Knight closing in on runs milestone

Nick Knight faced an uneasy night's sleep after reaching the close of play unbeaten on 198 in Warwickshire's match against Sussex at Edgbaston yesterday.

Warwickshire will resume today in a dominant position on 368 for 7, but Michael Powell's 57 and Jim Troughton's 45 were the only innings of any substance to support Knight's mammoth knock.

In the Second Division, Essex rallied late in the day to prevent their recent slump in from continuing against Glamorgan at Chelmsford.

Jon Stephenson's unbeaten 46 and a 42 from James Middlebrook helped the home side recover from 97 for 6 to post a respectable 231. Essex had made a disastrous start as Alex Wharf claimed three early wickets to reduce them to 38 for 3.

The Welshmen survived one over to reach six without loss at stumps.

Durham claimed the last four Nottinghamshire wickets for 27 runs to dash the visitors' hopes of securing maximum batting points at the Riverside.

Usman Afzaal's 103 and Jason Gallian's 75 looked to have put Nottinghamshire on course for a huge total but, after 60 from Paul Franks, Durham struck back to bowl their opponents out for 362.

Tim Hancock also scored a century as Gloucestershire enjoyed an excellent first day in their festival match with Middlesex at Cheltenham, reaching 367 for 6.