In the County Championship, Division One leaders Durham lost by nine wickets at Taunton. Following on behind Somerset's 480, openers Di Venuto and Will Smith put on 202 bu the rest of the side couldn't maintain that momentum. Arul Suppiah's second half-century ensured the home team reached the 119 target. Durham's lead was slashed to a mere five points by Lancashire's Roses derby victory. In a game where bowlers seemed to score the most runs, as exemplified by Rich Pyrah's 117, Chapple, Hogg and Keedy did enough to frustrate Yorkshire's final day run chase, which ended 23 runs short.
Bowlers also performed well with the bat in Warwickshire's innings defeat of Sussex, which keeps them in third place. In their first innings, the last four wickets added 329 runs as Keith Barker, Chris Woakes and Jeetan Patel carried the score past 500. New Zealand spinner Patel then took ten wickets as his side wrapped things up with time to spare. Another Test reject spinner, Samit Patel, went one better in Nottinghamshire's draw at the Rose Bowl. It wasn't alarmingly low scoring but the pitch inspectors punished Hampshire with an eight point deduction, leaving them in a parlous state at the foot of Division One.
In the race to replace them, Northants were second best for most of their drawn game at home to Derbyshire, for whom Ross Whitely struck a maiden first-class century. Middlesex's London derby win over Surrey, assisted by Jamie Dalrymple's unbeaten 122 and ten wickets for Tim Murtagh, keeps them in the hunt, but Gloucestershire obtained maximum points by demolishing Kent by an innings and 142 runs. A career-best 196 from Chris Taylor and Will Gidman's first innings 5-38 were the highlights in what was their first Championship win at Cheltenham for ten years!
They can achieve their second by beating Surrey this week, while leaders Northants visit Glamorgan at Swansea. In the top tier, Somerset travel up the M5 to Worcester while Lancashire face an intriguing battle with Warwickshire. Whoever emerges triumphant will take over as Championship leaders and a draw will almost certainly make the Red Rose pennant flutter proudly at the top, as the season advances into August.
