England captain Joe Root suffered an injury scare as Yorkshire’s bowlers were made to suffer by Nottinghamshire’s Joe Clarke for the second time at Trent Bridge.
Root went off for treatment after he was struck on the left hand by a drive from Clarke but Yorkshire coach Andrew Gale confirmed Root will be able to bat on Monday. Debutant Clarke followed his 109 in the first innings with an undefeated 97 as Nottinghamshire reached 329 for 5, a lead of 446. Earlier, Chris Nash (75) and Ben Duckett (61) made half-centuries.
Nash said: “Every player in our squad wants to be batting in the top six. Ben Slater, Ben Duckett and Joe Clarke all want to play international cricket so to be in a top four alongside them has driven me on. I want to be a big contributor this season.”
Hampshire are firmly in control at the Ageas Bowl after Essex followed on 361 behind.
Sir Alastair Cook made 50 but his side were bowled out for 164 with Fidel Edwards taking 5 for 51. Cook made just eight in the second innings before an unbeaten 60 by Ravi Bopara held up Hampshire’s victory push. Essex will resume on 132 for 4, still 229 behind.
Six wicketkeepers have been used in this match – including substitutes – after Hampshire’s Tom Alsop had to go off for treatment to a finger injury.
Edwards said: “We would be disappointed not to win from this position but after being out in the field for over 100 overs it isn’t easy.”
Kent are favourites to claim victory over Somerset as bowlers continued to enjoy seam-friendly conditions at Taunton.
They had a precious lead of 38 despite being dismissed for 209 then reduced Somerset to 111 for 7 before George Bartlett and Lewis Gregory posted an unbeaten stand of 60 to leave their side 133 in front. Kent seamer Mitch Claydon has taken eight wickets including 5 for 46 in the first innings.
In Division Two, Middlesex battled back after following on against Northamptonshire thanks to an unbeaten half-century from Dawid Malan.
They were 109 for 2 at Northampton, still 65 in arrears, with Malan unbeaten on 61 when rain and bad light ended play early.
Earlier, Middlesex had been bowled out for 271 in their first innings despite James Harris’s 69. Nathan Buck took 5 for 54 – his eighth first-class five-for – and then removed Nick Gubbins and Steve Eskanazi before Malan (55 not out) and Sam Robson (40 not out) settled things down.
Buck said: “I didn’t take a five-for last season so it’s nice to get one straight away. It’ll be tough again tomorrow, but we’ve got enough to win from here.”
Captain Paul Horton made an unbeaten half-century to put Leicestershire in a strong position against Sussex at Hove.
Earlier, off-spinner Colin Ackermann had claimed career-best figures of 5 for 69 and seamer Tom Taylor finished with match figures of 10 for 122 – also a career-best – as Sussex lost eight wickets for 97. Leicestershire are 99 for 1 and need 131 to win this fixture for the first time since 2002.
Ackermann said: “I felt like I’ve bowled about a million balls to get my first five-for! I have worked hard on my bowling because I have always wanted to regard myself as an all-rounder. I did some work with Simon Harmer in South Africa in the winter. He’s one of the best off-spinners in the world and we’re always bouncing ideas off each other.”
Durham openers Alex Lees and Gareth Harte survived 14.2 overs to reach 10 for 0 against Derbyshire in their pursuit of 361 which would be the second-biggest fourth-innings chase at Derby.
Earlier, Tom Lace, who is on loan from Middlesex, made his maiden Championship fifty and there were half-centuries for Matt Critchley and Harvey Hosein before the hosts were bowled out for 334.
