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County Championship as it happened: Wins for Essex, Durham & Middlesex; Glamorgan battling with Somerset

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Chris Benjamin

Grace Ballinger
The Blaze and Manchester Super Giants seamer

The end of day three then, and one that ebbed and flowed at Trent Bridge.

Surrey had a good start to the morning with Daniel Lawrence making a century (104) and Adam Thomas playing nicely for 46, however both fell to Josh Tongue.

Tongue added a further two wickets to his two yesterday, returning figures of 28 overs 4-89 - another impressive spell from the England seamer.

He also hit international team-mate Gus Atkinson twice on the helmet with two quick bouncers. It initially appeared that Atkinson was fine and he continued his innings. However he was later forced to retire hurt (concussion) after the umpires vigilantly signalled that he was showing unusual behaviour.

Reece Topley replaced him as concussion substitute.

In their second innings, Notts managed to put on 99 runs for the loss of only Haseeb Hameed, who fell to an excellent delivery off Sean Abbott which sent his off-stump out of the ground.

Left-handed duo Ben Slater and Ben Duckett then steadily built a partnership, which is currently unbeaten on 80. Both looked strong at the crease, and gave away no chances against the new ball.

In the final hour of the evening Slater took a liking to the left-arm seam of Topley, who went for 29 runs off his five overs at an economy of 5.80.

Heading into the final day, a day of dominant Notts batting performance could be on the cards; the most likely result a draw in this heavyweight clash.

That being said, when the skill level is so high within the both sides, anything could happen in the final day at Trent Bridge.

Ben McKinney finishes it off with a single to take him to 87 not out - and Durham have triumphed inside three days.

Emilio Gay leaves the field unbeaten on 51, the Durham pair sharing another century partnership - and their success never looked in doubt after that stunning turnaround in the afternoon session.

Worcestershire, who have now suffered successive defeats, had been 93 in front with 10 wickets standing - and ended up losing all of those for another 49.

Grace Ballinger
The Blaze and Manchester Super Giants seamer

Sean Abbott is on fire at Chelmsford! He has 3-8 off his nine overs.

As we mentioned earlier, Essex have been struggling for runs this season. Once again, the top order have been dismissed cheaply, the top three all departing for less than 20 runs apiece.

James Fuller is keeping it tight bowling in tandem with Abbott, after Codi Yusuf went for 18 off his three overs.

All to play for in Essex then!

What on earth was Dean Elgar thinking here?

That it would miss off stump is the easy answer and that it wouldn't jag back so violently the slightly more nuanced verdict.

Whatever, he has lost his off stump and a bit of middle as well.

Horrible misjudgement and he stands, stares, then plays the shot he should have done before departing.

So Essex need another 147 with nine second innings wickets remaining which makes them firm favourites at tea on day three.

Kyle Abbott has made the one breakthrough in the hosts second innings, removing the dangerous Paul Walter when he was just starting to let loose.

Liam Dawson has introduced a little control and beaten the bat a couple of times although he has gone for six in two overs.

Big first hour coming up after tea.

Grace Ballinger
The Blaze and Manchester Super Giants seamer

Ollie Stone makes the breakthrough as he bowls Sean Abbott top of off - a fast bowler's delight.

Ollie Pope comes out to bat at ten - yes ten!

It's a good sign though, we thought he might have a serious injury and would sit the rest of the game out after he didn't come into bat earlier in the innings.

Pope is welcomed to the crease by a rapid Stone bouncer first up.

Grace Ballinger
The Blaze and Manchester Super Giants seamer

Essex won't want the Hampshire tail to wag at Chelmsford, as Ben Brown and James Fuller begin to settle at the crease, offering some middle-order resistance.

A few quick wickets could lead to Essex requiring less than 200 runs in the fourth innings to win, but with the side generally struggling for runs this season, the task is perhaps more difficult than it seems on paper for the home side.

Essex' top run scorer in 2026 is Simon Harmer, who batted nine in the first innings, and is 29th highest run scorer in Division One.

