NORTH GROUP
Derbyshire 239 & 365/7 beat Nottinghamshire 324 & 279 by 3 wickets
Yorkshire 199 & 172/4 beat Durham 103 & 266 by 6 wickets
Leicestershire 409/8d & 150/3 beat Lancashire 322 & 236 by 7 wickets

CENTRAL GROUP
Worcestershire 428/5 & 113/2 beat Gloucestershire 267 & 270 by 8 wickets
Somerset 296 & 290/8d beat Glamorgan 131 & 166 by 289 runs
Northamptonshire 142 & 507/6 drew with Warwickshire 369/8

SOUTH GROUP
Essex 298 & 202/8 beat Kent 387 & 112 by 2 wickets
Middlesex 347/6d & 248/6 beat Surrey 282 & 123 by 190 runs

TENSE FINISHES AROUND THE GROUNDS

County cricket is well and truly back! There were incredible scenes at Trent Bridge where Derbyshire chased down a record 365 to beat local rivals Notts with just one ball to spare. Meanwhile at Chelmsford, Essex made a nail-biter of it against Kent despite Sir Alastair Cook’s 66 runs. The hosts lost four wickets in the space of six overs, leaving it to ninth-wicket pair Adam Wheater (29*) and Sam Cook (15*) to drag them over the victory line. 

FLYING FOXES STUN LANCASHIRE

Over at Blackfinch New Road, Leicestershire smacked 150 in just 15.4 overs to secure a thrilling win. Colin Ackermann followed his first-innings 94 with a scintillating 73* off 41 to win the match with eight balls to go and seven wickets still in tact. What a start to the tournament for the Foxes.

SWEEP NOT FOR ME

Cricket’s a funny old game. You can top score with an imperious 253 across the match but then you get out trying to reverse sweep and fall flat on your face. Chin up, Nick Gubbins!

OVER AND OUT

An outstanding Somerset performance saw them thrash Glamorgan by 289 runs in their first Central Group match. The game was put to bed well before lunch as the hosts rattled through the final five wickets for the loss of just 40 runs. After Craig Overton took 5-38 in the first innings, it was a case of ‘whatever you can do…’ for twin brother Jamie who cleaned up in the second with 5-48.

WINNING START FOR WHITE ROSE

Debutant Dawid Malan struck a confident 73 to help steer Yorkshire to a six-wicket win over Durham. After rain had delayed the start, Harry Brook (66*) took no chances with the weather, smashing a four then consecutive sixes to reach their winning target.