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Essex are losing wickets in a hurry! Michael Pepper is now on his way after plinking his second ball to Beau Webster at cover. Soft dismissal and Essex<\/a> now six down in Brum.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The Nut cracks Hampshire<\/a> open! Jack Leach removes Nick Gubbins for 83 in his first twirl of the day, a hint of grip and Gubbins pokes at it outside off, Overton scooping a fine low catch at slip. Toby Albert is now out there to resume his innings after retiring hurt with a gammy knee last night. He\u2019s on 17, Leach eyes him up, tossing himself a catch or two at the top of his mark, not yet warm enough for Leachy to peel off the short sleeve cable knit. Hampshire lead by 134.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Aussie Jake Lehman drives Craig Overton down the ground for four at a sun strewn Southampton and then gets a meaty knick past James Rew at first slip for four more. Delightful! Lehmann clips his third boundary off the over and the partnership between himself and Nick Gubbins moves into the sixties. Hants in a strong position, leading by 124 with those nine wickets still in play.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, Essex\u2019s great white hope Charlie Allison is undone by some late swing from Nathan Gilchrist and he is caught behind for 44. Captain Sam Cook is pocketed by Gilchrist soon after, Rob Yates pulling off a smart diving grab in the slips to send the nightwatchman on his way, Essex<\/a> are still 54 adrift on first innings with five wickets in the hutch. Bubbling up nicely at Edgbaston.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.36 EDT<\/p>\n We\u2019ve got a couple of minutes to go until play begins. The first whiff of a victory might be in Bristol where the evergreen Jimmy Anderson could well force an early win against struggling Gloucs on their home patch. The 43 year old will scent blood in the water and will be accompanied by an impressively George Balderson who scooped five wickets in the first innings.<\/p>\n A confession, I was supposed to be covering the action from Southampton where Hampshire<\/a> are now in a commanding position against the visiting Somerset, a 96 run lead with nine second innings wickets in hand \u2013 however my five year old daughter decided to get her Eric the Eagle on from the top of our precipitous stairwell earlier this morning\u2026 she\u2019s fine, and seems to now be word perfect on the whole K-Pop Demon Hunters erm, canon – but she was before her nosedive so that\u2019s not too concerning. I think she\u2019s secretly pleased to kibosh my day of peaceful cricket viewing, in fact I\u2019m suspicious\u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a006.24 EDT<\/p>\n Scores round the shires:<\/p>\n DIVISION ONE<\/p>\n Southampton: Hampshire<\/a> 238 and 146-1 v Somerset 288 \u2013 Hampshire lead Somerset by 96 runs with 9 wickets remaining<\/p>\n Edgbaston: Warwickshire<\/a> 190 v Essex 110-3 \u2013 Essex trail Warwickshire by 80 runs with 7 wickets remaining<\/p>\n DIVISION TWO<\/p>\n Bristol: Gloucestershire<\/a> 136 and 59-3 v Lancashire 240 \u2013 Gloucestershire trail Lancashire by 46 runs with 7 wickets remaining<\/p>\n Northampton: Northants 229-4 v Middlesex<\/a> 341 \u2013 Northamptonshire trail Middlesex by 112 runs with 6 wickets remaining<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Tanya\u2019s Day Two Round Up:<\/p>\n Hampshire were frustrated by Somerset\u2019s wagging tail, but wiped out the deficit before bad light stopped play at Southampton. There was no century for James Rew, caught uncharacteristically skewing a half-volley for 86, one of three wickets for Codi Yusuf.<\/p>\n Tom Abell made 49, Lewis Gregory was out to Kyle Abbot for the ninth time in 13 matches, but it was 22-year-old Alfie Ogborne who caused Hampshire the most pain, whooping three sixes in an enterprising last-wicket stand. Hampshire lost Toby Albert to a leg injury early on, but Nick Gubbins\u2019 undefeated 70 helped them to a 96-run lead.<\/p>\n After play, Somerset\u2019s head coach, Jason Kerr, was asked about Rew\u2019s chances of playing for England: \u201cHe is a good enough player to play international cricket \u2026 he\u2019s an incredible talent and one that should get international recognition. If he opens the batting then great, I appreciate the middle-order is quite stocked at international level, but a player of that talent should be knocking on the door.\u201d<\/p>\n At Wantage Road, it was the turn of Nathan McSweeney (87 not out) and James Sales (78 not out) to turn an unprepossessing Northamptonshire start to an innings into a substantial stand. They came together at 98 for four and added an unbeaten 131 for the fifth wicket. Earlier, Ben Sanderson had wrapped up his second five-wicket haul of the season and Zafar Gohar, last Middlesex man out for a delightful 83, was substituted out of the match after picking up a groin injury. Luke Hollman is his replacement.<\/p>\n In his long career, this is the first first-class match James Anderson has played at Bristol, and it looks as if the visit will be a victorious one after a 17-wicket day. Gloucestershire lost their final four wickets for 12 runs in a five-over tumble first thing, George Balderson finishing with five for 34. Gloucestershire\u2019s attack then pulled the tablecloth on Lancashire, reducing them to 180 for eight thanks to excellent bowling from Matt Taylor, who pocketed a career-best six for 43.<\/p>\n Matty Hurst and the tail then pushed the first-innings lead to 104. Keaton Jennings crafted a vital 70 in his first innings of the year. The substitution rule rumpus rumbled on with the revelation that Lancashire<\/a> had been forbidden to replace Ajeet Singh Dale with Tom Bailey, despite them both being right-arm bowlers, because of Bailey\u2019s superior experience.<\/p>\n Ethan Bamber and Keith Barker kept Warwickshire in the hunt at Edgbaston, running through Essex\u2019s top three on a rain-affected day. Charlie Allison (40 not out) and nightwatchman Sam Cook (5 not out) saw them through to the close at 110 for three under a milky blue sky. Earlier, Sam Hain, who played brilliantly and with clever acceleration for his 88 not out, and the tail had dragged Warwickshire<\/a> to 190.<\/p>\n