County Championship: Sam Curran hits maiden century as Surrey take command against Kent

Surrey racked up 673-7 against Kent in the County Championship as Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Ben Geddes and Hashim Amla all made centuries; Keaton Jennings hit 94 off 152 balls to put Lancashire in a promising position against Gloucestershire; Simon Harmer starred with bat and ball for Essex

Image: Sam Curran's 126 came off just 75 balls against Kent

Sam Curran made his maiden first-class hundred as Division One leaders Surrey continued to dominate Kent on the second day of their LV= Insurance County Championship match at the Kia Oval.

For only the second time in their history, four batsmen made centuries in the same Championship innings as Surrey racked up 673-7 declared, with Will Jacks making an undefeated 103 to add to the first-day hundreds by Ben Geddes and Hashim Amla.

Surrey's total was a new record against Kent and only two runs more than they made at Beckenham in May when seven of their batters scored fifties - but no one made a hundred.

Curran then picked up the wicket of Ben Compton in the fourth over of Kent's reply and the visitors also lost Joe Denly before Daniel Bell-Drummond and skipper Jack Leaning fought back either side of a 90-minute rain delay which took 17 overs out of the day's allocation.

Bell-Drummond reached fifty for the second successive match as Kent closed on 147-2, still 526 runs behind.

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Opener Keaton Jennings narrowly missed out on a century as Lancashire moved into a promising position on day two of their Division One match with Gloucestershire at Bristol.

The experienced England Test batter hit 94 off 152 balls, with 15 fours and a six, helping his side reach 226-4 in their first innings by the close - 111 behind. Steven Croft was unbeaten on 49.

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The hosts had been bowled out for 337 from an overnight 279-7, Chris Dent falling for 110 and Zafar Gohar a valuable 62 - his highest score for Gloucestershire. Jack Morley finished with 4-91.

On a benign pitch, the total looked below par and a second-wicket stand of 115 between Jennings and Josh Bohannon paved the way for Lancashire to make serious inroads.

Warwickshire's Oliver Hannon-Dalby celebrated 250 career first-class wickets as he ran through Northamptonshire's lower order on day two of their Division One match at Northampton.

In a miserly four-over spell, Hannon-Dalby claimed four victims for just five runs as Northamptonshire added 31 runs to their overnight total to close on 451 all out.

The 33-year-old-seamer is now the second leading wicket-taker in Division One with 29 scalps, just behind Keith Barker's 32.

But despite his efforts Warwickshire still face a tough task in this game after some highly-disciplined Northamptonshire bowling restricted scoring to just 1.8 an over with only two boundaries coming in the first 25 overs of the visitors' reply.

Alex Davies looked to regain the initiative with some lusty blows but Jack White soon ended the resistance when he trapped him leg before for 31. Dom Sibley was still there at the close unbeaten on 30 as Warwickshire ended the day on 71-1, still a mammoth 380 behind.

Simon Harmer tormented Hampshire with bat and ball as Essex racked up a huge advantage in their Division One fixture.

South African Harmer claimed 8-46 - the best figures by anyone so far in the 2022 Championship - to condemn Hampshire to a 75-run first-innings deficit.

He then totted up 61 to go alongside Adam Rossington's 60 to ease Essex away from 51 for five and to set Hampshire a target of 299, taken down to 264 by the close.

Across the three innings, all 14 wickets in the day fell to spin bowling - with Liam Dawson picking up his best Hampshire figures of 7-68 and Felix Organ 3-7 on a pitch full of turn.

Derbyshire's batsmen ran amok to place their side in total control on the second day of their Division Two match against Sussex at Hove.

The visitors piled up 551-8 before declaring and at the close Sussex were 142-3 in reply.

The Sussex bowlers toiled on a flat pitch and on a warm day and their worst period was after lunch, by which time Derbyshire were seven wickets down.

Sussex did take an eighth wicket, but then Anuj Dal (146 not out) and Mark Watt (55 not out) thumped a century partnership off just 115 balls.

Their unbroken stand of 108 in 20 overs is a new ninth-wicket record for Derbyshire against Sussex, beating the partnership between Maynard Ashcroft and Joe Humphries at Hove in 1904, a match in which the great CB Fry scored a double century.

Joe Leach marked his return to first-team action with career-best figures of 6-44 to help Worcestershire establish control on day two of their Division Two match with Glamorgan at New Road.

The all-rounder has been sidelined since suffering a back problem in mid-May but quickly made his presence felt on a wicket of pace and bounce continuing to offer encouragement to the seamers.

His three-wicket burst on Sunday evening had put Worcestershire in the ascendancy and he continued in the same vein on Monday to earn his side a lead of 132.

Only opener Ed Byrom, with a fighting half-century, offered much resistance.

Azhar Ali and Jake Libby then built on Worcestershire's position of strength with a second-wicket stand of 87.

But Michael Neser bowled an inspired late spell which brought him three wickets as the home side closed with a lead of 279.

Division Two leaders Nottinghamshire tightened their grip on their match against Middlesex, posting their highest total at Trent Bridge for seven years as Lyndon James made a career-best 152.

The 23-year-old all-rounder turned his overnight 90 into a first century on home soil, going well past his previous best of 108 before miscuing a ball from Middlesex's young leg-spinner Luke Hollman to backward point, as Nottinghamshire racked up 551 before declaring eight wickets down.

After a rocky start saw them slip to 37-3 inside 10 overs, Mark Stoneman and Max Holden looked to have built a platform for a Middlesex fightback by adding 69 in 24 overs, but Stoneman fell for 67 just before close to leave the visitors 106-4, still 445 runs behind.

Hollman finished with 4-122 as the most successful Middlesex bowler, although only Toby Roland-Jones was able to find any measure of control.

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