Kyle Abbott helped skittle champions Essex for 76 in the first innings of their Specsavers County Championship match at Division One rivals Hampshire.
South African fast bowler Abbott ended with six for 20 as Essex collapsed to their lowest score of the season before Dan Lawrence and Ravi Bopara led a fightback.
Essex, who had resumed the second day on 33 for five chasing Hampshire’s first-innings total on 254, reached 208 for three after following on to lead by 30 runs thanks to Lawrence (72 not out) and Bopara (52no).
Essex responded in their second innings after Kyle Abbott’s six-for
Kumar Sangakkara’s eighth Championship hundred of a remarkable final season for Surrey left relegation-threatened Somerset in trouble.
At stumps Surrey were 328 for six, a first-innings lead of 69, and while half-centuries from England opener Mark Stoneman and 19-year-old Ollie Pope were vital contributions to the Surrey cause, the day was again dominated by the remarkable Sri Lankan.
He has now scored a century against every Division One county except Hampshire this season, finishing unbeaten on 119 and raising his aggregate to 1,369 runs in just 13 innings, with twice as many hundreds as any other batsman in the top flight.
Yorkshire’s match with already-relegated Warwickshire is in the balance at Headingley, where the home side are fighting to avoid the drop.
After bowling the visitors out for 219 on day one and reaching the close at 62 for one, Yorkshire’s passage to a lead of 77 was far from simple. Warwickshire then reached the close at 49 for one from 16 overs, a deficit of 28.
Fellow relegation battlers Middlesex lead second-placed Lancashire by 174 runs at Lord’s, although the visitors have nine second-innings wickets intact.
After 15 wickets had fallen on the opening day, Lancashire resumed on 113 for five and were all out for 165 before restricting Middlesex to 152 in their second innings, with Tom Bailey taking five for 44.
Rory Kleinveldt and Richard Levi combined to put Northamptonshire on course for victory against Nottinghamshire in a game they have to win to keep their Division Two promotion hopes alive.
Levi’s sparkling second-innings 115 helped Northamptonshire post 270 in their second innings and set the visitors 314 to win before Kleinveldt extended his haul to 11 wickets in the match as the visitors closed day two on 33 for two.
Ollie Robinson underlined his all-round qualities to leave Sussex’s match against Durham in the balance.
On the Chester-le-Street ground where he made a century on debut two years ago, Robinson took three wickets with his usual seam and one with off-spin as Graham Clark’s unbeaten 73 carried Durham to 321 for six, 25 runs behind.
Robinson revived Sussex, who had set a first-innings target of 346, by removing both Tom Latham and Cameron Steel after they had batted through the day’s first 44 overs to take their second-wicket stand to 163.
Gloucestershire reached 161 for one in Cardiff thanks to Benny Howell’s unbeaten 96, in reply to Glamorgan’s first-innings total of 442, which was built on Kiran Carlson’s superb 191.
There was no play in Derbyshire’s game against Kent for the second day running due to a wet outfield at Chesterfield.
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