It was a bowlers day in County Championship Division One as even the South African captain struggled on day two.
Middlesex v Derbyshire
Lord’s
Close of play: Derbyshire 231, Middlesex 180-6.
Rain interrupted the start of day two but Derbyshire still managed to get to 231 before losing their final wicket of Tim Groenewald.
In reply Middlesex didn’t get off to the best of starts when captain Chris Rogers was dismissed for 16 by Groenewald and then a mini-collapse saw the home side slump to 90-4 – losing Joe Denly, David Malan and Neil Dexter for just 18 runs.
Denly had chipped in with 34 in that time but it was opener Sam Robson who gave his side a fighting chance heading into day three.
Robson hit 68 before falling victim to the bowling of Jonathan Clare, before the bowler then claimed the scalp of John Simpson.
Day three will continue with Gareth Berg and Ollie Rayner at the crease at 11.00 BST today.
Surrey v Somerset
The Oval
Close of play: Somerset 384, Surrey 98-4.
Somerset added 40 more runs to their overnight score before Jade Dernbach completed his five-wicket haul to help finish off the tail-end.
There was then much anticipation for Surrey fans as South African captain Graeme Smith came to the crease for his county debut.
Yet visiting bowler Peter Trego clearly hadn’t read the script as he dismissed Smith for just two runs, seeing him caught at first-slip.
Fellow opener Rory Burns did top score for the home side with 43 not-out but Arun Harinath and Zander de Bruyn could only add six runs between them.
Rain halted play for much of the afternoon but Vikram Solanki fared a little better on his own debut with 30, before Jamie Overton bowled the former England batsman.
The hosts will hope for a better showing when day three resumes at 11.00 BST today.
Warwickshire v Durham
Edgbaston
Close of play: Warwickshire 345 & 6-0, Durham 284.
The home side moved on from 299-7 overnight to 345 all-out as England bowler Graham Onions claimed the last three wickets to finish with figures of 4-86.
In reply Durham had a nightmare start, losing Mark Stoneman and William Smith before getting any runs on the board and when Dale Benkenstein was caught behind the visitors were floundering at 5-3.
It wasn’t about to get much better for the away team as all-rounders Keith Barker and Chris Woakes built on their good batting displays and ripped through the top order with the ball.
At 50-6 Durham were heading for their lowest ever score at Edgbaston, before skipper Paul Collingwood and Scott Borthwick salvaged the game and ensured their side avoided the follow-on.
Collingwood made 74 and Borthwick 101 as the county achieved a respectable total of 284, with Warwickshire resuming their second innings on 6-0 at 11.00 BST today.
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