County Championship Division One Round Two

All counties in Division One of the County Championship have had at least two games to find some early season form with Yorkshire currently top of the table.

The White Rose outfit have 51 points from three matches after a draw with Kent at Canterbury.

The home side scored 317 in their first innings thanks to 92 from Darren Stevens, while Tim Bresnan was pick of the bowlers with 5-52.

Yorkshire replied with 283 before Kent declared their second innings on 357-8. The away side made a brave effort of chasing down 392, reaching 300-5 before both captain's agreed on a draw.

Nottinghamshire are in second with a game in hand on 45 points after a two wicket victory over Somerset.

In a tight game, Notts made 250 in reply to Somerset's 272 before Stuart Broad took 5-89 to restrict Somerset to 227 with only Marcus Trescothick (98) and Damien Wright (78) scoring more than 12.

The home side battled to 250-8 for the win with Hasim Amla finishing on 64 not out.

Lancashire are third with 43 points after a crushing eight wicket win at Essex.

The home side were dismissed for 176 after being 16-4 at one stage, chief destroyer being Twenty20 World Cup-bound James Anderson's 6-44.

Lancashire replied with 312 helped by Paul Horton's 123.

Essex managed to set a target of 38 and although two wickets fell the Red Rose county maintained their 100 per cent start to the season but the home side drop to fourth with 33 points having played three matches.

Durham are the only other side to have won a match in fifth with 27 points after a five wicket win over Hampshire.

Hampshire made a good start with 345 in their first innings, opening batsman Michael Carberry hitting 113 while Liam Plunkett took 4-107.

Durham replied with 384 thanks to Michael Di Venuto (71) and Ian Blackwell (83) with Kabir Ali snaring 5-98.

Hampshire's 298 all out set a challenging target of 260 for last year's champions but Blackwell's 62 from 40 balls and Phil Mustard's 32 from 19 balls ensured they chased down the total.

Kent are next in the table with 13 points, followed by Hampshire on 11 points and Somerset and Warwickshire both have nine at the bottom.

After a round of Clydesdale Bank 40 over matches the County Championship resumes with Lancashire V Kent, Somerset V Essex, Warwickshire V Hampshire and Yorkshire V Durham starting April 27.