County Championship: Somerset victorious, Kent on course to pick up first win

County Championship: Somerset victorious, Kent on course to pick up first win

Jack Brooks (pic via YouTube, with thanks)

Somerset’s brilliant start to the season continued while Yorkshire piled the pressure on Hampshire despite more Sam Northeast brilliance.

Here, Deep Extra Cover rounds up the best of the day’s action in Division One.

Jack attack

Somerset 403 (Bartlett 133; Broad 5-73) beat Nottinghamshire 263 and 126 (Slater 34; Leach 6-36) by an innings and 14 runs

Following their final-day brilliance in beating Kent in the opening round, Somerset backed that up with a superb demolition of Nottinghamshire inside three days.

Lewis Gregory’s 6-68 in the Notts first innings gave Somerset a platform which George Bartlett’s 133 and Tom Abell’s 101 built on on day two.

Notts began their second innings with a deficit of 140, but a strong batting unit were ripped apart by a combination of new signing Jack Brooks, who took 4-22, and Jack Leach who claimed 6-36 in his first outing of the season to give the England selectors a nudge.

Northeast shines again but Yorkshire storming towards victory

Yorkshire 554-7, lead Hampshire 302 (Northeast 99; Olivier 3-89) and 54-5 by 198 runs

Sam Northeast fell agonisingly short of a second successive century as he was dismissed for 99 against Yorkshire at the Ageas Bowl.

Northeast received support from Aiden Markram and Liam Dawson, who hit half-centuries, but Hampshire failed in their bid to avoid the follow-on after Yorkshire’s mammoth first-innings total of 554-7dec.

And the White Rose seized the initiative in the final session, taking five wickets to stand on the brink of an impressive win. Hampshire closed 54-5, still 198 behind.

Tendo gives Essex control against Surrey

Surrey 395 and 68-0, lead Essex 448 (Ten Doeschate 130; Morkel 3-97) by 15 runs

In the battle between the last two county champions at the Oval, Ryan ten Doeschate’s century for Essex appears to have taken away Surrey’s hopes of opening their defence with a win.

When the Netherlands international came to the crease, Essex were 168-4, but Ten Doeschate’s 130, along with Dan Lawrence’s 93, gave Essex a 53-run lead at the end of the first innings and control of the match.

Surrey’s openers Rory Burns and Mark Stoneman battled through to the close with the champions 68-0, a lead of 15. The draw is the most likely outcome in this one.

Warwickshire under pressure despite Sibley’s one-man resistance

Kent 504-9 lead Warwickshire 346 and 79-4, by 79 runs

Kent have dominated the clash between the two newly-promoted sides at Edgbaston after Ollie Robinson’s century on day two contributed to a 504-9dec first innings total.

The visitors forced Warwickshire to follow-on as Harry Podmore, Darren Stevens and Tom Milnes claimed three wickets each – with Dom Sibley’s 132 from 315 balls the only resistance offered by the Bears.

He could offer no such resistance second time around, as Kent claimed four wickets in the final session to set up a victory charge on day four.

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