Viljoen makes instant impact as Championship battle resumes

The two teams looking to challenge Essex at the top of Division Two of the County Championship both dismissed their opponents on day one as the latest round of action got underway while in Division One, teams battled to take advantage of leaders Middlesex not being in action.

Specsavers County Championship Division One

Scarborough, day one: Yorkshire 282 v Nottinghamshire 38-2

Twelve wickets fell on an eventful opening day at North Marine Road in Scarborough as Nottinghamshire closed on 38 for two in reply to Yorkshire's 282 all out.

The visitors chose to bowl first and reduced Yorkshire to 51 for six as Steven Mullaney (3-54), Luke Fletcher (1-43) and Brett Hutton (3-67) struck early blows.

Andy Hodd then hit an unbeaten 96 in 185 balls and Azeem Rafiq 74 in 92 to launch an impressive recovery. The pair put on 132 together for the sixth wicket and thanks to Jack Brooks' 48, Hodd almost made it to three figures before Hutton dismissed Brooks and Ryan Sidebottom to end Yorkshire's innings.

Brooks then trapped Jake Libby in front for a duck with his first ball and Tom Moores was caught by Adam Lyth off Tim Bresnan for 23 with the final ball of the day as Nottinghamshire made an uncertain start to their reply.

Taunton, day one: Somerset v Hampshire 281-6

Two sides that recently beat Nottinghamshire meet at Taunton, where Hampshire chose to bat first and made their way to 281 for six.

Sean Ervine led the way with 103 in 207 balls after Will Smith (16) and Jimmy Adams (8) had fallen cheaply and they were 61 for three when James Vince failed to score.

From 93 for four at lunch, Ervine and Ryan McLaren (61) helped them recover with a 118-run partnership for the fifth wicket and with Lewis McManus unbeaten on 41 at stumps, look set to post a useful first innings score at the very least.

Pick of the bowlers for Somerset was Jack Leach, who took three for 77.

Emirates Riverside, Chester-le-Street: Durham 207 v Warwickshire 25-1

Warwickshire decided to have a bowl against Durham and were rewarded as they dismissed the hosts for 207.

Michael Richardson top scored with 55 and Jack Burnham with 30 was the next best as Jeetan Patel wrapped things up with five for 32. Keith Barker claimed three for 29 and there was a wicket apiece for Chris Wright and Rikki Clarke.

Warwickshire then closed on 25 for one, the Bears losing the wicket of Varun Chopra when he was caught by Stuart Poynter off Chris Rushworth for 10.

The Oval, London: Surrey 50-0 v Lancashire 287

Surrey's resurgence continued as they closed day one 227 runs behind Lancashire with all 10 first-innings wickets in hand.

Lancashire won the toss and chose to bat first but lost wickets regularly, Sam and Tom Curran sharing six of them and Stuart Meaker returning three for 83. Jordan Clark top scored with 56.

Surrey then completed a good day's work by closing on 50 without loss, Dom Sibely not out on 10 and Rory Burns on 33.

Specsavers County Championship Division Two

Grace Road, Leicester: Leicestershire 238 v Essex 13-2

In what could be a pivotal match between two sides chasing promotion, Leicestershire were bowled out for 238 after Essex elected to bowl first.

Jamie Porter almost immediately vindicated that decision with the wickets of Paul Horton (1) and Neil Dexter (0), both men trapped in front, although Leicestershire made it to lunch without any further loss of wickets as Angus Robson made 52 and Mark Cosgrove 71 in a 129-run stand for the third wicket.

Once they were prised apart, however, Essex swiftly regained control, Porter taking two more wickets and Graham Napier two.

They would have loved to have put the seal on a good day by getting through to stumps unscathed, but coldn't manage it, losing both Alastair Cook (4) and Porter (0) to Dieter Klein to finish on 13 for two.

The Brightside Gound, Bristol: Gloucestershire 221 v Kent

Another side electing to bowl and reaping the dividends were Kent, who dismissed Gloucestershire for 221 with the final action of the day.

New signing Hardus Viljoen was the star of the show, taking five for 55, including the wickets of Gloucestershire's top scorers Hamish Marshall (58) and Phil Mustard (38).

There were few partnerships of note for the home side apart from the 82 that Marshall and Mustard put together as Kent kept up the pressure on Essex and Leicestershire at the top of the table.

Darren Stevens (2-30), Will Gidman (1-19), Mitchell Claydon (1-36) and Matt Coles (1-45) were the other wicket-takers.

New Road, Worcester: Worcestershire v Northamptonshire 345-6

Fresh from winning their second domestic T20 title on Saturday, Northamptonshire piled on the runs at New Road, where they closed on 345 for six.

That came despite a slow start, when they slipped to 29 for two and 93 for three before Rob Keogh struck 154 in 236 balls, falling to a run out inside the last hour of play.

Support came from Richard Levi (33) and Steven Crook, who was unbeaten on 84 in 123 balls.

SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff: Glamorgan 252 v Sussex 111-1

In-form Sussex headed to Cardiff and after electing to bowl first had the home side in all sorts of trouble at 56 for five.

Something of a recovery from Graham Wagg (57) and Mark Wallace (61) hauled Glamorgan up to a score of 252 before they were bowled out, Jofra Archer impressing once again with four for 91, David Wiese picking up three for 52 and Steve Magoffin two for 48.

Sussex openers Ed Joyce (47) and Chris Nash (62 not out) then put on 111 together, with Joyce's wicket falling just 2.3 overs before stumps.

© Cricket World 2016