Vitality County Championship Round 7, Day 1 - 17th May - Live Cricket Streaming, Latest Scores, Match Reports – All Matches – Division 1 and 2

Here are all the latest scores, match reports and news for the Vitality County Championship Round 7, Day 1, May 17th – 20th 2024.

DIVISION ONE

Essex vs Warwickshire, 26th Match, Vitality County Championship Division One

Warwickshire (308-6) v Essex

An unbroken double-century seventh-wicket stand between Ed Barnard and Michael Burgess rescued Warwickshire from the depths of despair and lifted them into a commanding position against Essex at Chelmsford.

  The pair came together with the score on 104-6 soon after lunch and by the close, 56 overs later, they had established a Warwickshire record for the seventh wicket against Essex of 204 and counting that had stood for 92 years.

  During an innings in which he initially had to knuckle down before breaking loose, Barnard took his tally in his last four Vitality County Championship innings to 336 runs with an unbeaten 115. Meanwhile, 105 represented Burgess’s highest score for the season by 62. Neither man’s innings was chanceless, but both looked imperious.

  Essex had appeared well in control when they claimed five wickets before lunch – four of those wickets falling to catches by Simon Harmer – but they toiled for the last two sessions as their usually consistent strike-force was reduced to ordinariness. Warwickshire finished on 308-6.

  With Jimmy Anderson’s international retirement announced this week, Essex paceman Sam Cook had an early opportunity to elevate himself on the list of candidates to replace him.

  It took Cook just 13 balls to strike with his 26th wicket of the season after Warwickshire decided to bat on a grass-less wicket that encouraged the bowlers early on before easing significantly as the day progressed. It was unlucky 13 for Rob Yates, who edged low down to Harmer at second slip. Cook bowled another 44 balls before claiming his only other wicket.

  In between Warwickshire slipped to 64-5 with Shane Snater grabbing two wickets in the space of six balls, inducing Will Rhodes to thick edge to Harmer again before the off-stump of Sam Hain was removed as he shouldered arms without scoring.

  Harmer’s third catch of the innings came off his own bowling as Dan Mousley patted the ball tamely back down the wicket.

  Alex Davies had remained resolute at the other end, taking his three boundaries in a 60-ball 19 off Jamie Porter, one driven straight past the bowler. However, Porter had the last laugh as Harmer pulled off a brilliant one-handed catch to his right to dismiss the Warwickshire captain.

  Barnard swept Harmer for two fours in three balls, but otherwise settled into an obdurate sixth-wicket stand with Jacob Bethell, who got off the mark with a single from his 26th ball, and that thanks to a misfield at square leg.

  Bethell was re-energised after lunch and multiplied this total by five when he tucked Porter off his legs to the square-leg boundary before rocking on to his back-foot to cut the same bowler for another.

  The partnership steadied the ship for 20 overs while adding 40 runs before Bethell played down the wrong line and was Cook’s second victim. It was the last of the day to fall.

  Burgess and Barnard accelerated the score with their first fifty coming from just 59 balls, though both players survived dropped catches. Barnard was on 17 when missed by Michael Pepper off Cook while Burgess was floored at bat-pad and then off a top-edge on 19 and 39.

  A reprieved Burgess reverse-swept Harmer for a smart boundary and reached his half-century from 49 balls with a six over midwicket off Matt Critchley. When Burgess hit Harmer for another four, this time with a more orthodox sweep, he carried the stand past 150 in 40 overs.

  Barnard was first to his century, scored off 198 balls; Burgess slowed as he neared three-figures but still reached it from 149 balls.

Lancashire vs Durham, 27th Match, Vitality County Championship Division One

BEN STOKES took his first wickets of the summer, finishing the day with two for 70 from 17 overs, while Keaton Jennings scored his 28^th first-class century as Lancashire made a competitive 350 for nine after being put in to bat by Durham on the opening day at Blackpool.

Stokes last featured in a four-day game for Durham in May 2022. And with Lancashire going well on 163 for one, the England Test Match captain showed he still retains the knack of taking a wicket when his team needs it by luring Josh Bohannon (39) into a taking on a short delivery that the batsman top-edged into the hands of Callum Parkinson at deep backward square.

