All six teams of Group 3 were in action on Day 1 in the eighth round of the County Championship 2021. Let us have a look at how it went for them.
Kent vs Northamptonshire, Canterbury
Northamptonshire 362/5 (Gay 101; Stevens 2-52) vs Kent
Emilio Gay scored his maiden First-class century as Northamptonshire piled up 362/5 on Day 1 against Kent at Canterbury. Gay hit 15 fours and a six in his 101 before he fell to Jack Leaning.
He shared a 135-run stand with Ricardo Vasconcelos (66) and another 100 with Luke Procter (81) to guide Northants to a mammoth total in the first innings.
Following two big partnerships, Northants slumped from 314/2 to 318/5. Matthew Quinn and Darren Stevens claimed two wickets each to make a comeback in the contest. Tom Taylor (19 not out) and Saif Zaib (17 not out) batted till the close of play.
Yorkshire v Sussex, Headingley
Sussex 267/5 (Brown 126*; Thompson 3-42) vs Yorkshire
Sussex skipper Ben Brown led from the front with a hundred after his side had been left struggling at 68/4 against Yorkshire on Day 1 at Headingley. The Yorkshire bowlers got Alastair Orr, Tom Haines and Stiaan van Zyl in the morning session to reduce Sussex to 38/3.
Along with 16-year-old debutant Dan Ibrahim (37 not out), Brown added an unbroken 92 for the sixth wicket before the close of play. In his unbeaten 126, Brown smashed 18 fours. Riding on that, they reached 267/5 at Day 1 stumps.
Jordan Thompson (3-42) was the pick of the Yorkshire bowlers, while David Willey and Harry Brook had a wicket each.
Glamorgan v Lancashire, Cardiff
Lancashire 173 (Bailey 31; Neser 3-46) lead Glamorgan 150/9 (Labuschagne 44; Mahmood 3-34) b 23 runs
Nineteen wickets fell on Day 1 between Glamorgan and Lancashire in Cardiff, where fans returned for the first time since September 2019. Michael Hogan picked up his 400th first-class wicket for Glamorgan, in-form Michael Neser returned 3-46, and James Weighell 2-46 to bowl Lancashire out for 173. Coming at No. 9, Tom Bailey top-scored with 31 before Daniel Douthwaite (2-16) bowled him.
In reply, Joe Cooke and David Lloyd added 38 for the first wicket for Glamorgan – the highest partnership of the game so far. Bailey (3-40) and Saqib Mahmood (3-34) then shared six wickets to reduce Glamorgan to 102/6.
In the end, they finished with 150/9, with Marnus Labuschagne top-scoring with 44. They are still 23 runs behind, with one wicket in hand.