Division One
Essex vs Somerset
Alastair Cook, the former England captain, played a great century on the opening day, and Essex easily defeated Somerset. Before their 153-run fourth-wicket partnership with century-maker Matthew Critchley, Cook had many partnerships with Nick Browne and Tom Westley. When the game was over, Critchley was still clean at 119, but the starter was finally set for 128.
Brief scores:
Essex 360/4 (Alastair Cook 128, Matthew Critchley 119*; Josh Davey 2/76) vs Somerset
Nottinghamshire vs Warwickshire
Alex Davies, Sam Hain, and Dan Mousley gave cutting hits to assist Warwickshire defeat Nottinghamshire. On being evacuated, Hain was able to reach three digits, and Davies also was able to do it but fell reticent of a tonne. Despite losing two wickets in the final seconds in the game, their 171-run tandem with Mousley surprised the opposition and helped Warwickshire win the match on the first day.
Brief scores:
Warwickshire 361/5 (Sam Hain 100, Alex Davies 93; Jake Ball 2/52) vs Nottinghamshire
Kent vs Surrey
On the first day of play, Kent upset Surrey given an outstanding century of Jordan Cox. Jordan Clark and Sean Abbott already got Kent down to 41/5 before Cox’s amazing performance. Kent unexpectedly finished with 301 despite a dismal start with two key fifty-sixes from Joey Evison and Wes Agar. Wes Agar concluded the comeback by scoring two more goals on the ball before the game proved back on.
Brief scores:
Surrey 18/2 (Wes Agar 2/15) trail Kent301 (Jordan Cox 133, Joey Evison 58; Sean Abbott 4/52)
Lancashire vs Hampshire
After the opening day of their encounter against Hampshire, Lancashire took total command. Thanks to Will Williams and Tom Bailey, Hampshire got a 57/4. There was no significant comeback after that, as Hampshire was defeated by 142 points. Without Keith Barker’s heroic 44, they might not have reached it to 100. Then, Philip Salt and George Balderson created their mark by outlasting a rival with a century stand. Salt is still on track to reach 100 runs despite Balderson being eliminated after 51 runs because Lancashire started the last session only 3 runs behind.
Brief scores:
Lancashire 139/1 (Phil Salt 76*, George Balderson 51) trail Hampshire 142 (Keith Barker 44; Will Williams 3/14, Tom Bailey 3/29) by 3 runs
Division Two
Gloucestershire vs Leicestershire
After losing three wickets on a stormy first day in Bristol, Gloucestershire got to 108 runs. Chris Dent put up a 55-run first-wicket standoff while Ben Charlesworth hit a circumspect 21 out of 73. As Dent was caught leg-before-wicket, Leicestershire quickly seized the chance to take the match. Miles Hammond was eliminated for a seven-ball duck after a brief period of Charlesworth’s resistance. If Gloucestershire want to win this game, its middle line must play well now.
Brief scores:
Gloucestershire 108/3 (Chris Dent 29; Tom Scriven 1/10) vs Leicestershire
Sussex vs Worcestershire
Sussex was 338/9 at the conclusion of a busy day in Hove. Despite Joe Leach eliminating the start for single-digit scores, James Coles and Oliver Carter performed a valiant attempt to prevent Sussex from quitting and winning the game back. Sussex was in trouble at 142/6 after a second mini-collapse, but a great lower order rearguard saved the day.
Three bottom order batsmen united on 166 major runs as Worcestershire struggled in the second half. Leach noticed the day with six wickets after becoming rid of the openers, and he would like to add a seventh to put a stop to the action on the second day.
Brief scores:
Sussex 338/9 (Oliver Carter 76, Nathan McAndrew 65; Joe Leach 6/73) vs Worcestershire
Durham vs Glamorgan
Glamorgan was eliminated for 390 despite having a confident position of 340/4 at a point because of an important collapse that was spearheaded by Ben Raine. Kiran Carlson, the captain, hit a superb century on a turbulent day to aid the Glamorgan unit from 81/3. Carlson, who had a strike percentage of more than 75%, led Sam Northeast in the scoring.
As Northeast left for 60, Carlson and Billy Root partied to lead Glamorgan’s charge. After Raine castled Root for 45, Durham retaliated. He readily went through the lower order while Craig Miles caught a big fish for 162 scores. Durham was only able to bat out one over before the game ended, and they are facing an uphill battle if they want to regain the lead beyond the first inning.
Brief scores:
Durham 4/0 trail Glamorgan 390 (Kiran Carlson 162, Sam Northeast 60; Craig Miles 4/73, Bein Raine 4/79) by 386 runs
Derbyshire vs Yorkshire
On the first day, Yorkshire beat their own team by just 111 runs but six Derbyshire players scored in the single digits. After decimating them, Ben Coad and Matthew Fisher reduced the batting order to 24/6. When the last four batsmen reached eighteen, Derbyshire reached 111 runs, topping 100.
But the visitors’ 161-point win on the penultimate day only made their plight worse. As a result of their aggressive batting style, Yorkshire’s opening batsmen easily combined for 61 runs for the first wicket. Then, Shan Masood got 67 runs off just 82 notes, while Dawid Malan blasted 76. After Masood’s firing, Malan still has an opportunity to score a century to extend Yorkshire’s lead.
Brief scores:
Yorkshire 272/5 (Dawid Malan 76*, Shan Masood 67; Luis Reece 2/37) lead Derbyshire 111 (Matthew Fisher 5/30, Ben Coad 3/28) by 161 runs