That wicket started a determined Durham fightback after Jennings and Luke Wells had equalled their best opening partnership of the season, posting 87 runs before Wells edged Matty Potts to slip for 27, with Jennings and Bohannon combined to add a further 76 to steer Lancashire into a  strong position.

Stokes, who had struggled for a consistent line and length in his first two pre-lunch spells and had kicked the turf in frustration at times, then struck with the first ball of his ninth over. That wicket presumably brought some relief to Durham captain Scott Borthwick following his decision at the toss, as home skipper Jennings produced a brilliant century off 137 balls that included 15 fours.

From that point the Durham attack continued to make further inroads with Paul Coughlin having George Bell caught behind for eight before Callum Parkinson took the key wicket of Jennings, caught at mid-on attempting to hit over the top. Potts was finally rewarded for a fine afternoon spell when George Balderson edged behind for 14 to leave Lancashire on 255 for five.

The day was very much in the balance at that point, but Tom Bruce pushed the score with a careful and determined innings. The Kiwi overseas batter was going along nicely on 46 until Stokes struck again in a faster, more accurate fourth spell after tea, banging in a short delivery that found a leading edge with the ball ballooning gently back to the bowler.

Ben Raine backed up that breakthrough with the next three wickets to even up the day, having Tom Aspinwall caught at second slip for two, Matty Hurst brilliantly caught for 20 by wicketkeeper Ollie Robinson diving away to his left to take a quite magnificent catch, and then Will Williams lbw for nine.

A late onslaught by Saqib Mahmood, who thumped a six off Raine and a further five fours in a Lancashire-best 40 not out off only 48 balls meant the hosts ended the day the happier camp.

Nottinghamshire vs Hampshire, 28th Match, Vitality County Championship Division One

All-rounder Lyndon James finished on 92 not out after leading a Nottinghamshire recovery from 50 for six as they closed on 212 for nine on day one of their Vitality County Championship match against Hampshire at Trent Bridge

Mohammad Abbas, who took 15 wickets in the two matches between these counties last season, was the scourge of Nottinghamshire again with four for 36 - but Hampshire may yet rue their dropped catches as they look for a first win of their Division One campaign.

James, eight away from a first hundred since September 2022, was dropped on 23 and 32 as Hampshire’s slip fielders suffered a day of contrasting fortunes, holding all three chances offered in the morning session but putting down three in the afternoon and another after tea.

Hampshire have an excellent record against Nottinghamshire, winning eight of their last 11 matches, including both of last year’s encounters.

Nottinghamshire, who fielded the same XI that beat Lancashire to break their duck for the season last week, found themselves two down before they had scored a run as Abbas struck in the second and third overs of a new ball spell in which he did not concede a run until his 35th delivery.

Abbas, who was missing last week due to illness, had Ben Slater caught behind with a ball that nipped away late and dismissed Will Young with one that squared up the New Zealander and took the shoulder of the bat, looping to backward point.

The Pakistan international took a breather after only six overs but there was scant respite for the home side, who were 17 for three when Joe Clarke edged to third slip off Kyle Abbott and 37 for four when left-armer Keith Barker - making his first appearance of the season - found some extra bounce from the Stuart Broad End and had Haseeb Hameed caught behind, a first dismissal in four innings for the Nottinghamshire captain.

On a green-tinged pitch of somewhat mottled appearance, Hampshire’s decision to bowl first on winning the toss looked the right one.

James Fuller got in on the act by uprooting Tom Moores’s leg stump with a big inswinger before Abbas returned to grab a third scalp as Jack Haynes slashed at a ball outside off stump and was caught at first slip by a tumbling Tom Prest, whose non-appearance after lunch suggested he had injured himself in the process.

If 50 for six wasn’t bad enough, it should have been worse still for Nottinghamshire, yet the sharpness in the field that had characterised the morning session for Hampshire deserted them after lunch.

