County Championship Round 2 Day 2/4

Essex 94 & 297-5, Derbyshire 154 - Division 2 

England captain Alastair Cook scored an unbeaten century as Essex took control on day two against Derbyshire.

Cook (139 not out) scored his first ton since making 154 for England against Australia A last November.

Tom Westley (56) and Ravi Bopara (48) also contributed as Essex closed day two on 297-5, a lead of 237 runs.

Derbyshire had earlier lost their last five wickets for 13 runs as David Masters took 6-46, while Shivnarine Chanderpaul finished unbeaten on 75.


Nottinghamshire 326, Middlesex 296-4 - Division 1

England Test hopeful Sam Robson scored an unbeaten century for Middlesex against Nottinghamshire at Lord's.

After Luke Fletcher (2-41) took two early wickets, Robson (144 not out) put on 203 for the third wicket with Eoin Morgan (86), who posted his highest first-class score since August 2011.

The hosts closed day two on 296-4, trailing Notts by 30 runs.

Earlier, the visitors added 11 to their day-one score to be dismissed for 326, with Steven Finn finishing with 5-91.

Notts resumed on 315-8 and quickly lost Andy Carter to Finn for eight, while Luke Fletcher (25) became Tim Murtagh's only wicket of the innings.

Fletcher then took two wickets in five balls to reduce Middlesex to 19-2 inside 10 overs.
Chris Rogers was caught by Samit Patel for 15 and Dawid Malan caught behind by Read for a four-ball duck.

But Robson and Morgan rebuilt the home side's innings, putting on 203 in 53 overs to allay any fears of another batting collapse, following two in last week's innings defeat by Sussex.

Morgan went to make his highest first-class score since his 104 for England in the third Test against India at Edgbaston in August 2011.

Robson hit 19 fours in his near six hours at the crease and put on an unbeaten 59-run fifth-wicket partnership with John Simpson (32 not out) to leave Middlesex in a strong position.

After scoring 40 with the bat on day one, Australian Peter Siddle was wicketless in 19 overs, conceding 70 runs, on his debut for Notts.


Worcestershire 224 & 41-0 v Kent 229 Division 2

Worcestershire's Moeen Ali took three wickets as Kent gave up a promising start on the second day at New Road.

Resuming on 39-2, Daniel Bell-Drummond eased to 61, sharing a 50 partnership with Ben Harmison (55), before falling lbw to Moeen (3-43).

Kent lost their last six wickets for 62, with Gareth Andrew taking 4-42 to leave them all out for 229, a lead of just five.

Daryl Mitchell and Matthew Pardoe helped the hosts close on 41-0.


Durham 452 v Northamptonshire 200-3 Division 1

Northants fought back after 91 from Phil Mustard saw Durham post a daunting total on day two at Northampton.

Resuming on 265-5, Mustard could only add 28 to his overnight score as Breese passed 50 for the first time since his unbeaten 121 against Kent in 2008.

Jamie Harrison (65) made his best-ever score with Durham all out for 452.

Northants' reply got off to a good start through Stephen Peters (51), and Kyle Coetzer's 53 helped them towards 200-3 at the close.

Champions Durham struggled early on with the ball, with England hopeful Graham Onions toiling before picking up the key wicket of Peters after Scott Borthwick took a fantastic catch under his chin.

Scotland captain Coetzer batted sublimely, hitting seven fours, but was dismissed with 12 overs of the day left.

Matthew Spriegel (20 not out) and Robert Newton (24 not out) guided the home side through to stumps, still requiring another 102 runs to avoid the follow-on.

A poor over-rate from Durham saw the match stretched to 18:40 BST, with three overs needing to be made up in the remaining two days, as Division One new boys Northants held their own.


Yorkshire 450 v Somerset 166-3 Division 1

Adil Rashid completed a century as Yorkshire had the better of day two against Somerset at Taunton.

Resuming on 84 not out, with the visitors on 342-5, Rashid reached 108 before being caught behind off the bowling of Craig Overton (3-72).

Andy Hodd made 55 before Yorkshire were eventually all out for 450.

Chris Jones led the Somerset reply, compiling 75 prior to falling to Liam Plunkett, while Nick Compton made 32 as the hosts closed on 166-3, 284 behind.

Compton, 30, who will be hoping to earn a recall to the England Test side, had to dig in for his first County Championship innings of the season, which included just one boundary off 89 deliveries.

But the day belonged to Rashid, whose 108, which came off 190 balls and included 18 fours, helped Yorkshire towards maximum batting points and a commanding position in the match.

Somerset's reply actually got off to a steady start, with Marcus Trescothick and Jones seeing off the first 10 overs to reach 36-0.

And, after Ryan Sidebottom bowled Trescothick for 20, Jones and Compton combined to share 91 for the second wicket, before Plunkett (2-48) intervened to dismiss both batsmen within six overs of each other to leave the hosts in a tricky position.


Gloucestershire 304, Hampshire 417-9 Division 2

James Vince scored a century as Hampshire opened up a 113-run lead over Gloucestershire at the County Ground.

Gloucestershire began day two on 292-5 and Ken Abbott took 5-67 as the hosts lost their last five wickets for eight runs to be dismissed for 304.

Vince led the way for Hampshire in reply with 24 boundaries in his 144 before falling to Will Gidman (4-66), while Matt Taylor took 4-75.

Adam Wheater is unbeaten on 81 as Hampshire closed on 417-9.


Warwickshire 87 and 387-7, Sussex 229 Division 1

Ian Bell struck an unbeaten century as Warwickshire fought back against Sussex following a rather forgettable first day of the new season at Edgbaston.

Standing as captain for the injured Jim Troughton, Bell led from the front with 144 not out as the Bears, bowled out for 87 on the first morning, enjoyed a far happier second day on 387-7.
 
Warwickshire still looked in trouble in 147-5, just five runs ahead.

Bell chimes for club and country

• Ian Bell has now hit 20 first-class centuries in 109 games for Warwickshire - to equal the 20 tons he has in his 98 Tests for England.

But Rikki Clarke (79) and Jeetan Patel (45no) offered strong support to Bell.

With Bell taking root to play a real captain's innings, Clarke dominated a sixth-wicket stand of 122.

Patel then weighed in with eight boundaries late in the day in an unbroken partnership of 69 with Bell, to earn the home side a 245-run lead going into day three.

Earlier, the Bears' other England batsman Jonathan Trott, Warwickshire's first-innings top scorer with 37, contributed 26 as he starts to finds his touch again following his winter trials and tribulations.

Chris Jordan was again Sussex's main man, following his 3-15 on the first day by taking 3-98.

Bell's century was the 46th of his first-class career, his first for the Bears in almost two years, since hitting 120 against Durham in May 2012 - one of his four Championship appearances in the Bears' title-winning season.