It was a day for some eye-catching bowling on the second day of the second round of the County Championship.
Hampshire’s Mohammad Abbas took a hat-trick and five wickets in 17 balls as his side dominated Middlesex.
Matt Parkinson meanwhile showed a glimpse of what he can produce with his leg-spin with three wickets against Northamptonshire.
There was also concerning news on the injury front for one England Test batsman.
Group One
Durham look set to beat champions Essex after they carved out a potentially match-winning first-innings lead of 163.
In reply to Essex’s 96, their last two wickets pushed them on from 148-8 overnight to 259 courtesy of Stuart Poynter’s unbeaten 52 and a career-best 41 from Matt Salisbury.
Dan Lawrence made 76 in Essex’s second innings, but Durham kept taking wickets at vital moments to restrict them to 208-6, a lead of just 45 with four wickets remaining.
Nottinghamshire are on course to end their near three-year wait for a County Championship win after building a big lead over Warwickshire.
The Bears were without England opener Dom Sibley due to a fractured finger and could only muster 201-9 in reply to the hosts’ 273. Stuart Broad picked up 3-50.
Notts stretched that advantage to a lead worth 200 to close on 128-2, Haseeb Hameed and Joe Clarke both with unbeaten half-centuries.
Derbyshire finished with 390 in their first innings against Worcestershire as Harvey Hosein made 83 not out. The Pears replied with 243-7 as Tom Fell (69) and Riki Wessells (60) led the way.
Group Two
Abbas bowled Hampshire into a position to make it two big wins from two as Middlesex were on the receiving end of a devastating spell from the 31-year-old Pakistan seamer.
Hampshire reached 319 in their first innings before Middlesex were bowled out for just 79. Abbas took 6-11, with the first three wickets his hat-trick.
The hosts elected not to enforce the follow-on and by the close had reached 204-2, a huge lead of 444.
Somerset and Gloucestershire are almost level on the board after the visitors reached 301-8 in reply to Somerset’s 312.
James Bracey underlined his England potential with 118 while Matt Taylor (53 not out) helped add 71 for the eighth wicket to move Gloucestershire towards parity.
Runs continued to flow at The Oval where first Leicestershire made 375 in their first innings against Surrey.
Sam Evans made 138 and Lewis Hill 70 as both Jordan Clark and Amar Virdi took three wickets.
England pair Ollie Pope (92 not out) and Ben Foakes (68 not out) have shared a fourth-wicket stand worth 160 so far to move Surrey to 253-3.
Group Three
Lancashire look in a strong position against Northamptonshire after taking a 128-run first-innings lead.
The Red Rose made 305 before Northants could only score 177 in reply. Leg-spinner Matt Parkinson took 3-49 including a Shane Warne-esque delivery to bowl Adam Rossington for 49.
Keaton Jennings and Alex Davies then added another 60 runs without loss second time around to put the hosts 188 ahead.
Yorkshire came away with a first-innings lead worth 114 runs against Kent at Canterbury after making 379 in their first innings.
Darren Stevens made 52 for the hosts in their 265-9 but England’s Zak Crawley made just one and seamer Harry Podmore was ruled out of the rest of the match with a side strain.
Yorkshire will resume on 6-0 in their second innings, a lead of 120.
And at Hove, George Garton showed he can be a star with bat as well as ball for Sussex against Glamorgan.
A century and four half-centuries saw Sussex press on from 99-0 overnight to 481-9 in reply to Glamorgan’s 285.
Stiaan van Zyl (113 off 157 balls), Tom Haines (87), Aaron Thomason (67), Garton (97) and Ollie Robinson (67 not out) made it a day of hard toil for Glamorgan’s bowlers. Sussex lead by 196.