The scoreboard will say that Harrison and James fashioned a recovery in adding 69 but their partnership should have ended on 31 when Michael Neser, fielding as sub in place of Presty at first slip, let one slip through his hands when Harrison was on nine. Barker, the unlucky bowler, suffered again in his next over when James Vince, at third slip, spilled another chance when James was on 23.

James had another let-off on 32 when Fletcha Middleton put him down at second slip off Fuller in what was the easiest of the three chances.

In the event, it took the introduction of Liam Dawson’s left-arm spin to part the seventh-wicket pair when Harrison was bowled by a ball that skidded through low.

Another opportunity went begging after tea as Olly Stone was put down on nine off Abbas, Vince again the culprit at third slip, the Hampshire captain copping a nasty blow around the base of his left thumb in the attempt. He was able to continue, but only with the aid of strapping and painkillers.

After surviving his two scares, James dug in to reach his second half-century of the season off 135 balls with his fifth boundary, finding some dogged support from Stone, with whom he added another 59 before a slip catch finally stuck, Liam Dawson at second just about getting his fingers under a nick offered by Stone as Abbas, with the second new ball, took his fourth, before the day closed with Dillon Pennington leg before to Abbott.

Nick Gubbins is missing from the Hampshire line-up after becoming a father for the first time earlier this week.

Somerset vs Kent, 29th Match, Vitality County Championship Division One

Aggressive centuries from Tom Banton and James Rew helped Somerset pile up 440 for seven after losing the toss on the opening day of the Vitality County Championship First Division match with Kent at Taunton.

Banton contributed a career-best 133, off 174 balls, with 19 fours and 2 sixes, while Rew stroked his way to 114, off 145 deliveries, with 12 fours and 3 sixes in a reminder of the form that made him one of the most talked about players in Championship cricket last season.

The pair added 205 for the fifth wicket in 42.4 overs. Earlier, Tom Lammonby hit 69 as Kent’s seamers found it tough going on a belting batting surface at the Cooper Associates County Ground.

An entertaining morning session ended with Somerset 133 for three from 32 overs. Their innings got off to a poor start when Sean Dickson slashed at a wide ball from Beyers Swanepoel and edged through to wicketkeeper Harry Finch for a fourth-ball duck.

Soon Matt Renshaw and Lammonby were making batting look comfortable in warm sunshine, Lammonby striking 3 fours in a Swanepoel over, two of them to a very short boundary on the motorway side of the ground.

The pair brought the fifty up in the 12th over and Renshaw celebrated by pulling a six off George Garrett before, with the total on 75, he fell for 40, caught at mid-on mistiming a drive off the same bowler.

Andy Umeed looked in good touch, a glorious straight-driven boundary off Garrett helping to bring the hundred up before Lammonby went to his fifth Championship half-century of the season off 72 balls, with 10 fours.

It came as a surprise when, with the total on 116, Umeed edged a defensive shot off Swanepoel straight to Marcus O’Riordan at first slip and departed for 25. Lammonby was unbeaten on 54 at lunch, having been joined by Banton.

Both played positively at the start of the afternoon session, taking the score to 172 before Lammonby got a bottom edge onto his stumps, attempting to pull a boundary off Grant Stewart.

It proved the only success for the visitors before tea as Rew launched his innings with 3 fours in quick succession off Garrett, who had to leave the field after two balls of his 11th over, which was completed by Joey Evison.

By then Somerset were 209 for four and Kent, without Jack Leaning because of a hand injury, were about to turn to the off-spin of O’Riordan. Rew greeted him with a six over mid-wicket before Banton moved to his third half-century of the summer with his tenth four, off Evison, having faced 79 balls.

Rew followed to his second fifty of the season, a fluent effort off 61 balls, and celebrated with a six over long-on off O’Riordan as he overtook his batting partner. Banton responded by clearing the ropes off the same bowler and at tea he was unbeaten on 66, while Rew had contributed 63 to Somerset’s 265 for four.

The final session saw Banton survive a sharp chance to backward point off Stewart just after his stand with Rew went to three figures. It was all the good fortune he required to reach a 150-ball ton that meant a huge amount, having worked hard to try and match his early success as a one-day player in red ball cricket.  

