Let’s take a look at all the actions from Group 2 of the County Championship.
Somerset v Leicestershire, Taunton
Somerset 461/9 decl. (Conway 88; Griffiths 3-93) drew with Leicestershire 475/7 (Swindells 171*; De Lange 3-110).
An unbeaten 171 from Harry Swindells, along with Edward Barnes’ 83 not out, helped Leicestershire reach 475/7 and exert a 14-run lead before play was called off at Taunton. A draw was inevitable after much of the action was lost to persistent rain.
Swindells resumed exactly from where left a day ago, and weathered Somerset’s attack without much fuss. He smashed 24 fours and a six. For Somerset, Marchant de Lange picked up three wickets.
Leicestershire took 14 points from this game, one fewer than Somerset.
Hampshire vs Surrey, Southampton
Hampshire 488 (de Grandhomme 174*; Clark 4-86) drew with Surrey 72 (Amla 29*; Barker 4-24) and 122/8 (Amla 37; Barker 3-9).
Hashim Amla stood resolutely between Hampshire and the victory that would have propelled them to the top of the points table. Amla batted out the whole day, playing 278 balls for his 37.
Following on 416 runs behind, Surrey resumed the day on 6/2 and lost the third wicket early in the day. Ryan Patel then joined Amla, and the two of them played almost 30 overs before the former was beaten through the gate by Kyle Abbott.
Defeat look imminent at 30/4, but the rest of the batters chipped in with handy contributions, while Amla was impenetrable at the one end. Surrey sneaked out an improbable draw.
Keith Barker added three wickets to his first-innings tally to finish the game with seven wickets in his bag.
Gloucestershire vs Middlesex
Gloucestershire 248 ( Hammond 75; Bamber 3-39) and 272 (Bracey 88; Mitchell 4-42) lead Middlesex 101 (Robson 37; M Taylor 4-19) and 97/3 (Eskinazi 48; Worrall 2-21) by 323 runs.
Oliver Price (33) and Tom Price (35*) added 64 runs for the seventh wicket to drag Gloucestershire’s total to 272 in the second innings. Daryl Mitchell claimed 4-42, while Martin Andersson and Tim Murtagh picked two wickets apiece.
Middlesex need 420 runs to win. They did not have the best of starts, losing two wickets for just 8 runs. They eventually finished Day 3 on 97/3, needing another 323 runs to win this contest with a full day’s play left.