Somerset gaining ground thanks to Karthik

SOMERSET are up to third in the Division One standings after wrapping up a 181-run victory over Warwickshire yesterday – their third success in a row.

Murali Karthik continued his one-man crusade against Warwickshire with a match return of 11 wickets for 72 runs at Edgbaston, coming on the back of figures of 6-61 at Taunton last month.

Warwickshire were set a target of 312 and offered some early resilience with Varun Chopra making 46, but then collapsed to be all out for 130.

A season's-best unbeaten 181 by Darren Stevens took Kent into a strong position against Nottinghamshire before rain and lightning arrived at Tunbridge Wells to halt play with the hosts on 478-6.

Responding to Notts' first-innings 462, Kent moved into a 16-run lead courtesy of a Nevill Ground sixth-wicket record stand worth 270 between Stevens and James Tredwell (115) before umpires Nigel Llong and Jeff Evans abandoned play for the day just after 5pm.

By 3pm the Kent pair had already beaten the 58-year-old ground record partnership of Dickie Mayes and Bill Murray-Wood worth 233, scored against Sussex in 1952.

Essex's Matt Walker was left one run short of his first century of the season as Hampshire took a slender advantage into day four at the Rose Bowl.

Walker's five-hour innings came to an end eight balls before lunch as he was caught by Michael Carberry at backward point, after the Hampshire opener fumbled at the first attempt, to close the Essex innings.

Jimmy Adams's 56 then helped steer the hosts to a second-innings lead of 250 and with four wickets in hand Hampshire will be looking to build a strong score before trying to skittle through the Essex order.

In Division Two, Leicestershire spinners Claude Henderson and Jigar Naik combined superbly to inflict an innings and 60-run defeat on Surrey at The Brit Oval.

Left-armer Henderson was the star performer in Surrey's first innings, taking six wickets for 84 runs, and after they had followed on, off-spinner Naik recorded figures of 7-96, the first five-wicket return of his career.

Surrey were bowled out for a paltry 183.

The defeat, Surrey's first at Leicestershire's hands in the competition since 1998, would have been even more clear-cut but for an entertaining last-wicket stand as Younis Khan, who hit three leg-side sixes off Naik in an unbeaten 77, and Jade Dernbach put on 46.

Another impressive innings from Chesney Hughes raised Derbyshire's hopes of avoiding the follow-on against second-placed Sussex before England all-rounder Luke Wright landed two late blows.

Stephen Peters fell one run short of what would have been the first double-century of his career after batting for just over nine hours to put Northamptonshire in a commanding position in the match against Middlesex at Lord's.