Yorkshire’s batsmen, led by centurion Gary Ballance in partnership with Tom Kohler-Cadmore, secured the early advantage during a hard-fought opening day against Specsavers County Championship leaders Somerset.

Yorkshire ended the day on 282-3 from 96 overs, with Ballance (111) and Kohler-Cadmore (77no) batting from late morning until late evening as they shared 199 inside 62 overs. SCORECARD

Ballance fell to Tim Groenewald three overs from the end – caught at second slip by Jamie Overton for Groenewald’s 400th first-class wicket.

Warwickshire bowler Will Rhodes sliced through the Essex order with four wickets in 26 balls either side of tea to claim career-best bowling figures of 5-17 at Chelmsford.

Alastair Cook (84) and Dan Lawrence (61) had put on 116 for the third wicket before Rhodes had both batsmen back in the pavilion in quick succession to kick-start a major collapse from 157-2 to 171-6. SCORECARD

Essex revived belatedly but were dismissed for 245 just before the close.

Ravichandran Ashwin ripped through Surrey’s batting line up with six wickets for Nottinghamshire against the ailing defending champions at Trent Bridge.

Ashwin claimed figures of 5-69, with Liam Patterson-White bagging three more and Samit Patel removing Scott Borthwick as Surrey were bowled out for 240. SCORECARD

Nottinghamshire, bottom of the table and without a win in any of their last 16 Championship matches, reached the close on 20-1.

Felix Organ celebrated his maiden first-class century as Hampshire ended on top against Kent. SCORECARD

Academy graduate Organ, on just his third Championship appearance, showed a delightful mixture of defensive resolve with a pinch of flair to score exactly 100 and was well supported by Ian Holland (60) and Rilee Rossouw (92).

But despite Hampshire bossing the day, evening wickets with the second new ball gave Kent rewards for their toils as the hosts ended the day on 340-6.

In Division Two, Lancashire enjoyed a first day of utter dominance against Sussex, bowling out their opponents for 127 and then making 149-1 in reply. SCORECARD

Matthew Parkinson collected a career-best six 6-23 from 15.2 overs and Australian Glenn Maxwell picked up 4-41.

Alex Davies then made 72 before becoming the only Lancashire wicket to fall and Keaton Jennings was unbeaten on 53 at the close.

Worcestershire had the better of a rain-interrupted first day against Durham, reducing the hosts to 122-6. SCORECARD

Joe Leach and Charlie Morris were on point with the ball in the morning session, taking two wickets apiece as Durham slipped to 47-6 before staging a recovery between the rain showers.

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