Group 1
Nottinghamshire 323 beat Essex 99 & 194 by an innings and 30 runs
Warwickshire 343 & 70/3 drew with Worcestershire 364/8d
Group 2
Middlesex 210 & 152 lost to Gloucestershire 273 & 93/3 by 7 wickets
Leicestershire 496 drew with Surrey 324
Hampshire 79 & 258 lost to Somerset 336 & 2/0 by 10 wickets
Group 3
Lancashire 301/9d drew with Glamorgan 344
Northamptonshire 440/9d beat Sussex 106 & 215 by an innings and 20 runs
Yorkshire 321 drew with Kent 305
HOUSE OF PAYNE
David Payne had Middlesex jumping around as he picked up career best match figures of 11 for 78, including a superb bit of athleticism off his own bowling, to help Gloucestershire to their fourth win of the season. That maintains their lofty position at the top of Group 2, with a week off before a table-top clash against Somerset.
Middlesex feeling the Payne 🤕
— LV= Insurance County Championship (@CountyChamp) May 8, 2021
It's 11 for 87 in the match for @DavidPayne_14, his best match figures! 👏#LVCountyChamp pic.twitter.com/PeVoJzo4tF
IT'S NOT OVERTON YET
Craig Overton continues his marvellous start to the season, as he pushes for an England Test recall. The Somerset all-rounder, and he really is going by this summer's numbers of 13.96 with the ball and 35.16 with the bat, cleaned up the Hampshire top order on the final day, finishing with 7/82, having belted 74 from 93 two days previous. But the win over a resistant Hants couldn't have bene achieved without the toil of Josh Davey, who worked away at a robust lower order, picking up a five-wicket haul of his own.
Craig Overton is on another level right now!! 🔥🔥
— Somerset Cricket 🏏 (@SomersetCCC) May 9, 2021
⭐️ Match figures of 7/82 from 51 overs
⭐️ 74 from 93 balls with the bat
⭐️ Outstanding catching in the slips
⭐️ Leading wicket-taker in the @CountyChamp
Not a bad way to mark 100 First-Class matches! 👏#HAMvSOM#WeAreSomerset pic.twitter.com/foYvLwatGx
TEN PIN BOWLING
Ben Sanderson and Gareth Berg put on an excellent display of bowling for Northamptonshire, in their win over Sussex, claiming 10 wickets and nine wickets respectively. Berg only denied double figures by the accuracy of team-mate Tom Taylor, who clinched the final dismissal. It would've been the 197th two bowlers take all 20 wickets in a County Championship match and the ninth for Northants, if Berg removed the final batsman.
MULLANEY HAS ESSEX IN NOTTS
You wait over 1,000 days for your first win and then two come along straight after each other. It's been a long time coming but Notts look back on course, thanks to an emphatic win against the LV County Championship holders, Essex. The in-form Luke Fletcher started proceedings with a brilliant 6/24, before Steven Mullaney provided a captain's innings, scoring 117 on a testing deck. The result was capped off early on the last day with youngster Lyndon James picking up four-for to see his county home.
THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
Leicestershire's revival with the bat came to fruition at home to Surrey as a trio of centuries were scored in their opening innings. Sam Evans (112), Marcus Harris (101) and Harry Swindells (103) all reached three figures, before rain and a stubborn reply from Surrey saw the match drawn.