Kevin Hand
BBC Radio London commentator

Sharma produced as fine an over as you can imagine to blow away Lancashire and hand Middlesex the chance claim victory in a low scoring thriller.

It is a chance than Robson and Geddes have grabbed with both hands. On a wicket that has seen every batter struggle, the pair were calm and compared and saw off Anderson and Bailey.

Robson, however, dollied Balderson's first ball to midwicket and was in complete disbelief before dragging himself off.

Holden's nick down the leg side, to what would be the last ball before lunch, gives Lancashire further hope to resume the conveyor belt or dismissals that we have seen in the game.

As it stands, the breathtaking displace of pace and accuracy from Sharma with his late release, due to a hyper extension of the shoulder, following his effortless glide to the crease has everyone talking.

No mean feat in a game that includes the Lancashire opening pack and Stanley, plus Roland-Jones and Higgins in his own team's ranks.

Martin Emmerson
BBC Radio Newcastle

Durham have not been at their best in this one and have conceded a first innings lead to a Worcestershire side missing a number of key bowlers. They have certainly been below par.

There's been a bit of uneven bounce at times, but they have just been dismissed for 268 and have only picked up four bonus points to The Pears' five.

Graham Clark had been batting nicely but then holed out to square leg on the boundary when on 78. He didn't fully get hold of an Ethan Brookes delivery and was caught by Dan Lategan. And that was about that. Ben Raine was then caught in the deep off Brookes on 13 to bring the innings to an end.

Earlier Ollie Robinson's struggle for runs continued as he was out for the second match in a row on five. This time he edged Tom Taylor to Jake Libby in the gully, who took a great, low catch.

Matthew Waite finished with 3-43 and Tom Taylor 3-64, while Brookes took 2-10 in 7.3 overs.

It will be interesting to see how this one develops in the afternoon session.

Adrian Harms
BBC Radio Sussex

Hove

Cold, grey, and a hint of drizzle in the air at Hove but Sussex supporters will have been warmed by another wonderful batting performance by the run machine that is John Simpson

The 21st of his career and the 11th since he arrived at Sussex he went to his hundred with a six over square leg and in so doing has ensured that Sussex secured a fourth batting bonus point .

The floodlights are also now on and with a lead of 102 and a pitch that is still helping the seamers, Sussex look in a strong position

Grace Ballinger
The Blaze and Manchester Super Giants seamer

Is there anything more frustrating for a bowling attack than a ninth-wicket partnership?

Leicestershire will want to see the back of either John Simpson or Henry Crocombe, as Sussex look to extend their lead.

Simpson stands firm on 107, and will need Crocombe to at least hold an end up to keep extending the lead.

Sussex are currently 32 runs away from the final batting bonus point.

Nottinghamshire's Josh Tongue celebrates a wicket with team-mate Ben Duckett

Josh Tongue feels the strength of Nottinghamshire’s pace attack can prove decisive as the champions aim to secure a first-innings advantage over Surrey at Trent Bridge.

England seamer Tongue picked up two Surrey wickets on day two, with fellow quick Olly Stone removing Rory Burns as the visitors closed on 211-4 – still trailing Nottinghamshire by 204 runs.

Tongue and Stone had earlier shared a last-wicket partnership of 74 to guide Notts to 415 and, although the bowlers were then frustrated by Dom Sibley’s 77, spinner Liam Patterson-White removed the opener shortly before stumps.

“I was pleased with the way my wickets came,” said Tongue. “We thought we’d give the short ball a bit of a crack, and it’s paid off.

“It’s the first time I’ve bowled with Stoney as well, so that’s exciting. He showed his quality against Leicestershire last week when he bowled unbelievably and I feel when we’re in tandem we’re a very good attack.

“It felt like a big wicket at the end because Dom Sibley is a top-class player and batted beautifully. If we get a couple of quick wickets in the morning and put a bit of pressure on them, we’ll see where the day takes us.”

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