After bowling 38 overs at Blackpool last week, Ben Stokes stormed in for 15.1 more at Chester-le-Street, grabbing four for 54 as Somerset were whistled out for 171. He was then lbw for a duck in Durham’s up and down 177 for six, one of three wickets for Jake Ball - who only switched into the team as a concussion substitute for Migael Pretorius, hit on the head during his innings of 53. David Bedingham’s unbeaten hundred crowned him the first Durham batter to score hundreds in four consecutive innings.
Surrey suffered a rare malfunction after being skittled for 127 at Southampton. The first five batters inched into double figures, but only Rory Burns (33) got out of the teens. Liam Dawson, bowling first change, pocketed the top three; Kyle Abbott (five for 25) rattled through most of the rest. In reply, Hampshire had reached 102 for one at stumps.
Clouds hung over Old Trafford but Warwickshire chose to bat first faced with the threat of Nathan Lyon on a fourth-day turner. Progress was lethargic – just 40 scoring shots in a truncated day – with three wickets for Lancashire’s previously off-kilter Tom Bailey. Alex Davies was stranded on 47 when bad light stopped play.
Kent chipped away at Essex on a sunny day at Canterbury, despite losing Wes Agar to a shoulder injury. Dean Elgar top scored with 77, while Jordan Cox got an unbeaten half-century against his old club.
In Division Two, Derbyshire raced towards maximum batting points against Gloucestershire with a first century for Matt Lamb since his move to Derby. Glamorgan survived Marnus Labuschagne being bowled for eight, thanks to half centuries for Eddie Byrom, Kiran Carlson and Sam Northeast against Leicestershire.
Sussex’s Cheteshwar Pujar collected an unbeaten 91 against Middlesex at Lord’s, while Adam Lyth’s third hundred of the season propped up Yorkshire against Northamptonshire. There was no play possible at New Road, as Worcestershire returned to the ground for the first time since eight floods ran amok during the winter.