings wickets remaining
Tom Abell’s 132 rescued three bonus points for Somerset at Bristol as the visitors made 300 for eight declared against Gloucestershire before the home side closed day three 16 for two.
With almost two days lost to rain and an horrendous forecast for day four, bonus points are the only target in this West Country derby and Abell played a true captain’s innings to see his side edge the ledger.
At 176 for 7, Gloucestershire looked set to deny their neighbours any bonus points at all before Gregory made 57 from No. 9 in a stand of 116.
Abell took Somerset to 300 before they declared, denying Gloucestershire the chance of a third bowling point with 8.3 overs remaining of the 110 bonus-point period.
With rain predicted to wipe out most of Sunday’s play, that eighth-wicket partnership should see Abell’s side edge the match tally and move a little closer to Gloucestershire at the top of group 2.
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Surrey v Middlesex
Kia Oval (third day of four): Surrey 190 & 135-0, Middlesex 160 - Surrey lead by 165 runs with 10 second-innings wickets remaining
Openers Rory Burns and Mark Stoneman built on an impressive performance by their bowlers as Surrey took control against Middlesex on day three.
After Kemar Roach and Jordan Clark each took four wickets to dismiss Middlesex for 160 and give Surrey a first innings lead of 30, Burns and Stoneman scored unbeaten fifties in their second century stand of the match as Surrey closed on 135 for 0.
In the best batting conditions so far, Stoneman drove impressively in his unbeaten 74, which included 13 fours, while Burns (61 not out, six fours) was fluent through the leg side as he passed 50 for the seventh time this season. It was the first time since 1991 that Surrey’s openers had scored half-centuries in both innings.
It was a tough day for Middlesex, whose top order was wrecked by a high-class spell from Roach, bowling from wide of the crease and consistently getting the ball to straighten on an off-stump line. In his last game before returning to West Indies to prepare for West Indies’ series against South Africa, he took three wickets in eight deliveries as Middlesex slumped to 27 for 4.
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Group 3
Kent v Glamorgan
Canterbury (third day of four): Kent 307, Glamorgan 55-2 - Glamorgan trail by 252 runs with eight first-innings wickets remaining
Glamorgan moved to 64 for 3 against Kent on day three at Canterbury, trailing by 243 at stumps after just 6.2 overs were possible due to a waterlogged outfield and then bad light.
Matt Quinn took the only wicket to fall, removing Joe Cooke for 10, leaving him with figures of 2 for 10.
Billy Root and Kiran Carlson were the not out batsmen, on 26 and 0 respectively.
Play was delayed until 5.19pm after heavy overnight rain left several areas of the outfield unplayable, with umpire James Middlebrook’s shoes making an audible squelch as he strolled towards the pavilion to deliver the bad news following one of six pitch inspections.
When the action did finally get underway, with around 50 die-hard fans still in the ground, Glamorgan resumed on 55 for 2 in reply to Kent’s 307 all out.
Just five runs had been added when Quinn knocked back Cooke’s off stump in the 25th over, the batsman failing add to his overnight score.
Root initially looked more comfortable, driving Stevens for four through long off but then surviving an appeal for caught behind off next delivery.
With the light deteriorating the players went off after just 24 minutes and with increasingly heavy rain falling, play was abandoned for the day. A bleak forecast for Sunday means the Group C game is almost certain to end in a draw.
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Northamptonshire v Lancashire
Northampton (third day of four): Lancashire 75-1
Gareth Berg made the only breakthrough for Northamptonshire as just 11 overs were possible on another rain-affected day.
The evergreen seamer found plenty of bounce and movement and claimed his 20th wicket of the season when he enticed Keaton Jennings to drive loosely at a ball outside off-stump and edge through to wicketkeeper Adam Rossington who took a comfortable catch.
With Jennings departing for 27, Alex Davies was joined by Luke Wells and the pair faced a testing spell from Berg and Ben Sanderson, fresh from their 19-wicket demolition of Sussex two weeks ago. They maintained pressure, beating the bat regularly and making it difficult to score.
Davies did manage to break the shackles briefly by cutting a rare wide one from Sanderson for four and later driving him through midwicket for another boundary. By the time play was called off Lancashire had advanced to 75 for one after 28.1 overs.
The start of play was delayed until 2.30pm due to a wet outfield after the whole of the second day was lost to heavy rain. Jennings and Davies were resuming on 59 without loss, their fourth 50 opening stand of the season.
After further interruptions due to showers, the umpires called stumps shortly after 4pm following further rain and hail which turned the outfield white as the players left the field.
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