Banton’s only other Championship hundred came as a concussion substitute against Essex at Chelmsford in 2022 and last season he played just one innings in the competition.

After celebrating with arms outstretched, he raced past his previous top score of 126. Rew followed him to a hundred with his 12th four, clipped over mid-wicket off Stewart after Kent had taken the second new ball at 349 for four.

The left-hander had faced 128 balls, timing the ball sweetly. Banton departed shortly afterwards, caught behind attempting to uppercut a short ball from Stewart.

Rew also fell to the new ball, lbw to Evison, falling across his stumps to give Kent a second bowling point. Craig Overton was dismissed for a rapid 23, but Somerset skipper Lewis Gregory was unbeaten on 26 at stumps, having passed 4,000 first class runs.

Surrey vs Worcestershire, 30th Match, Vitality County Championship Division One

A fifth wicket stand of 148 between Dan Lawrence and Ollie Pope, a superb new ball spell by Dan Worrall and Kemar Roach’s late double-strike put Surrey in control against Worcestershire despite themselves being bowled out for 213 on a frenetic 17-wicket opening day at the Kia Oval.

When the dust settled on the high-octane action Worcestershire were 112 for seven in their own first innings, still 101 runs in arrears, after Worrall’s three for 16 from seven overs, Roach’s two wickets in three balls and scalps too for Sean Abbott and Jordan Clark backed up Lawrence’s 84 and Pope’s 63.

Put in on a well-grassed surface, Surrey were soon in all sorts of trouble at 15 for four as Joe Leach took three for 24 in seven overs in a new-ball spell that threatened to embarrass the county champions.

But Lawrence then joined Pope to pull the innings around in a counter-attacking partnership of great quality that looked even better once Surrey’s lower order had failed to build substantially on it and Worcestershire’s top order had been cut down by Worrall and his fellow pacemen.

Worrall first had Gareth Roderick caught at fourth slip for 15, pushing out at an away-swinger, before bowling Jake Libby for one with a magnificent delivery that nipped back to beat the opener’s attempted off drive.

Kashif Ali, after a couple of promising boundaries took him to 15, flashed leaden-footed at Worrall and edged to keeper Ben Foakes and, when Abbott replaced Worrall at the Vauxhall End, Adam Hose – facing only his fourth ball – went needlessly after his loosener and carved it into the cordon to depart for four.

Worcestershire were 53 for five when Clark angled one into Rob Jones’s pads and had him leg-before for 14, but at least Matthew Waite helped his skipper, Brett D’Oliveira, put on 58 in a fighting sixth wicket stand before Roach made sure the day belonged to Surrey.

Swinging the ball back into the right-handers, Roach won two leg-before decisions to end Waite’s 42-ball 35 and also send back Nathan Smith for nought just before bad light stopped play at 6.26pm, with seven overs of the day’s scheduled allocation remaining unbowled. D’Oliveira is unbeaten on 22.

Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Jamie Smith and Foakes were the early casualties when Surrey batted, with New Zealand international seamer Smith striking first in the fourth over to have Burns lbw for eight as aimed to clip to leg.

Sibley drove at a ball too wide for the stroke to edge Leach behind and, later in the over, Smith was bowled for a fourth ball duck by an absolute beauty that clipped the top of his off stump.

Foakes, beaten off the pitch, edged to second slip on one, but Lawrence and Pope took the attack back to Worcestershire and, with just a little bit of good fortune early in their stand, turned the tide of the innings.

Lawrence, who had got off the mark with a skewed lofted drive that just cleared mid off running back, then skipped down the pitch to swing debutant seamer Yadvinder Singh for six over wide mid-wicket, while Pope bedded in confidently at the other end.

They rallied Surrey to 110 for four by lunch and continued on merrily enough afterwards until their 33-over alliance was broken by Smith, who had Pope caught behind one ball after seeing him missed in the slips. Pope had faced 110 balls, hitting six fours.

