Sussex tighten their grip over Surrey

Sussex 429 v Surrey 212 for 6 at Hove
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Sussex tightened their control over Surrey in this intriguing tussle of the top two. Sussex resumed play on 362 for 4 and Jimmy Ormond made immediate inroads in to their batting with the three quick wickets of Chris Adams, who went for his overnight 107, along with Matt Prior and Mark Davis, both out for ducks. However, Robin Martin-Jenkins (40) and Mushtaq Ahmed (26) added a valuable 48 for the eighth wicket and Sussex made it to a healthy 429. Martin-Jenkins (2 for 42) and Mushtaq (2 for 79) then went on to shine with the ball to reduce Surrey to an awkward 126 for 6. But Mark Ramprakash held firm with a stubborn 74 not out, and added an unbroken stand of 86 with Martin Bicknell (42 not out) to keep Surrey on course to the follow-on target of 279.

Kent 189 and 284 v Essex 183 and 24 for 1 at Canterbury
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David Fulton played a captain's innings just when it was needed to give Kent the upper hand over Essex at the St Lawrence Ground. After Mark Ealham (5 for 26) had wrapped up Essex's first innings with a lead of only six for Kent, Fulton carried his bat with an unbeaten 94 to set Essex 291 to win. Michael Carberry (36) and Ed Smith, who only made 32 this time, chipped in with contributions, as well as Geraint Jones, who hit a quick 31 before James Middlebrook (4 for 78) polished off the Kent tail for 284. In their chase, Essex lost one wicket before the close when Will Jefferson was caught off Muttiah Muralitharan - his first Championship wicket - to set up an exciting finish tomorrow with Essex needing 266 with nine wickets remaining.

Leicestershire 259 v Lancashire 332 for 4 at Leicester
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Stuart Law continued his excellent form with an unbeaten 150 - his fourth century of the season - and with the help of their other overseas player, Carl Hooper, Lancashire averted a potentially sticky situation to end the day in command with a 73-run lead over Leicestershire at Grace Road. After nightwatchman Gary Keedy was out early on, Lancashire were dangling on 44 for 3, but Mal Loye steadied things with 45 and shared a 93-run stand with Law. The rest of the day then belonged to Law and Hooper, who both toyed with the Leicestershire attack. Law cracked 20 fours and two sixes in his innings, and Hooper smashed three sixes in his 88 not out. Philip DeFreitas (3 for 51) took both of the wickets to fall, but his old England team-mate Devon Malcolm failed to recapture his international days as he ended with 1 for 57.

Nottinghamshire 254 v Middlesex 198 for 6 at Nottingham
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Stuart MacGill shook off his jet lag to check Middlesex's progress with four wickets as they ended the day on 196 for 6, and 56 runs behind Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge. After Notts were all out for 254 early in the day, Andy Strauss (29) and Sven Koenig put on 54 for the first wicket, and Koenig went on to make a solid 75 before he was lbw to MacGill, who only touched down from Australia on Wednesday. Owais Shah (13), Ben Hutton (16) and Paul Weekes were MacGill's other victims, while Ed Joyce kept up Middlesex's momentum with 36 before he was caught behind by wicketkeeper Chris Read off Chris Cairns (1 for 33) to keep the match in the balance.

Gloucestershire 201 for 6 v Yorkshire at Cheltenham
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Steve Kirby picked up two wickets in four balls to keep the pressure on Gloucestershire at Cheltenham, but rain once interrupted on a frustrating day. Gloucestershire, 33 for 2 overnight, had reached a healthy 153 for 3 thanks to 73 from Matt Windows and 35 from Tim Hancock. But Kirby removed Windows and Shoaib Malik in a single over, although there was some controversy, as Shoaib did not believe his slip catch (to Stephen Fleming) had carried. It was left to Alex Gidman to keep the innings on track. He eventually fell to Vic Craven for 43, but Jack Russell and Ian Fisher prevented any other mishaps.

Durham 345 v Somerset 83 for 4 at Chester-le-Street
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Nicky Peng's first championship half-century for two years gave Durham something to cheer, as they put a poor first day behind them by taking control against Somerset. Aided by some resourceful batting from the tail, Durham's last five wickets added 181 runs, and by the close Somerset had lost four big wickets. Only Michael Burns, unbeaten on 25, was offering much resistance, with Vince Wells returning the remarkable figures of 2 for 7 in six overs.

Hampshire 278 v Northamptonshire 76 for 0 at The Rose Bowl
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Simon Katich scored a superb 117 - his third century of the season - to dominate Hampshire's first innings at the Rose Bowl, but by the close Tim Roberts and Mike Hussey had replied with an ominous opening stand of 76 to leave Northants well placed. Katich cracked 20 fours in his innings, and was head and shoulders above every other Hampshire batsman on display - the next highest score was James Adams' 32. His only real support came from Dmitri Mascarenhas (31), with whom he added 61 for the sixth wicket, and it required a stunning catch to dismiss him - a one-handed diving effort by Mark Powell at short cover. But by the close, Roberts had raced to 56 not out from 41 balls, including 16 from James Bruce's only over

Worcestershire 237 v Glamorgan 0 for 2 at Worcester
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Nantie Hayward emulated the success of his former South African team-mates, by taking two wickets in his only over of the day, to leave Glamorgan reeling at 0 for 2 at stumps on the first day at New Road. Hayward's over was the final act in an decent revival from Worcestershire, who had themselves been in all sorts of bother at 65 for 5. But a sixth-wicket stand of 101 between David Leatherdale and Gareth Batty, who each made fifties, set them towards a competitive total of 237, which was supplemented by a run-a-ball 38 from Kabir Ali. David Harrison and Alex Wharf each took four wickets for Glamorgan, but Hayward's riposte made for an interesting second day.