Jamie Smith half-century helps Surrey claim upper hand against Warwickshire
Middlesex veteran Tim Murtagh also dismissed England opener Zak Crawley for a golden duck
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Your support makes all the difference.Jamie Smith’s unbeaten half-century helped Surrey edge into control on a gripping second day of their LV= Insurance County Championship Division One clash at Edgbaston.
Warwickshire were bowled out for 150, but the champions were subsequently reduced to 99 for four in reply before Smith ensured his side reclaim the upper hand, adding 44 with Ben Foakes, 32 with Cameron Steel and 35 with Jordan Clark.
Smith will resume day three unbeaten on 57 with Surrey 211 for eight and leading by 61 runs.
Tim Murtagh dismissed England opener Zak Crawley for a golden duck and just missed out on a hat-trick on a day of clattering wickets between Middlesex and Kent at Lord’s.
Kent were all out for 186 in the morning session, Ben Compton top-scoring with 52 as Murtagh and Ethan Bamber finished with four wickets apiece, but Middlesex were soon in trouble as they slumped to 90 for six.
Ryan Higgins (71) rescued the hosts with his fourth half-century of the season, helping Middlesex to 229 for a lead of 43, before Murtagh was quickly back amongst the wickets as Kent came out for their second knock.
Murtagh, who turns 42 in August, dismissed Crawley and Daniel Bell-Drummond off the first two balls of the innings before forcing Jack Leaning to defend the hat-trick delivery.
Leaning would end up finishing the day unbeaten on 19, alongside the prolific Compton (15no) as Kent closed on 40 for two, still trailing by three runs.
In Division Two, Brydon Carse gave the England selectors a nudge ahead of the Ashes by scoring his maiden first-class century and taking three wickets to put dominant Durham firmly on course for victory against Derbyshire at the Riverside.
Carse began the day needing 23 runs to reach three figures and rocketed through the gears to secure his hundred from 113 balls before Durham declared soon after on 452 for nine, with the paceman unbeaten on 108.
The home side then ran through the Derbyshire line-up as Matthew Potts and Ben Raine reduced the visitors to six for four. Luis Reece top-scored with 56, but his team were made to follow-on after being skittled for 165.
Derbyshire soon found themselves in further trouble as they crashed to 92 for five at the close, still trailing by 195,
At Bristol, a trademark defensive masterclass from captain Cheteshwar Pujara batted Sussex into a promising position against Gloucestershire.
After a delayed start at 1.50pm due to a saturated outfield, the visitors took their first-innings total from 47 for one to 302 for four, India Test star Pujara leading the way with 99 not out, while Tom Alsop contributed 67 and James Coles a career-best 74.
Leicestershire put the pressure on Glamorgan at the Uptonsteel County Ground as England bowler Rehan Ahmed and Australian Ashes hopeful Peter Handscomb both narrowly missed out on centuries.
Ahmed (90) and Handscomb (95) shared a partnership of 177 for the sixth wicket as Leicestershire made 407 after being sent into bat.
Glamorgan skipper David Lloyd was then dismissed for a duck before Eddie Byrom and Marnus Labuschagne fought back with a second-wicket partnership of 124, but they closed the day still 94 runs short of avoiding the follow-on at 164 for five.