Frustratingly for Surrey, Lawrence then departed in the very next over, throwing his bat at an outswinger from medium-pacer Waite and edging behind after a punchy 102-ball innings that featured two sixes – the second driven high and straight off Leach – and 11 fours.

Abbott (2) top-edged a pull at Waite to long leg and the same bowler trapped Gus Atkinson leg-before for a fourth-ball duck to finish with the creditable figures of 12-4-19-3.

Clark, hitting Smith for four consecutive fours at one stage, and also lofting him straight for six in a 36-ball 42 not out, tried his best to revive Surrey again but Roach fell for four, edging Ben Gibbon behind, and Worrall was run out at the bowler’s end for nought after initially failing to respond to Clark’s call for a bye to the keeper.

DIVISION TWO

Derbyshire vs Northamptonshire, 21st Match, Vitality County Championship Division Two

George Bartlett and Rob Keogh led a solid Northamptonshire batting display on the opening day of the Vitality County Championship Division Two match against Derbyshire at Derby.

The pair both scored half centuries and added 124 for the fifth wicket to get the innings back on track after Anuj Dal struck twice to reduce Northants to 121 for 4.

Ricardo Vasconcelos (53) and Emilio Gay (45) shared an opening stand of 99 but it was Bartlett’s 76 and Keogh’s unbeaten 75 that gave Northants the advantage, closing on 297 for 5.

Ross Whiteley claimed his first championship victim for nearly three years but Blair Tickner was the pick of the attack and deserved more than one wicket from 21 overs. 

Derbyshire began the day by naming all-rounder Whiteley in the team for his first championship match since he played for Worcestershire in June 2021.

Whiteley spent the morning in the field after Northants decided to bat in sunny conditions although both openers needed some good fortune to survive on a pitch offering assistance to the seamers. 

South African fast bowler Daryn Dupavillon knocked Vasconcelos off his feet with a yorker first ball of the match although it was Tickner who posed the biggest threat.

The New Zealander went past the bat numerous times in an outstanding six over opening spell that included four maidens and cost only three runs.

But the pressure eased once he was out of the attack with the other bowlers unable to maintain the same consistent line.

When Tickner was brought back on , Vasconcelos pulled him for four to reach his 50 from 89 balls but just when it was looking like a fruitless session for the home side, he moved one back in to have him lbw.

Northants would still have been satisfied with their position at lunch but the picture quickly changed after Gay was dismissed by the first ball of the afternoon session.

It was an innocuous delivery from Dal but Gay played it into his stumps as he aimed to push it to the offside and Dal struck again in his next over.

Luke Proctor had never looked comfortable and after facing 17 balls without scoring, he went across to glance and lost his leg stump.

There was an even bigger success for Derbyshire when Zak Chappell got one to straighten to bowl Karun Nair for six to leave Northants in danger of failing to build on the foundations laid by the openers.

Another wicket would have opened the door for Derbyshire but Bartlett and Keogh regrouped and batted through the rest of the session.

Bartlett reached his 50 from 72 balls when he cover drove David Lloyd for his ninth four and by tea the pair had added 74 to shift the initiative back to the visitors.

Whiteley was brought into the attack after the interval and after Keogh guided him past gully for four to go to 50 from 103 balls, he broke the stand in his next over.

Bartlett was surprised by a ball that lifted from just outside off stump and could only fend it to slip where Aneurin Donald took a simple catch.

It was an important breakthrough ahead of the second new ball which Derbyshire took immediately but Keogh and Justin Broad denied them any further success. 

Glamorgan vs Middlesex, 22nd Match, Vitality County Championship Division Two

Middlesex took charge of their Vitality County Championship match against Glamorgan in Cardiff, finishing the day on 62 without loss having bowled out the hosts for 183.

It was Tom Helm who was the most impressive of the bowlers, claiming four for 44 as Middlesex made the most of the decision to bowl first. He was well supported by Ethan Bamber, Toby Roland-Jones and Ryan Higgins who chipped in with wickets. 

The top scorer for Glamorgan was Zain ul Hassan who made 34 after the top order had been removed by the Middlesex seamers. 

