Sussex closing in on Hampshire

Sussex worked themselves into a winning position despite another fine innings from Nic Pothas, Hampshire's redoubtable wicketkeeper. He made 74 as Hampshire's lower order rallied after they were struggling on 111 for 6. Craig McMillan made 82 and Chris Tremlett smashed 44 in a valuable last-wicket stand of 83 with Pothas. Ian Ward gave Sussex a positive start to their chase, his 60 included 13 hours and Murray Goodwin ended the day on 51. Another couple of hours of his strokeplay will be enough the take Sussex to their third win of the season and a crucial move away from the relegation zone.

Batsmen continued to dominated on the featherbed pitch at Guildford, although Kent's 120-run lead has put the pressure on Surrey to avoid a second innings collapse. Kent's tail secured the lead after Matthew Walker and Justin Kemp had extended their partnership to 233. Naill O'Brien made 46 before Ian Salisbury finally wrapped the innings. Jon Batty and Richard Clinton added 107 for the first wicket as Surrey batted again and although both fell Mark Ramprakash and Graham Thorpe, on the day he announced his international retirement, saw out the remaining overs.

Nottinghamshire needed just four balls to score the four they needed to complete a 10-wicket win over Warwickshire.

Glamorgan's dire Championship position shows no sign of improving after they were forced to follow on by Middlesex. Glamorgan subsided for 232 in their first innings and made a poor start second time around, stuttering to 79 for 2. Only Robert Croft, with an aggressive 84, resisted the Middlesex attack for a significant time, as he played his shots before the tail folded. Paul Trego, in his first appearance of the season, and Scott Styris took three wickets each. Trego had earlier shard a stand of 122 with Jamie Dalrymple, who converted his overnight 57 into 108, his first century of the season. Trego's 72 took only 54 balls as he laid into the Glamorgan attack.

Riki Wessels's second first-class century and three wickets for Monty Panesar have left Northamptonshire with their noses in front against Worcestershire. Ben Smith will hold the key as Worcestershire try to score another 144 runs. Wessels added 104 with Damien Wright as Northants built a handy lead after early wickets for Ray Price, the left-arm spinner. The spinners continued to dominate and Panesar added three more scalps to his three from the first innings, including Graeme Hick for a third-ball duck.

Yorkshire made a positive start to their quest for 397 against Leicestershire. Matthew Wood and Joe Sayers added 115 but Wood fell to Claude Henderson, who could hold the key on the final day. Leicestershire's second innings was a stop-start affair but some lusty hitting from the lower order ensured a substantial overall lead. Richard Dawson ended with 4 for 54

Michael Di Venuto struck a defiant century as Derbyshire followed on against Durham. His unbeaten 112 has at least given Derbyshire the opportunity to set Durham a target. Their first innings was a procession as Liam Plunkett and Mark Davies took three wickets each. Graeme Welch top-scored with 40 but di Venuto began to make amends second time around.

Andy Flower repeated Grant Flower's feat from day one by scoring a century on the second day at Old Trafford - the first time brothers have scored a century in the same Essex innings. Essex amassed a commanding 536 before declaring, their total boosted by James Middlebrook's 64 and Andre Adams's 48 from 24 balls, which included five sixes. Lancashire's attack took some fearful hammer, especially James Anderson who ended with none for 140 from 36 overs. But their batsmen were more up to the task, despite the early loss of Mark Chilton, and Mal Loye struck ten fours and six in his 75, while adding an undefeated 111 with Iain Sutcliffe.