County Championship review: Ollie Pope stars for Surrey

Day four

Division One

Surrey's 19-year-old spinner Amar Virdi finished with four wickets as he helped seal a 139-run victory over Hampshire in Division One of the Specsavers County Championship.

Sam Northeast provided stubborn resistance on the final day at the Kia Oval but his eventual dismissal for 129 in the evening session secured the hosts victory with 23.3 overs left.

Hampshire started the day 116 for four, with the victory target a notional 472, and their brave rearguard came up short as Virdi took two wickets to end with figures of four for 79, while Jade Dernbach also claimed a couple of final-day scalps.

Yorkshire needed just one hour to wrap up a 164-run victory over Nottinghamshire at Headingley.

Ben Coad took six for 81 in the second innings to complete a 10-wicket match haul, with Notts mustering 238 all out in search of 403 for victory.

Notts' Tom Moores (40 not out) and Jake Ball (30) did post a ninth-wicket stand of 66, only for Coad to change ends and dismiss Ball and Harry Gurney in the same over.

Division Two

In Division Two, Derbyshire ended a 23-match winless run at home with their 101-run victory over Middlesex.

A streak stretching back 1,306 days to September 2014 finally came to an end, with Middlesex posting 340 all out chasing 442.

James Harris, unbeaten on 64, and Tom Helm produced a ninth-wicket stand of 106 as the visitors battled against the inevitable.

James Bracey's unbeaten 120 was not enough to stop Gloucestershire falling to a six-wicket defeat at home to Glamorgan.

Gloucester resumed at 133 for five, still battling to avoid an innings defeat.

The hosts at least managed that, thanks to Bracey's fine knock, Ryan Higgins' 61, 50 from Daniel Worrall and Matt Taylor's 48.

Gloucester's 372 all out sent Glamorgan back to the crease requiring 83 in 21 overs to win, and though Taylor took three for 25 in six overs, the visitors secured victory.

Luke Wells hit an unbeaten 102 as Sussex drew with Leicestershire.

Wells turned his overnight score of seven into his 18th first-class century, as Sussex closed the match on 241 for four in the high-scoring contest.

Day three

Division One

Jamie Porter's four-wicket haul edged Essex to a 31-run victory over Lancashire as the champions registered their first win of the new Specsavers County Championship season.

Porter took four of 54 at Chelmsford to deny the visitors with Alex Davies, Jordan Clark and latterly Joe Mennie all posting half-centuries to get their side within touching distance.

Mennie was the last man out for 56 as he and Matt Parkinson putting on 42 for the last wicket.

Lewis Gregory, Tim Groenewald and Josh Davey bowled Somerset to an 83-run victory over Worcestershire with more than a day to spare.

Having set the visitors 279 to win, Gregory took three for 35, Groenewald three for 51 and Davey two for 49 as they were dismissed for 195 my mid-afternoon at Taunton.

Ollie Pope and Amar Virdi put Surrey within sight of a crushing win over Hampshire.

Twenty-year-old Pope's 145, his second century in just his 12th first-class innings, allowed his side to declare their second innings at 407 for nine, setting Hampshire an improbable 472 to win.

By stumps, they were 116 for four with Sam Northeast on 14 and Rilee Rossouw on 19 after 19-year-old Virdi had trapped both James Vince and Hashim Amla leg before in the space of five balls.

Ben Coad bowled Yorkshire to the brink of victory over Nottinghamshire after Gary Ballance's 82 and an unbeaten 68 from Tim Bresnan had laid the platform.

The visitors embarked upon their second innings needing 403 to win, but ended the day on 181 for eight with Coad having helped himself to four for 55.

Division Two

In Division Two, Ryan Sidebottom plundered 10 wickets in the match as Warwickshire routed Northamptonshire by an innings and 48 runs at Northampton.

Sidebottom, who claimed a career best six for 35 in the first innings, added four for 61 in the second with support from Chris Wright, Jeetan Patel and Henry Brookes, who took two apiece, to bowl out the home side for 218.

Resuming at 41 for nought, opener Rob Newton with 46 and wicket-keeper Adam Rossington with 58 provided some resistance, but Warwickshire's first-innings total of 413 ultimately proved decisive.

Gloucestershire face a final-day battle to avoid an innings defeat by Glamorgan with five second-innings wickets remaining.

James Bracey on 34 not out and Ryan Higgins, unbeaten on 31, will resume the battle to score the 157 they need to reach the visitors' first innings total of 526 for nine, declared with their side having been reduced to 133 for five in their second innings.

Middlesex will head into day four of their showdown with Derbyshire needing 356 runs to win with seven wickets remaining.

Opener Luis Reece's unbeaten 157 was the main contribution to Derbyshire's second innings tally of 333 for three declared, with the visitors closing on 86 for three.

Leicestershire's Colin Ackermann hit 186 to frustrate Sussex on day three at Leicester.

Ackerman's 458-minute knock helped the home side to reach 422 for nine declared, 16 runs behind the visitors' first-innings total, with Sussex having added a further 11 without loss by the close.

Day two

Division One

Defending champions Essex set Lancashire a victory chase of 320.

Last year's star duo of Jamie Porter and Simon Harmer took one wicket apiece to end the Red Rose's first innings in the morning, both bowlers securing five-fors in the process.

Harmer then did more heavy lifting with the bat, scoring 49 in a century stand for the eighth wicket alongside top-scorer James Foster (69).

Tom Bailey, Graham Onions and Joe Mennie each took three wickets as the innings subsided for 313 at stumps.

Surrey built a strong position against Hampshire at the Kia Oval, reaching stumps with a 281-run lead and six second-innings wickets in tact.