Middlesex batted for 21 overs at the end of the day and were 122 runs behind Glamorgan’s first innings total at the close. 

The Glamorgan openers started out positively with Marnus Labuschagne and Eddie Byrom scoring nine boundaries inside the opening hour of the game. Labuschagne was showing a lot of attacking intent throughout his stay at the crease and this is what led to his downfall. He drove hard at a ball from Tom Helm and was caught by wicket-keeper Jack Davies. 

It was the introduction of Ryan Higgins that brought about the end of Byrom, a sharp bouncer taking his gloves and ballooning up for a simple catch by Davies. Kiran Carlson was the next to go, and as with Labuschagne he drove at a ball with hard hands that was caught in the slips by Higgins. 

When these two teams met in the first match of the season Sam Northeast made the highest score at Lord’s when he plundered 335 not out from this attack. It was a different story here as he struggled to get started and never really settled. He was bowled by a snorter of a delivery from Helm that tore his off stump out the ground. 

 When Helm dismissed Chris Cooke two balls later when he bowled him with a ball the batter left alone Glamorgan were 92 for five. That became 92 for six when Colin Ingram, the leading run scorer in first class cricket this season, played a ball onto his stumps for 10 off the bowling of Bamber. 

Amidst the wickets tumbling at the other end Zain ul Hassan was playing a tidy innings and had reached 34 when he was caught at slip by Leus du Plooy via an attempted reverse pull and Glamorgan had stumbled to 103 for seven. 

Andy Gorvin and Mason Crane held up the Middlesex attack for a stand of 31 before Gorvin was caught off a top-edged hook shot for 12. 

Mason Crane made a career best 61 against Northamptonshire in April and he showed good application with the bat in this game as he finished undefeated on 32. It was his runs that allowed Glamorgan to reach the total that they did after the top order collapse.  

Sam Robson and Mark Stoneman made the Glamorgan total look a long way under par as they navigated the new ball without much difficulty. Stoneman was the more fluent of the two as he made it to 42 not out at the close. Robson was undefeated on a patient 18 from 57 balls at the other end. 

Leicestershire vs Gloucestershire, 23rd Match, Vitality County Championship Division Two

Gloucestershire 385-2

A record breaking opening partnership between Cameron Bancroft and Ben Charlesworth saw Gloucestershire dominate the opening day of their Division Two Vitality county championship match against Leicestershire at the UptonSteel County Ground, Grace Road.

The pair put on 316 after the visitors were put into bat by Foxes skipper Lewis Hill, beating the previous record opening partnership made against Leicestershire in first class cricket, the 315 put on by Herbert Sutcliffe and Len Hutton for Yorkshire in 1937.

Bancroft's 160 was his second century in as many innings, and his 28^th in first class cricket. Charlesworth's 126, which included ten fours and six sixes, was his maiden three figure score. Both had a moment of fortune, Bancroft when he was dropped at slip off the bowling of Rehan Ahmed when on 84, and Charlesworth when his middle stump was uprooted by a Josh Hull no-ball on 58.

Both sides made changes to their starting elevens from their previous matches. Leicestershire, having drawn their first five championship fixtures – in no small part due to time lost to the weather – brought highly rated left-arm seam prospect Hull into their eleven in place of short-term loanee Ben Green, who had returned to home county Somerset. Gloucestershire, fresh from ending their run of 18 games without a win by beating Northants, gave a debut to Australian all-rounder Beau Webster, one of four changes. Fast bowler Marchant de Lange, whose eight wickets in the match had been key to the success at Wantage Road, was said to be unavailable due to injury, with the others to miss out being Singh Dale, Tom Price and Zafar Gohar.

Humid conditions, and a green tinge to the pitch, persuaded Hill to bowl first after winning the toss. A lunchtime scoreline of 107-0 suggested he had been ill-advised, but there had been some movement for the bowlers, both in the air and occasionally off the seam: unfortunately for Hill and Leicestershire there were also too many deliveries off which Bancroft and Charlesworth could and did score, so that although the bat was beaten from time to time, the scoreboard kept moving. Bancroft hit seven boundaries in going to his 50 off 84 balls, his third consecutive half-century. Charlesworth struggled to time the ball, at times to his obvious frustration, but was unbeaten on 29 off 85 deliveries at the interval. Other than a handful of optimistic shouts for leg before and catches behind the wicket, no chances were created.

