England spinner Jack Leach’s six for 36 inspired Somerset to their second successive victory of the season. Leach, playing in his first match of the year, started the enchantment with his sixth ball of the day as Ben Slater was tempted forward into a prod and was stumped. He then squeezed a ball through Joe Clarke’s defences – out for two – and with guile tickled out the rest, as Nottinghamshire slumped to 126 all out, defeat by an innings and 14 runs. Notts lost their last eight wickets for 60, with Jack Brooks, who moved from Yorkshire over the winter, finishing with four for 22.
Somerset’s next county championship game is against last year’s champions Surrey, whose game against Essex at the Oval seemed to be meandering towards a draw. Essex were not intimidated by Surrey’s powerful seam attack, though there was disappointment for Dan Lawrence who fell seven short of a century in the morning sun. But the Essex captain Ryan ten Doeschate’s 130 and a quickfire 41 from Peter Siddle gave their side a first-innings lead of 53. By stumps, Rory Burns and Mark Stoneman had given Surrey a small lead.
There was last-session bedlam at Southampton as Hampshire, following on, finished on 54 for five, still 198 behind Yorkshire. Steve Patterson caused panic in the top order, taking three for nine, including James Vince for 11 and Sam Northeast for a duck. Northeast had earlier been the glue holding Hampshire’s first innings together until, alas, after being stuck in the nineties for 14 overs, he edged Duanne Olivier behind for 99. The South African Olivier finished with three for 89.
Warwickshire too were in trouble following on, losing four late wickets as they crawled along, still 79 behind Kent at the close. Dom Sibley’s 132 in the first innings, brought up with a straight drive for four and a leap of delight, was the fifth century in five consecutive first-class matches for the former Surrey batsman.
Down in Division Two, rain truncated play at Lord’s where Lancashire’s Rob Jones made the highest score of his Championship career. He was hit on the helmet by a ball from James Harris when on 69 but, nonplussed, batted on, reaching his century with a four off Steven Finn. He was eventually out for 122, one of Tim Murtagh’s five wickets. Dane Vilas chipped in with 68. There was no joy for Finn or Toby Roland-Jones. Nick Gubbins made a five-ball duck as Middlesex’s second innings started badly.
Leicestershire started the day batting, and finished it batting, but not in a good way. A painstaking innings by Ateeq Javid was not enough to reach the heights of the follow-on against the sharp bowling of Worcestershire’s Josh Tongue and Ed Barnard. Fifty from Hasan Azad steadied the second-innings ship – at stumps Leicestershire were 132 for four, still 119 runs behind Worcestershire’s gargantuan first effort.
A slow day at Bristol as Gloucestershire build up a first-innings lead of 59. Gareth Roderick was out for 98 and Ryan Higgins 74. Derbyshire lost two quick wickets in their second innings but had limped into a lead by the close.
The run-glut at Sophia Gardens showed no sign of ending as Northamptonshire’s Rob Newton scored the fifth century of the match in a record-breaking partnership with Ricardo Vasconcelos, who batted on to 184 before finally falling lbw to Marnus Labuschagne. Rob Keogh finished 73 not out and by stumps more than a thousand runs had been scored, and many bowlers chastened, in three very long days.
At the Riverside, a run chase! Sussex, chasing 212 to win against Durham, were 144 for three at the close, with an unbeaten 66 for Stiaan van Zyl.
