County Championship review: Nottinghamshire beat Worcestershire
A review of the action from the final day of the third round of matches in the Specsavers County Championship.
Day four
Nottinghamshire completed a rousing innings victory over Worcestershire despite the first two days being lost to the weather at New Road.
Day four began with the visitors at the crease and they added 96 brisk runs, for the loss of three wickets before declaring on 300 for nine - a lead of 190.
That left the burden on the bowlers to get a result over the line and they did so in style, dismissing the Pears for 149 in 38.2 overs.
In-form Jake Ball did the heavy lifting, taking five for 59, while Luke Fletcher and Harry Gurney took two wickets each.
All of that left returning England star Stuart Broad in the shade, though he did manage the important scalp of Joe Clarke.
Broad had earlier collided with Fletcher while the pair batted together and briefly required the physio's attention.
Somerset made it two wins from two in Specsavers County Championship Division One, taking nine Yorkshire wickets to wrap up a 118-run success.
The White Rose resumed on 49 for one chasing 321 but things began going awry when Cheteshwar Pujara nicked the first ball of the day, from Lewis Gregory.
Somerset chipped away with regular breakthroughs throughout the day, Craig Overton with three for 43 and Gregory, Tim Groenewald and Tom Abell each struck twice.
Jack Leaning offered the only significant resistance with 68, but his side left with just three points to Somerset's 20.
Defending champions Essex settled for a draw against Hampshire on a day that saw England opener Alastair Cook bank 84 in his first knock of the season.
With a positive outcome never on the cards, all eyes were on Cook after a lean winter on Test duty. He faced 138 balls before being caught behind off Chris Wood.
Bracing conditions at the Ageas Bowl saw eight Essex players take to the field in beanie hats, with Australian Peter Siddle wearing his to bowl and finishing with three for 62.
Surrey batted out for a draw against Lancashire at Old Trafford after following on. The Red Rose were left needing six wickets in the final session but managed only two as the Brown Caps finished 199 for six.
Four of those fell at Tom Bailey's hand, while there were 57 runs for a battling Ben Foakes.
In Division Two, rain ran roughshod over the schedule.
An exciting finale between Sussex and Gloucestershire fell foul of persistent showers at Hove.
The visitors were due to resume the final day on 108 for six, requiring 59 runs to win, but both teams were left wondering.
No play was possible at Lord's either, though any prospect of a result between Middlesex and Glamorgan had long since disappeared in a match that stretched to just 58 overs across two innings.
Northamptonshire and Durham were washed out again - meaning not a single ball was bowled in the match.
It was the first complete abandonment at Wantage Road since 1981, leaving both sides with five points.
Leicestershire and Derbyshire did see action at Grace Road, mopping up 11 and 10 bonus points respectively in a match which did not get under way until the final session on day two.
Day three
England opener Mark Stoneman continued to struggle with the bat as Lancashire and Surrey head towards a draw in the Specsavers County Championship clash at Old Trafford.
Stoneman was clean bowled for a seven-ball duck by former Durham team-mate Graham Onions in reply to Lancashire's declaration of 439 to extend the Surrey batsman's poor start to the campaign to 28 runs from three innings.
Joe Mennie (68 not out) and Tom Bailey were unlikely heroes with the bat as they hit a record ninth-wicket stand for Lancashire to nudge the first innings total past 400 before the latter became Amar Virdi's fourth victim (four for 80) for a career-best 66.
Bailey was in equally good form with ball as he claimed four for 54 runs, while Onions dismissed another ex-Durham colleague Scott Borthwick, who top-scored with 79, as Surrey finished the third day on 231 for nine, with seven wickets coming after tea.
Luke Fletcher produced the best bowling figures of his career to put Nottinghamshire into a strong position after 16 wickets fell on day three in their match with Worcestershire.
Play finally began after the first two days were washed out but Worcestershire could not handle the bowling attack of Fletcher (five for 27), Stuart Broad (three for 28) and Jake Ball (two for 25) as they were dismissed for just 110.
Joe Clarke top-scored with 42 as only three home batsmen passed double figures before New Zealand international Ross Taylor hit a patient 50 to help Notts move to 204 for six by stumps.
Tom Abell put in a captain's performance as Somerset took control against Yorkshire at Taunton.
The 24-year-old hit 82 off 137 deliveries to help recover from 24 for four to 200 all out and set a victory target of 321 for the visitors following Ben Coad's four for 61 and Jack Brooks' three for 44.
Yorkshire lost Harry Brook for 15 in reply as they finished day three on 49 for one.
Jimmy Adams missed out on his first century of the season in an interrupted third day between Hampshire and Essex, where only 28 overs were bowled at the Ageas Bowl.
Adams could not reach treble-figures after a 344-minute marathon in the middle before he was trapped in front by Jamie Porter. Hashim Amla also cracked 52 as Hampshire finished on 241 for four in their first innings.