It was a similar story in the afternoon, though Hull will consider himself unfortunate when his full swinging delivery beat Charlesworth's defence and flattened middle stump, only for his celebration to be cut short by the sight of the umpire's extended arm. Bancroft too might have gone before reaching three figures, edging Ahmed low to first slip where Peter Hanscomb was unable to take the chance low to his left.

Charlesworth took full advantage, going to his hundred with a huge straight straight six, one of six maximums before he holed out to long-off off the part-time off-spin of Louis Kimber. By then the partnership had passed 300, leaving Gloucestershire's previous opening record against Leicestershire, the 201 put on by Kadeer Ali and Craig Spearman on the same ground in 2007, well behind.

Bancroft was to follow, chopping a delivery from Ben MIke on to his stumps, before Ollie Price and Miles Hammond saw Gloucestershire through to the close, nine balls early due to bad light.

Sussex vs Yorkshire, 24th Match, Vitality County Championship Division Two

Seventeen wickets fell on the first day at Hove as second division leaders Sussex hit back after they were bowled out for 150 by Yorkshire in the Vitality County Championship.

Joe Root showed his class with 67 but no one else made more than Sussex’s top scorer James Coles (38). Yorkshire were 176 for 7 at stumps and how much they can add to their lead of 26 will be crucial to their efforts of securing a first victory of the season.

Root enjoyed an absorbing battle with England teammate Ollie Robinson, who bowled two quality spells and was unlucky not to pick up more than one wicket.

He shared stands of 42 with James Wharton and 58 for the sixth wicket with Jonathan Tattersall, as he passed 50 for the fourth time in seven Championship innings which have now brought him 432 runs in his preparations for the international summer. But having moved to 67 off 88 balls (7 fours) a misjudgement saw him struck on the back leg by Tom Haines working into the on side.

For the other batters it was hard work. On a well-grassed pitch the ball moved lavishly off the seam at times, but there were some loose shots too and 12 of the wickets fell to slip catches.

Sussex weren’t surprised to be put in, but Haines and Tom Clark serenely added 42 in 6.5 overs. It proved a false dawn, though, and apart from a fifth-wicket stand of 30 between Cheteshwar Pujara and Coles, Yorkshire’s disciplined all-seam attack held sway.

George Hill led the way with 4 for 22 including two in five balls in his opening spell as Haines was taken at second slip and Alsop at third playing at deliveries which nipped off the seam. He returned after lunch to pick up Danny Lamb with his first ball back and then removed Jack Carson in the same over.

Hill got good support, notably from Ben Coad (3 for 47). Coad had angled one in which seamed away to make the breakthrough when he removed Clark. Sussex skipper John Simpson made  his fourth successive single-figure score before he was lbw shuffling forward and Tattersall dived in front of slip to remove Fynn Hudson-Prentice.

Arguably the crucial wicket was claimed by the highly-regarded Dom Leech with the ninth ball of his first appearance of the season when Pujara was superbly caught by Tattersall, again diving in front of first slip. Coles then watched as four wickets fell for 18 runs in 8.1 overs before he was last out, holing out to mid-on.

Sussex had been dismissed in 44.1 overs but their bowlers soon hit back.

Robinson beat the bat on numerous occasions with the new ball, but it was left-armer Sean Hunt who made the breakthrough with his fifth delivery which Finlay Bean edged to second slip. Adam Lyth was taken at third slip before Robinson was rewarded in his sixth over with the crucial wicket of skipper Shan Masood, fencing to third slip.

Hill played a loose drive at Hudson-Prentice to the last ball before tea but by then Root had begun to get the measure of the conditions. Wharton gave him good support until hitting across the line to a yorker-length ball which gave Hudson-Prentice his second wicket and Hunt returned to have Tattersall caught at third slip just before the close.

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