Sam Curran and Rikki Clarke finished with matching figures of four for 39 as the visitors went from 52 for three overnight to 147 all out.

The Brown Caps then moved to 217 for four on the back of steady half-centuries from Scott Borthwick (74) and Ben Foakes (50no).

At Headingley, wickets for Ben Coad and runs for Gary Ballance allowed Yorkshire to work themselves into a similar position of strength against Nottinghamshire.

Coad's four for 49 helped dismiss Nottinghamshire for 188, a deficit of 68.

Captain Ballance then anchored things from the crease, closing 76no from 150 balls as the White Rose posted 189 for four.

Worcestershire's Ed Barnard kept his side in the conversation against a James Hildreth-inspired Somerset.

Barnard hit a maiden fifty and took career-best figures of five for 37, but Hildreth's 111no meant it was Somerset who ended 278 in front on 255 for nine.

Division Two

Durham were routed inside five sessions as Kent seamer Matt Henry left Emirates Riverside with a career-best match haul of 12 for 73.

Having already bagged five wickets in Durham's first-innings surrender, the New Zealand international continued to enjoy Division Two life, snapping up seven for 45 as the hosts fell for 170 on day two.

Daniel Bell-Drummond led a trifling chase of 93, finishing 45 not out as Kent wrapped up a nine-wicket win that leaves plenty of time for celebration and recuperation.

Hosts Derbyshire saw Ben Slater and Luis Reece take control over Middlesex with an unbroken opening stand of 118.

South African seamer Duanne Olivier laid the groundwork with four wickets as Middlesex gave way for 157, then Slater and Reece took over to establish a 226-run lead.

Australia's Ashes star Shaun Marsh gave Glamorgan the edge over Gloucestershire in Bristol, cracking 111.

He underpinned the Welsh county's 296 for five, a 60-run lead at the mid-point of the match.

A second first-class hundred from number seven, Michael Burgess, allowed Sussex to declare against Leicestershire, whose response was strong.

Burgess' undefeated 101 and Ishant Sharma's 66 allowed Luke Wright to call his side in at 438 for eight only for the Foxes to post 112 for two.

Tim Ambrose's 17th career hundred put Warwickshire firmly in control against Northamptonshire at the County Ground.

Ambrose (103), Sam Hain (85) and Henry Brookes (70) all contributed to 413 and a formidable advantage of 266.

Ben Duckett and Rob Newton added 41 without loss for Northants but the road ahead remains a long one.

Day One

Division One

Jamie Porter and Simon Harmer bowled defending champions Essex back into their opening Specsavers County Championship match of the season after they were skittled for 150 inside two sessions by Lancashire's seamers.

A total of 127 wickets fell on the opening day of nine matches across the two divisions on Friday with 18 coming at Chelmsford.

Porter and Harmer, who shared 147 wickets in Essex's title triumph last year, claimed four apiece to put the brakes on Lancashire as the visitors finished nine runs behind with two wickets remaining.

Lancashire's Australian seamer Joe Mennie earlier took three for 52 as the heart was ripped out of the Essex batting in just 50 overs, with Graham Onions, Tom Bailey and Jordan Clark chipping in with two wickets each.

At Headingley, Andrew Hodd's resolute 62 followed by runs and wickets for Jack Brooks helped Yorkshire hit back from early strife against Nottinghamshire.

The hosts slipped to 93 for five before lunch but finished the day with a total of 256 on the board and the visitors in bother at 53 for four.

At Taunton, Matt Renshaw marked his Somerset debut with an unbeaten century as 18 wickets fell in the match with Worcestershire.

The Australia Test opener finished 101 not out in a total of 202. James Hildreth contributed 48, while Ed Barnard claimed five for 52 from 16 overs - his maiden five-wicket haul in first class cricket.

In reply, Worcestershire plunged to 48 for five, Lewis Gregory claiming three wickets in his opening spell, before closing on 153 for eight with Travis Head making 49.

In the other Division One match, four-wicket hauls from Fidel Edwards and Liam Dawson put Hampshire in early command against Surrey at the Oval as the home side collapsed to 211 all out.

By stumps, however, Hampshire were a wobbly 52 for three with Rikki Clarke snaring openers Lewis McManus and Jimmy Adams.

Division Two

In Division Two, Aiden Markram was dismissed for two ducks on his Durham debut as a staggering 21 wickets fell on day one of their meeting with Kent at Chester-le-Street.

The South Africa batsman, signed as an overseas player for the 2018 season, and his team-mates were dismissed for 91 in the first innings, but bounced back to bowl Kent out for 169.

New Zealander Matt Henry was the star with the ball for Kent and he dismissed Markram for a second time with six overs left in the final session to take his sixth wicket of the day as Durham were left trailing by 65 runs.

Sussex were the only side in either division not to be bowled out after batting first on Friday, as they closed on 254 for seven against Leicestershire at Grace Road.

It would have been even better for Sussex but they lost Ben Brown (64), Luke Wright (88) and Ollie Robinson (nought) in the final 10 overs of the day.

At Derby, South African fast bowler Hardus Viljoen rescued Derbyshire with the bat in their meeting with Middlesex.

Viljoen made an unbeaten 60 - his first fifty for the county - as the home side recovered from 167 for seven to make 265 before reducing Middlesex to 45 for three at the close.

Elsewhere, Marchant de Lange helped himself to his best first-class bowling figures in Glamorgan colours as the Welsh county took the upper hand against Gloucestershire.

The 27-year-old South African took five for 62 as the hosts were bowled out for 236 in Bristol, before Glamorgan reached 26 without loss in response.

At Wantage Road, Ryan Sidebottom took six for 35 as Warwickshire enjoyed a dominant first day by bowling Northamptonshire out for just 147 before closing on 113 for three.

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