The Cricketer wraps up the best of the action during day two of round eight of the Vitality County Championship in 2024
Bristol (day two of four): Derbyshire 526, Gloucestershire 243-4 - Gloucestershire trail by 283 runs with 6 wickets remaining
Derbyshire’s Matt Lamb and Gloucestershire’s Beau Webster set memorable personal milestones on the second day of the Vitality County Championship Second Division match at the Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol.
Unbeaten on 186 overnight, Lamb completed his maiden first class double century before falling for 207 in a Derbyshire total of 526 all out. Anuj Dal contributed 62 as the visitors bagged maximum batting bonus points.
Webster’s six for 100 from 26 overs was a career-best on his home debut for Gloucestershire. The 6ft 7ins Australian seamer had never before taken even five wickets in a first class innings.
By the close, the home side had responded to Derbyshire’s huge total with 243 for four, James Bracey leading the way with an unbeaten 87 and sharing an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 112 with skipper Graeme van Buuren, who was 61 not out
James Bracey continues his good season as he ends the day unbeaten on 87 for Gloucestershire (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Grace Road (day two of four): Glamorgan 387, Leicestershire 280-5 - Leicestershire trail by 107 runs with 5 wickets remaining
Peter Handscomb’s second century of the season helped Leicestershire reach 280 for 5 in reply to Glamorgan’s 387 on day two of their Vitality County Championship match at the Uptonsteel County Ground.
The Australian finished unbeaten on 102 after sharing a fourth-wicket stand of 141 with captain Lewis Hill, who made 92.
Earlier, Leicestershire seamer Scott Currie had recorded the maiden five-wicket haul of his first-class career, finishing with 5 for 64.
The game is finely poised heading into the third day with Leicestershire hoping to get parity before having the opportunity to bowl again.
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Lord's (day two of four): Sussex 554-9 dec, Middlesex 62-1 - Middlesex trail by 492 runs with 9 wickets remaining
John Simpson and Cheteshwar Pujara completed centuries on day two at Lord's as Sussex continued to dominate this Vitality County Championship clash with Middlesex.
Simpson, who made 10 centuries in 15 years with the Seaxes, got the second of his short tenure as Sussex skipper, eventually making 167 and Pujara posted 129 in a score of 554-9 that eclipsed their previous best against the hosts of 550-9 at Hove in 1980.
Simpson and Pujara shared a stand of 223 for the 5th wicket to erase the previous best against Middlesex of 216 by Kepler Wessels and Colin Wells in that same match 34 years ago. Ethan Bamber was the pick of the Middlesex bowlers with 3 for 114.
Middlesex lost Mark Stoneman early in their reply, but Sam Robson, unbeaten on 40, and Max Holden saw them through to stumps at 62-1 without further alarm. They will require a further 343 on day three to avoid the follow-on.
Cheteshwar Pujuara scored yet another century for Sussex (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Related: Reunion starts well for John Simpson, Sussex's novice captain making the most of his fresh start
Wantage Road (day two of four): Yorkshire 362 & 0-1, Northamptonshire 301 - Yorkshire lead by 61 runs with 9 wickets remaining
Northamptonshire captain Luke Procter marshalled his side’s fightback in their Vitality County Championship game against Yorkshire with a tenacious unbeaten century – his first in almost two years.
Procter, who had already passed 50 five times this season without converting any of those knocks into hundreds, remedied that as he sparked Northamptonshire’s recovery from 181 for 7 on day two at Wantage Road.
The skipper finished 116 not out, sharing stands of 50 and 58 respectively with tailenders Ben Sanderson and Jack White to ensure the home side totalled 301, a deficit of 61 on Yorkshire’s first-innings 362.
Sri Lankan left-armer Vishwa Fernando took 4 for 48 on his debut for the visitors, who lost nightwatchman Dom Leech to the final ball of the day without extending their lead any further.
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