County Championship Round 5 Day 1/4

Durham v Yorkshire 299/3  

Opener Adam Lyth made his first century of the season as Yorkshire's batsmen seized the initiative on the first day against Durham at Chester-le-Street.

The left-hander made 104 and shared a stand of 179 with Kane Williamson, but both were dropped by the home side.

Lyth departed immediately after tea and New Zealander Williamson was later bowled by Chris Rushworth for 97.

Kumar Sangakkara, making his Durham debut, failed to hold an edge by Andrew Gale as Yorkshire closed on 299-3.

Yorkshire, beaten last week when Middlesex chased down a target of 472 to win by seven wickets, had England's Jonny Bairstow and Tim Bresnan back in their side and opted to bat first.

Jamie Harrison accounted for Alex Lees, but Lyth and Williamson soon looked in full control.

Lyth could have gone on 88 when neither Scott Borthwick nor Paul Collingwood could hang onto a slip chance off Mark Wood and he went on to reach his ninth first-class hundred off 171 balls.

He was eventually taken at second slip off Harrison (2-87), before Wood was unlucky again when diving wicketkeeper Phil Mustard gave Williamson, on 92, a life.

The chance was not costly, however, as Rushworth found a way through to hit Williamson's off stump, but Durham could not separate Gale (35 not out) and Bairstow (22) in the final overs before stumps.

Essex 254/6 v Leics  

Essex skipper James Foster enjoyed another good batting day against Leicestershire as he guided his side to 254-6 on the opening day at Chelmsford.

Foster, who has hit six Championship hundreds against the Foxes, made 82 but fell to the last ball of the day.

After a slow start to the innings, they were in trouble at 75-4, before Foster and Mark Pettini (71) added 154.

Charlie Shreck bowled superbly for 0-39 from 23 overs, but it was Nathan Buck (3-64) who finally had Foster lbw.

Shreck's lunchtime figures of 0-9 from 10 overs were indicative of how hard Essex found scoring during the morning.

• In his last 14 Championship innings against Leicestershire, James Foster has scored five hundreds and three half centuries.

But it was the loss of Jaik Mickleburgh, Greg Smith and Ben Foakes in the space of eight balls during the afternoon that put them in trouble.

Foster, however, made the most of two let-offs, collecting 10 fours as he and Pettini, who was caught by Angus Robson off Buck, put the game back in the balance.

Essex gave debuts to new signings Oliver Newby, on loan from Lancashire, and Tanveer Sikander, while Kishen Velani, who was 18 not out at the close, was given his second first-class appearance.

Glamorgan v Worcs 232/9    

Worcestershire captain Daryl Mitchell struck a fine unbeaten century as the visitors fought back against Glamorgan.

Mitchell batted throughout the day to finish on 101 not out off 294 balls as his side reached 232-9 at stumps.

Graham Wagg and Dean Cosker both took four wickets while Alex Hales, who signed for the visitors on loan from Nottinghamshire last week , made 15.

Jack Shantry (28) was the main batsman to provide support to Mitchell as they shared the only fifty partnership.

The skipper's hundred was his second in four matches this season following his unbeaten 172 against Hampshire in the opening match. 

Kent v Surrey 276/8      

Kent spinner Adam Riley took four wickets but Surrey recovered from a poor start to reach 276-8 on day one.

The visitors slumped to 32-3 after 21 overs but fought back with a solid sequence of middle-order partnerships, Jason Roy making 60.

Riley (4-77) took crucial wickets when Kent needed a breakthrough, bowling Roy with the 100th ball of his innings.

Zafar Ansari (48) and debutant Aneesh Kapil (38) helped Surrey end the day with the match looking evenly poised.

Australian pace bowler Doug Bollinger gave the hosts a perfect start, trapping Surrey captain Graeme Smith leg before wicket for just three.

But a first Championship half-century of the season from Roy, which included eight boundaries, helped to even things up at the close.


Lancashire v Sussex 276/8    

Michael Yardy scored a unbeaten century as Division One leaders Sussex recovered to reach 276-8 on day one against Lancashire.

The visitors lost wickets at regular intervals after choosing to bat first, only two of their top seven batsman making it into double figures.

Tom Smith took three wickets for the hosts and Kyle Jarvis two.

But Yardy (132no) stood firm, his 21st first-class century, while tail-ender James Anyon made a valuable 35.

The pair rescued Sussex with a determined eighth-wicket stand of 74 in 31 overs, after the Lancashire bowling attack - without England pace bowler James Anderson for the first time in this season - had reduced the visitors to 176-7.