Four wickets in 17 balls boosted Sussex's chances of their first win of the season against Gloucestershire at Hove.
Gloucestershire were set a victory target of 167 and looked well on their way at 69 for one before Stiaan van Zyl (three for 16) and Ollie Robinson (two for 25) combined to limit the visitors to 71 for five.
Danny Briggs trapped Graeme van Buuren in front late on, leaving Gloucestershire needing 59 with four wickets left.
Stevie Eskinazi cracked 94 for Middlesex in their total of 194 as 14 wickets fell against Glamorgan at Lord's.
Glamorgan bowler Michael Hogan took five for 49 before Tim Murtagh claimed all four wickets as the visitors struggled on 38 for four in response.
Paul Horton and Colin Ackermann hit brisk half-centuries for Leicestershire after play finally got under way against Derbyshire at the Fischer County Ground.
A ball has not been bowled for the third successive day in the match between Northamptonshire and Durham at Wantage Road.
Day two
Matt Renshaw continued his fine start to life in county cricket with a second century of the season as 20 wickets fell on a dramatic day in Somerset's Specsavers County Championship clash with Yorkshire at Taunton.
The Australian opener, having replaced disgraced compatriot Cameron Bancroft as Somerset's overseas player, marked his debut with 101 not out in last week's win over Worcestershire.
Having made a half-century entirely of boundaries, Middlesbrough-born Renshaw completed a 86-ball hundred including 14 fours and four sixes before lunch to put Somerset in control on 145 for one following an opening-day washout.
The Tykes fought back admirably after the interval, taking Somerset's final nine wickets for just 71 runs as Jack Brooks returned five for 57, but Yorkshire found it just as tough in reply.
Lewis Gregory and Tim Groenewald claimed three wickets apiece to help skittle Yorkshire for 96, a first-innings deficit of 120, with Somerset closing on six without loss.
Hampshire batsman James Vince failed to make the most of his opportunity to impress new England selector Ed Smith at the Ageas Bowl.
On another day decimated by the weather, England batsman Vince could not turn a start into a significant score as he was caught behind off Essex spinner Simon Harmer for 47.
Opener Jimmy Adams was unbeaten on 57 in Hampshire's 154 for two.
Keaton Jennings and Haseeb Hameed missed the chance to stake another claim for an international return on the second day of Lancashire's clash with Surrey at Old Trafford.
Jennings and Hameed managed just 15 and four respectively, but Lancashire recovered from 23 for three to close on 352 for eight courtesy of half-centuries from Shivnarine Chanderpaul (65), Steven Croft (62) and Jordan Clark (78).
Paceman Jade Dernbach and emerging spinner Amar Virdi took three wickets each for Surrey, who elected to field.
A remarkable 22 wickets fell at Hove, where Sussex and Gloucestershire both struggled against the moving ball.
Ryan Higgins took five for 21 to trigger a dramatic Sussex collapse that saw them lose all 10 wickets for just 53 runs to be dismissed for 145.
David Wiese then claimed a five-wicket haul as Gloucestershire could only manage 183, a lead of 38, before Sussex closed 13 runs ahead on 51 for two.
Worcestershire and Nottinghamshire were frustrated by the weather at New Road, as were Leicestershire and Derbyshire at Grace Road, Middlesex and Glamorgan at Lord's plus Northamptonshire and Durham at Wantage Road.
Day one
Only 15 overs were bowled across the four Division One games in the Specsavers County Championship on Friday as rain prevented any action across three matches.
Hampshire openers Joe Weatherley and Jimmy Adams managed to accumulate 41 runs against defending champions Essex in the hour of play that was possible at The Rose Bowl.
Yet the contests at Old Trafford, Taunton and New Road all failed to begin on Friday due to the inclement weather.
Play was abandoned for the day between Lancashire, who are hoping to pick up their first win of the season at the third attempt, and Surrey at around 2.25pm without a ball being bowled.
Twenty minutes later the first day of Somerset's contest with Yorkshire was washed out, with promoted teams Worcestershire and Nottinghamshire also unable to get their match started.
Play was possible at two of the four Division Two contests, though, and Glamorgan captain Michael Hogan took two wickets as Middlesex struggled to 64 for three on a rain-disrupted day.
After Max Holden was caught behind for seven off Lukas Carey's bowling, Hogan accounted for Sam Robson and Middlesex captain Dawid Malan, who was playing his first innings of the county season.
Phil Salt made an unbeaten half century as Sussex reached 86 without loss in the 21 overs bowled at Hove after Gloucestershire had inserted their hosts.
Salt will resume on Saturday on 54 not out while fellow opener Luke Wells is on 25.
There was no play possible in either Leicestershire's clash with Derbyshire at Grace Road or in Durham's trip to Northamptonshire.
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