Mushtaq and Lehmann star
A round-up from the latest Championship matches as Darren Lehmann launches a Yorkshire fightback and Leicestershire pile the pressure on Glamorgan
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Division One
While the actions off the field took most of the attention (click here for more), Sussex fought hard to stay in their clash against Nottinghamshire after their batting failure on the first day. Mushtaq Ahmed, at the centre of the incident with Chris Read, finished with six wickets while Rana Naved-ul-Hasan claimed three to take his season tally to 20. Mark Ealham, though, extended Notts' lead to 86 with a fighting fifty and an important stand of 68 with Ryan Sidebottom. Sussex lost three crucial wickets before the close, but Carl Hopkinson was unbeaten with a determined half century.
Darren Lehmann launched a superb Yorkshire recovery from 34 for 4 with an outstanding, unbeaten 176 against Kent. He formed a stand of 229 with Craig White, who made 79, and turned the innings around in dramatic style. The century continued Lehmann's productive start to the season and he is now approaching 500 runs in just four Championship matches. After their initial success with the new ball, Kent struggled as Robert Key tried seven bowlers.
Division Two
Leicestershire piled on the pain for Glamorgan by extending their total beyond 500 in an innings where the run rate only just tipped three an over for 167 overs. Dinesh Mongia could only add 19 to his overnight total but John Sadler reached the seventies, as did Paul Nixon who was accompanied by some solid efforts from the tail. David Masters, removing the dangerous Mark Cosgrove, and Mohammad Asif claimed a wicket each during the final session to keep Glamorgan firmly on the back foot.
Somerset's re-jigged batting order produced a team effort to as Essex had to work hard for wickets at Taunton. James Hildreth struck 57 and Keith Parsons is still there on 78, while only Wes Durston failed to contribute. With Somerset 244 for 6, Essex could have taken the honours, but without Darren Gough they were unable to claim their next breakthrough. Parsons and Peter Trego have so far added 68.