Jamie Porter took six wickets within the second innings as Essex earned their first win of the season with a 28-run victory over Worcestershire in Division Considered one of the Rothesay County Championship.
The pace bowler struck early on the morning of day 4, bowling Matthew Waite and shortly dismissed Tom Taylor before Kasun Rajitha claimed the scalp of Ben Allison for a duck.
Ethan Brookes offered some fightback for Worcestershire, scoring 88 before being caught and bowled by Porter, who finished with match figures of eight for 101.
Essex recorded the one top-flight win on Monday as the rest of the games led to draws and so they sit third within the table.
Surrey are seventh after picking up their third draw of the campaign against Sussex.
Ollie Robinson struck early to dismiss Dan Lawrence for 117 and wicketkeeper Ben Foakes made 60 before James Coles claimed five wickets for 108 runs as Surrey finished their first innings on 490 all out.
Tom Haines and Daniel Hughes then scored an unbeaten 69 and 49, respectively, as Sussex closed on 132 without loss.
Hampshire vs Somerset
Hampshire’s rain-affected meeting with Somerset also ended with players shaking hands as Sean Dickson finished unbeaten on 77 and Tom Abell also scored 27 not out.
Yorkshire vs Durham
Yorkshire skipper Jonny Bairstow finished with an unbeaten 86 as his side’s clash with Durham led to a draw, with rain bringing an early end to the match.
Bairstow’s unbeaten knock alongside Matthew Revis’ 40 saw Yorkshire close on 277 for six, with Durham bowlers Ben Raine, Matthew Potts and Colin Ackermann all taking two wickets each.
Rain also affected Warwickshire‘s draw with Nottingham, where a stubborn display saw Ed Barnard finish with a top rating of 40 not out from 149 balls and Oliver Hannon-Dalby added seven runs from 62 deliveries to shut on 181 for six.
Division Two
In Division Two, Middlesex earned a nine-wicket win against Glamorgan.
Kiran Carlson was dismissed early within the session by Toby Roland-Jones – who finished with three wickets – before Chris Cooke added 69 from 151 balls.
The wicketkeeper’s knock was delivered to an end by Henry Brookes and Ned Leonard’s cameo of 47 saw Glamorgan finish on 329 all out and Middlesex easily chased down their goal of 59 runs to win their first County Championship game of the season.
Leicestershire remain top of the Division Two standings after three games, despite drawing with Lancashire.
A rain-affected day 4 saw Lancashire construct on their overnight rating of 16 for 3, closing on 90 for 3 with Josh Bohannon and Marcus Harris scoring 45 and 34, respectively.
Kent stay second within the standings after their clash with Gloucestershire led to a draw.
Miles Hammond claimed 89 off 136 balls, while Oliver Price and Graeme van Buuren scored half-centuries before Gloucestershire declared on 333 for five.
England opener Zak Crawley made an unbeaten 54, but Tawanda Muyeye was Kent’s next highest scorer as an excellent display from Tom Price saw the all-rounder take 4 wickets for 33 runs to scale back the hosts to 124 for six at close.
Rain prevented any play going down on day 4 as Derbyshire and Northamptonshire’s clash finished in a draw.
READ MORE: Essex’s Best XI
