Nottinghamshire held their nerve to secure a two-wicket against Northamptonshire at Trent Bridge. They began the day needing 105 with six wickets in hand, but soon lost nightwatchman Andy Harris for 6. Samit Patel reached 50, before Nicky Boje removed him to haul the visitors back in the match. Boje bowled Mark Ealham then Chris Read fell to Jason Brown. However, Nottinghamshire's batting went a long way down with Andre Adams, the New Zealand allrounder, coming in at No. 10. He played positively alongside Graeme Swann to guide their side across the line.

Nottinghamshire's win means that despite pulling off a 114-run at Colchester, Essex are still well adrift in third place. Leicestershire were set 291 after 14 overs of joke bowling, but it was for the greater good. Andy Bichel struck in his first over and Leicestershire never formed a solid base. Jim Allenby battled to 59 as Danish Kaneria struck against the middle order. The lower order went down swinging rather than blocking and Marc Rosenberg was unable to bat.

Gloucestershire survived a potentially tricky couple of sessions at Lord's against Middlesex after Ed Smith had done his best to find a positive finish. When Gloucestershire were 148 for 8 in their first innings the follow-on was a possibility, but after Chris Taylor (62 not out) had erased that issue time became severely limited. Smith hit a 55-ball 56 as Middlesex scored at six-an-over for 20 overs, leaving the visitors 264 in 60. They began aggressively, but when Alan Richardson removed both openers in the space of three runs put their minds to a draw. Hamish Marshall's 59 ensured against any late alarms.

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	Draw	Aban	Pts
Somerset	13	7	1	0	5	0	202
Nottinghamshire	13	5	2	0	6	0	178.5
Essex	13	4	3	0	6	0	141
Middlesex	12	4	1	0	7	0	138.5
Derbyshire	13	3	3	0	7	0	130
Northamptonshire	13	3	5	0	5	0	127
Gloucestershire	13	2	4	0	7	0	111
Leicestershire	13	2	5	0	5	1	106
Glamorgan	13	1	7	0	4	1	80