The Cricketer wraps up the best of the action on day two of the ninth round of LV= Insurance County Championship matches in 2023
Chelmsford (second day of four): Essex 457, Warwickshire 158 & 74-1 - Warwickshire trail by 225 runs with nine wickets remaining
Warwickshire capitulated in the face of Simon Harmer's mesmeric off-spin as they stared down the barrel of a demoralising defeat at Chelmsford.
Harmer notched up his 32nd five-wicket haul in seven summers at Essex as Warwickshire were forced to follow-on 299 runs in arrears on first innings.
Having already taken 5 for 65, Harmer added another wicket in the 24 overs of Warwickshire's second innings in the early-evening sunshine, taking his season's tally to 32.
The South African spinner bowled 33 overs from the River End during the day broken only by three interval breaks. He was backed up by seamer Jamie Porter, who took three front-line wickets as Warwickshire were dismissed for 158.
George Bartlett hit a hundred for Somerset (Getty Images)
Southampton (second day of four): Hampshire 419, Middlesex 142-8 - Middlesex trail by 277 runs with two wickets remaining
Liam Dawson forcefully put forward his case to play a part in this summer's Ashes series with a century and six wickets as Hampshire set up a rout on Middlesex in the LV= Insurance County Championship.
Spinning allrounder Dawson was snubbed by England for the previously retired Moeen Ali when Jack Leach suffered a lower back stress fracture for the first Test against Australia, before teenager Rehan Ahmed jumped ahead of him for the upcoming second Test.
But having been decisive in his 141 with the bat, he tore through Middlesex with his left-arm spin to claim six for 38 – and leave Middlesex 142 for 8 at close.
Earlier, Hampshire had been bowled out for 419, with Josh de Caires picking up career-best figures of 7 for 144.
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Northampton (second day of four): Northamptonshire 237, Kent 550-5 - Kent lead by 313 runs with five wickets remaining
Tawanda Muyeye and Daniel-Bell Drummond set batting milestones as Kent dominated on day two of their LV= Insurance County Championship match with hosts Northamptonshire at Wantage Road.
Zimbabwe-born Muyeye smote a stylish maiden first-class hundred complete with four huge sixes on his way to 179 while the more experienced Bell-Drummond inked in a new career best of 271 not out, eclipsing his 206 not out against Loughborough University at Canterbury seven years ago.
Bell-Drummond's individual tally set a record for a Kent batsman at Wantage Road, beating Frank Woolley's 217 back in 1926.
The pair added 318 for the second wicket as the visitors piled up 550 for 5 by stumps, a lead of 313.
Liam Dawson starred for Hampshire (Getty Images)
Taunton (second day of four): Somerset 163 & 268-4, Nottinghamshire 186 - Somerset lead by 245 runs with six wickets remaining
Matt Henry's six-wicket haul and an eighth first-class century from George Bartlett saw Somerset storm back on the second day of the LV= Insurance County Championship match with Nottinghamshire at Taunton
New Zealand seamer Henry transformed the game with a superb seven-over spell from the Marcus Trescothick Pavilion End at the start of the morning session, which saw him take 4 for 26 as the visitors collapsed from an overnight 145 for 4 to 186 all out.
Having taken two wickets on day one, Henry finished with 6 for 59 and Notts had to be settle for a first innings lead of just 23 runs, their last six wickets falling in the space of 14.4 overs. Craig Overton claimed 2 for 46.
Somerset then gained further momentum with the bat, Bartlett (109 not out) and Tom Lammonby (73) sharing a third-wicket stand of 119 as they closed on 268 for 4, 245 ahead.
Bartlett's chanceless ton, occupying 203 balls and including 11 fours and a six, was reward for four hours of sustained concentration.
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The Oval (second day of four): Surrey 360, Lancashire 274 & 113-4 - Lancashire lead by 27 runs with six wickets remaining
An unexpected last-wicket stand of 130 between Sean Abbott and Dan Worrall and some aggressive bowling by their seamers helped to put first division leaders Surrey in a good position against Lancashire at the Kia Oval.
Abbott and No.11 Worrall both made entertaining half centuries as Surrey scored 360 to establish a first-innings lead of 86.
Abbott and Worrall then struck in successive overs as Lancashire lost three wickets clearing their arrears. They reached stumps on 113 for 4, a lead of 26.
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