Worcestershire hold edge as wickets tumble

Carl Hopkinson reached his century on the final day at Edgbaston as Sussex's rain-hit match against Warwickshire ended in a draw. Hopkinson was 64 overnight - and Sussex on 276 for 4 - and he carried on to reach 119 after losing his partner Luke Wright for 71. Andy Hodd remained unbeaten on 59 and Sussex declared on 429 for 8 with a first-innings lead of 22. Warwickshire lost opener Ian Westwood early but Ian Bell, who failed in the first innings, scored 55 to steer the hosts to 97 for 2 at the close.

The bowlers ran amok at Old Trafford as Worcestershire first collapsed to 172 all out followed by Lancashire's crumbling to 119 for 8 at stumps. The damage was done largely due to swing and pitch inspector Mike Denness was happy with the surface. Sajid Mahmood and Kyle Hogg took three wickets apiece as Worcestershire were hindered by a steady fall of wickets. Steve Davies' 39 and Vikram Solanki's 35 were the top scores of the innings and Worcestershire lost their last eight wickets for 101 runs. Lancashire fared worse, their out-of-form batting order ripped apart by Michael Mason and Ashley Noffke. Mal Loye's 24 is the top score of the innings so far and Mason took the lion's share of the wickets - 5 for 19 - while Noffke claimed 3 for 42. Mason's first over went for 14, but his next 13 went for a miserly five as he trapped three batsman leg before and claimed two through edges into the cordon. It will be up to Glen Chapple, unbeaten on 22, to take the hosts as close as possible to Worcestershire's total.

An unbeaten century from James Hildreth took Somerset to a position of strength - 368 for 6 - at the end of the first day against Hampshire at Taunton. The visitors also had to content with injury problems as they lost Nic Pothas to a groin strain and Sean Ervine took a blow on his finger in the slips. Pothas' injury meant John Crawley had to take the gloves before Tom Burrows, the second eleven keeper, arrived. Somerset lost Marcus Trescothick relatively early, at 38 for 1, but were steadied by contributions all the way down the order. Arul Suppiah, the other opener, made 52 while Justin Langer made 30. Hildreth, however, was the rock of the innings with 124 off 176 balls while Peter Trego, fresh from his heroics against Yorkshire, smacked 50 off 52 balls. His was the last wicket to fall shortly before play was stopped by bad light.

Click here for John Ward's report on the first day's play between Yorkshire v Durham at Headingley.

The batsmen picked up easy runs at at Northampton as the match between Northamptonshire and Derbyshire meandered to a draw. Resuming on 371 for 4 on the final day, Derbyshire soon wiped out their deficit and reached 502 for 9 before declaring with a first-innings lead of 69. Wavell Hinds was dismissed for 148 after adding 15 to his overnight score but James Pipe scored a brisk 63 off 70 balls. Northamptonshire's openers added 98 in the second innings with Stephen Peters scoring an unbeaten 64 while Ben Howgego was dismissed for 36. The hosts reached 104 for 1 before stumps.

Hashim Amla displayed all his class during a match-saving 181 at Chelmsford, an innings that secured a draw for Essex after Glamorgan had begun the day well-poised for victory. Amla, resuming his innings on 44 with Essex still trailing by 183 with six wickets in hand, hit 26 fours in his innings as the visitors paid for dropping him at short leg on 78. Amla and James Foster added 142 for the fifth wicket, a partnership that cut the deficit to 89, before Foster was bowled by Jamie Dalrymple for 64. Glamorgan's small opening was slammed shut by Ryan ten Doeschate, who forged a 153-run alliance with Amla, one that gave Essex the lead. Amla was eventually lbw to Robert Croft, the victim of the drop earlier in the day, with the score on 379 for 6 but ten Doeschate carried on and was unbeaten on 88.

Sixteen wickets tumbled on the first day between Middlesex and Leicestershire at Grace Road and by the end of it, the hosts were battling for a first-innings lead after skittling out the visitors for 159. Iain O'Brien celebrated his birthday by ripping through the Middlesex batting order by taking 6 for 39, his second consecutive six-wicket haul. Eoin Morgan and Dawid Malan were the only batsmen to pass 20 in the Middlesex innings: Morgan was caught off O'Brien for 30, while Malan remained unbeaten on 67. Leicestershire's batsmen didn't fare any better and the trouble started at the top when Steve Finn trapped opener Matthew Boyce for a duck and they crumbled to 53 for 5. Opener Josh Cobb, continuing the form that brought him a double century for England Under-19s last week, held up one end with an unbeaten 65 and was aided by Tom New was they added 73 for the sixth wicket. He was dismissed by Shaun Udal shortly before stumps as the visitors ended the day on 137 for 6.

Several Surrey batsmen got starts but only two - Michael Brown and Mark Ramprakash - converted them into half-centuries as the hosts ended the first day against Kent on 342 for 8 at at The Oval. Surrey made a solid start after choosing to bat with their openers adding 105 before both Jonathan Batty and Brown fell in quick succession, leaving the score 114 for 2. Ramprakash was as solid as ever but missed out on his 107th first-class hundred when he was caught in the slips when Justin Kemp found some extra bounce. Before Ramprakash's dismissal, Surrey were comfortably placed on 255 for 3 but they slipped thereafter to 275 for 6 as Kent's bowlers chipped away. After Usman Afzaal fell for 46 off 133 balls, Surrey progressed to 329 for 6 before James Tredwell struck twice to dismiss Chris Jordan and Alex Tudor and brought Kent back into the match.