Yardy hits form

Michael Yardy's century against Lancashire ended a run of low scores for the 33-year-old.
Prior to Sunday, he had made just 75 runs in five Championship innings in 2014, at an average of 15 and with a highest score of just 28.

Captain Glen Chapple removed opener Luke Wells lbw before Smith (3-69) broke a second-wicket partnership of 80 between Yardy and Sussex skipper Chris Nash by having the latter caught behind by teenager Alex Davies.

Zimbabwe international Jarvis (2-84), left-arm spinner Simon Kerrigan and all-rounder Luke Procter ripped through the middle order to leave Sussex in danger of not collecting a batting bonus point.

But Anyon and left-hander Yardy, who hit 10 boundaries in an innings lasting nearly six hours, frustrated the hosts in the final session.

And when Lancaster-born Anyon was bowled by Smith, Steve Magoffin safely accompanied Yardy through to the close, which came 4.3 overs early as the players left the field for bad light shortly after 18:00 BST and did not return.  

Somerset v Notts 382/5  

Samit Patel smashed an unbeaten century for Nottinghamshire as they put Somerset's bowlers to the sword.

The 29-year-old finished on 116 not out and shared an unbroken partnership of 188 with captain, Chris Read (95 not out) as the visitors closed on 382-5.

Phil Jaques (65) and James Taylor (60) also contributed as only Lewis Gregory (3-65) posed any threat for the hosts.

Such was Nottinghamshire's dominance, Patel and Read scored 182 runs after tea at a rate of almost six an over.

Patel, who last played for England during their tour of India in January 2013, provided a timely reminder to the selectors by batting with aggression throughout his innings as he brought up his ton off just 129 balls and had struck 20 boundaries by stumps.

Read batted with similar authority, hitting 17 fours in his 103-ball knock.

It was a different story earlier in the day for the Somerset bowlers when Alfonso Thomas knocked Steven Mullaney's (22) leg stump out of the ground and Gregory had Michael Lumb caught by Alviro Petersen for just seven to leave Notts 45-2.

Australian Jaques, who turned 35 on Saturday, and Taylor then rebuilt with a partnership of 112 before in-form Gregory returned to the attack to remove both in quick succession - Jaques caught by James Hildreth and Taylor edging behind following a loose drive.

The visitors were briefly tottering on 194-5 when Riki Wessels wafted outside his off-stump to nick Jamie Overton to the wicket-keeper just before tea.

But the evening session saw Patel and Read flay the toiling attack to all parts of the ground as they closed in on maximum batting points on a pitch which seemed to get flatter as they day wore on.

Warwickshire 123/4 v Middlesex 167

Warwickshire's England Lions fast bowler Chris Wright led the way with 4-56 at Edgbaston as Middlesex's decision to bat first backfired.

Middlesex collapsed from 34-0 to 66-8 before the tail wagged to see them 167 all out, last man Steve Finn weighing in with an unbeaten 37.

Toby Roland-Jones then took the first two of his three wickets to reduce the Bears to 27-2 in reply.

But Bears debutant Sam Hain hit 42 as Warwickshire rallied to close on 123-4.

• Warwickshire have not lost any of their last 15 Championship matches against Middlesex (of which they have won six and drawn nine)

Teenager Hain played on to Roland-Jones, but Ateeq Javid (27 not out) and Tim Ambrose have so far put on 21 for the fifth wicket, with the prospect of a first-innings lead to come on day two.

Following Wednesday's record-breaking run chase against Yorkshire, when Chris Rogers hit an unbeaten 241 as Middlesex chased down 472-3 to win at Lord's, it was no surprise when the visiting captain chose to bat at Edgbaston after winning the toss.

But a superb catch at third slip from Laurie Evans off Wright removed England hopeful Sam Robson and began a remarkable collapse as the visitors lost eight wickets for 32 runs.

Thanks to more stunning catching from Evans and stand-in skipper Varun Chopra, who pouched four, Oliver Hannon-Dalby and Richard Jones, on his Championship debut for Worcester, claimed two wickets apiece.

But the luckless Hannon-Dalby's efforts came at a cost, having picked up a side strain that will prevent him bowling for the rest of the match.

After missing the second half of last season with a broken finger, Hannon-Dalby could now be sidelined for several weeks, to further deplete a bowling attack already deprived of Chris Woakes (absent on England duty) and Rikki Clarke (broken finger).

Fit-again Wright's four-wicket haul, his second in successive matches took his tally of Division One scalps for the season to 13.