The Cricketer wraps up the best of the action during the 13th round of LV= Insurance County Championship matches in 2023
Ageas Bowl (day three of four): Hampshire 308 & 330-3d, Somerset 137 & 102-2 - Somerset need 400 runs with eight second-innings wickets in hand
Nick Gubbins effortlessly struck his third LV=Insurance County Championship century of the season as Hampshire ground Somerset towards submission on day three at the Ageas Bowl.
Left-handed batter Gubbins gracefully hit an unbeaten 139 – his highest score for Hampshire since joining from Middlesex – to move past 900 runs in the Championship this season.
Together with Fletcha Middleton and James Vince's half-centuries, Gubbins led Hampshire to a 501-run lead having forced Somerset to wallow in the south coast heat.
Facing a minimum of 128 overs to bat out, the visitors slumped to 38 for 2 but Sean Dickson's unbeaten 63 held them together. They reached the close on 102 for 2, 400 still required to win.
Hampshire's title ambitions had been ended by 11am by Surrey's victory over Warwickshire.
Nick Gubbins scored his third red-ball century of the season [Alex Davidson/Getty Images]
Chelmsford (day two of four): Essex 304 & 104-1, Middlesex 179 - Essex lead by 229 runs with nine second-innings wickets in hand
Jamie Porter sliced through Middlesex for his third five-wicket haul in successive innings to pass fifty first-class wickets for the sixth season in his career, the first since 2019.
The 30-year-old seamer, bowling with renewed vigour this summer after struggling with injuries and consequent loss of form in recent years, finished with 6 for 34, and 53 wickets for the campaign, as Middlesex were bowled out for 179.
That left the relegation-threatened visitors trailing by 125 runs on first innings, which was extended to 229 at close of day two with Sir Alastair Cook's unbeaten 44 leading Essex to 104 for 1.
Off-spinner Josh de Caires had wrapped up the Essex first innings with his eighth ball of the morning to walk off with the match ball and career-best figures of 8 for 106. Essex added just one run to their overnight total, reaching 304, before Sam Cook edged to slip.
That was the last wicket to fall to spin until the 51st over of Middlesex's innings – when Simon Harmer tempted Toby Roland-Jones to try and hit him out of the ground – by which time the Essex seamers had shared the first eight wickets on a lively, baked pitch. Cook chipped in with three of his own for 43.
However, with County Championship leaders Surrey completing their innings victory over Warwickshire earlier in the day, it left Essex 33 points adrift in second place, albeit with the result of this game to be added on.
George Balderson scored a century for Lancashire [Shaun Botterill/Getty Images]
Northampton (day three of four): Northamptonshire 232 & 211-5, Lancashire 524 - Northamptonshire trail by 81 runs with five second-innings wickets in hand
George Balderson scored a superb 115, his second Championship century, as Lancashire assumed complete dominance over Northamptonshire on day three of this County Championship match.
The innings continues an excellent breakout season for Balderson who scored his maiden ton against Warwickshire in July and is currently averaging in the mid-sixties in red-ball cricket.
With a destructive Tom Bailey blasting 77 off just 75 balls (seven fours, four sixes), Lancashire closed on 524, their highest ever score at Wantage Road, breaking a record that had stood for 88 years.
It gave the Red Rose an imposing lead of 292 and marked a remarkable comeback, one spearheaded yesterday by Josh Bohannon's six-hour 175, with the last four wickets amassing a colossal 335 runs in 83.3 overs.
Sam Whiteman, playing his final match of the season for Northamptonshire before he returns to Australia, played an assured innings of 54. It was his second half-century of the match and raised faint hopes that Northamptonshire could save the game. His 112-ball vigil ultimately ended when he played a ball from Will Williams (2 for 26 from 14 overs). The hosts finished on 211 for 5, still needing another 81 to make Lancashire bat again tomorrow.
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