Tuesday 28 April 2015 08:18, UK
Martin Guptill smashed a 164-ball double-century for Derbyshire as they took control of their LV= County Championship Division Two match against Gloucestershire, finishing day two on 511-8 with a first innings lead of 236.
Guptill - who scored the fastest double-century in World Cup history for New Zealand a month ago - was eventually dismissed with 13 overs left in the day, his 227 off 176 balls containing a staggering 29 fours and 11 sixes.
Matt Taylor (5-89) picked up his wicket - one of five strikes for the medium-pacer. He had been on a hat-trick earlier in the day, picking up Shiv Thakor (83) caught behind and then Alex Hughes lbw in consecutive balls.
That was after Thakor had been involved in a 190-run partnership with Guptill for the fifth wicket. Wicketkeeper Harvey Hosein was 43 not out at the close of play.
Nick Browne hit 143 as Essex fought back on day two of their Division Two clash with Surrey, reaching stumps at The Oval on 266-2, 74 runs behind Surrey's first innings score.
Resuming on 293-5, Surrey could add only 47 runs to their total with the two not out batsmen overnight, Steven Davies and Gary Wilson, falling for 81 and 46 respectively.
Wilson's wicket to Graham Napier (3-63) was the first of four to fall without a run added to the total as Napier mopped up the tail and Surrey finished on 340.
Browne then got Essex off to a flier with century partnerships with Jaik Mickleburgh (61) and Daniel Lawrence (48no) before he fell to Matt Dunn with less than three overs left in the day.
Leicestershire are in with a chance of winning their first County Championship game since September 2012, as Northamptionshire closed day two of their game at Grace Road on 105-2, leading by only 51 runs.
Angus Robson - resuming on 52 not out - added only 23 to his overnight score as the home side initialy struggled with the bat, falling to 201-7 having started the day on 102-1.
But an 87-run partnership between Ben Raine (47) and Clint McKay (47) for the eight wicket saw the Foxes past Northamptonshire's first innings score of 251.
A lead of 54 was almost wiped out by the time the first wicket fell in the Northants second innings, Richard Levi (20) dismissed by Paine.
Charlie Shreck added the wicket of Stephen Peters shortly after the opener reached fifty and before play was stopped due to bad light. No further wickets were taken though when play did resume briefly before the close.
Alex Davies - 20-year-old wicketkeeper for Lancashire - fell agonisingly short of his maiden first-class century, dismissed for 99, but the home side continued their dominance on day two at Old Trafford against Kent.
Resuming the day on 317-5, Davies quickly added the three runs he needed to go through to fifty, but found it tougher to bring up his hundred later in the day.
It was Mitchell Claydon (4-103) who dismissed Davies - one of three wickets for him on the day - as Lancashire ended their innings all out on 444.
Kyle Jarvis (3-35) accounted for the Kent top three of Daniel Bell-Drummond, Joe Denly and Rob Key in response, as the visitors struggled with the bat.
Sam Northeast was a lone bright spark reaching 48 not out, but Kent were 214-7, still trailing by a hefty 230 runs at the close of play.
