After three matches, it's three wins for Nottinghamshire and their title defence is looking good so far. Worcestershire gave them a true contest, including a century for Kervezee, but a solid all-round performance saw Chris Read's side through to a three-wicket victory. Durham remain second, albeit having played a game more, beating Warwickshire by eight wickets. After the first innings, a draw looked most likely before Graham Onions and young leg-spinner Scott Borthwick wrought havoc amongst Chopra and co, and Borthwick again led the way with the bat in pursuit of the 102 required.
Somerset's miserable start to the season was ended by a nine-wicket triumph over Hampshire, although it went to the final afternoon. Marcus Trescothick's 227 set up a good first innings lead but a career-best 169 from opener Liam Dawson looked likely to save Hants from defeat. However, Peter Trego nabbed three quick wickets, leaving his colleagues enough time to reach the modest target and leapfrog the opposition, who now sit winless at the bottom of Division One. At Hove, Lancashire forced Sussex to follow on, but a tenacious 140 from Ed Joyce and a somewhat quicker 100 not out from Naved Arif saved the day. Poor Gary Keedy went for 200 runs in the second innings.
In Division Two, Middlesex also made it three wins from three, claiming an innings victory over London rivals Surrey, who now prop up the league. Neil Dexter and John Simpson put on 254 for the fifth wicket, which was more than Surrey managed in their entire first innings, in which Tom Maynard was left stranded on 98 not out. Toby Roland-Jones took 4-38 as the opposition batting again crumbled, this time despite the efforts of Steven Davies (94). At Chelmsford, Ravi Bopara finally found some form, scoring 136 not out in Essex's six-wicket win over Glamorgan, but only three players topped 50 as Gloucestershire overcame Kent by 45 runs. Hamish Marshall's return for the triumphant visitors seemed to tip the balance and take Gloucs into second place.
At Grace Road, the other game resulted in a draw but it produced a thrilling finale. Will Jefferson scored 133 and three team-mates also contributed half-centuries to declare 202 ahead of Derbyshire, who then tottered to 194-8 from 85 overs. Claud Henderson wheeled away unchanged for 50 overs, 19 of them maidens, but he, Matthew Hoggard et al struggled to break the resistance provided by tailenders Azeem Rafiq, Tim Groenewald and Mark Turner. The last two partnerships produced just 42 runs in 31 tense overs. Rafiq's 122-ball innings was ended by Hoggard but Groenewald remained unbeaten on nine runs after 87 balls before both captains agreed a draw in the final session.
Next week, the top two sides in the Second Division meet each other, while in the top tier, Notts seek to make it four out of four at Trent Bridge against Yorkshire, who I still think are championship contenders. The winners of Warwickshire v Lancashire will move into the runners-up position and could overhaul Notts should the leaders slip up.
