The best of the day’s weather was again enjoyed by the players in Nottingham, as the home side sailed calmly to a first innings total of 662/5 declared. Having posted his maiden first class century yesterday, Matthew Montgomery was finally dismissed for 178, with the score on 438/4. Further centuries were completed on day two by Lyndon James (164 no) and Steven Mullaney (136) and Nottinghamshire declared after seven balls had been bowled with the third new ball, on 662/5. Earlier in the day they had failed to gain a fifth batting bonus point, reaching 363/3 after 110 overs. Durham then experimented with Liam Trevaskis at the top of the order, but his stay was cut short as he was trapped lbw by Stuart Broad, playing his first county game since May. Light then became an issue and spinners were brought on to keep the players on the field. Five balls into Liam Patterson-White’s first over Sean Dickson attempted an expansive shot over mid-wicket and just ended up lobbing a catch to Broad at mid-on. Nightwatchman George Drissell then joined Scott Borthwick and the two saw Durham, through to the end to play, the umpires taking the players off just after six o’clock because of the light. Durham had reached 53/2, requiring 513 to avoid the follow on.
At Worcester, the home side were 167/8 overnight and when play got underway it was Josh Tongue who took the attack to the Middlesex bowlers, finishing on 39 not out. He was supported by Dillon Pennington in a 45 run ninth wicket stand and they were able to help Worcestershire to a final total of 225. Toby Roland-Jones picked up one of the wickets to fall on day two, finishing with 4/50 and Ryan Higgins took 3/52. Middlesex then suffered the early loss of Sam Robson, bowled by Pennington in the first over, but at lunch Mark Stoneman and Pieter Malan had seen them to 59/1. Josh Tongue removed Stoneman for 36, but the remainder of the afternoon was interrupted by rain and bad light. When the players finally went off at 17:38 Middlesex had reached 146/2 from 44 overs, Malan on 68 not out and Max Holden 35 not out.
Sussex started the day at Hove without the services of wicket keeper, Charlie Tear and seamer Fynn Hudson-Prentice, both unwell. With the floodlights on and the start delayed by 39 minutes, Shubman Gill completed his century, but not before Sean Hunt had bowled Billy Root for 21. Gill fell for 119, attempting to loft Jack Carson over the mid-on boundary. Chris Cooke carried on from where Gill had left off and with the help of the tail saw Glamorgan to a fifth batting point and a final total of 533/9 off 106.2 overs. Cooke was the last man out for 141 and Ajaz Patel also reached a half century. Sussex used eight bowlers, the pick of whom was Hunt, finishing with 3/84. The Sussex openers then came out with the aim of not letting the Glamorgan bowlers settle and had reached 69 from just 11.2 overs, before Michael Hogan dismissed Ali Orr, lbw for 45 from 38 balls. The bowling had not been as tight as Glamorgan would have wished and when the players were finally taken off for bad light at 17:37 Sussex had reached 88/1 from 14 overs, Tom Haines 38 not out from 40 balls. The weather interruptions meant that 79 overs had been bowled in the day.
As both first innings have not been completed in any of the three games, bonus points are still undecided. Nottinghamshire are the only one of the three sides who cannot get a maximum haul, having missed out on a batting point. All three counties are on top in their games and it will be a matter of seeing who can complete the job. The weather looks fairly dry in Nottingham and Worcester for the next two days, although the forecast for Hove on Thursday is less favourable.
