Early leaders Essex welcomed Somerset to Chelmsford and were put in to bat. They struggled to cope with the away side’s attack and were bowled out for just 149. Coming in at 114 for five, things were still more or less in the balance until skipper Craig Overton took the game away from the hosts with a career-best innings of 141 to help his side up to 348 in reply. Will Smeed, on his first-class debut, coming in as a replacement for Tom Kohler-Cadmore, made 39. Essex performed slightly better in their second innings, reaching 245 all out, but it left Somerset with just 47 to chase down, which they did without loss as Archie Vaughan (replacing Lewis Goldsworthy) hit 41 not out off 25 balls to complete the win inside three days. They replaced Essex at the top of the table.

There was a thrilling game at Hove, where Warwickshire chose to bat first. A seventh-wicket partnership of 115 between Kai Smith (53) and Chris Woakes (64) was the most significant part of their total of 267. But Sussex stumbled in their reply, with no batter going beyond the thirties, as they were bowled out for only 204. A score of 90 from opener Rob Yates set the visitors on their way to 264 all out, leaving the home side to chase a daunting target of 328. Daniel Hughes (83) seemed to be leading the hosts to victory, but soon after he was out it was 184 for five, and the game was in the balance. Two of Sussex’s new recruits, Jack Leaning and Tom Price, then took charge, with Leaning going on to make an unbeaten 120 while Price reached 70 not out by the time their side had secured a five wicket win. Sussex are the only side to have won both games so far this season, but their points deduction means they sit in third place.

Champions Nottinghamshire welcomed Glamorgan to Trent Bridge and were put in to bat. Jack Haynes top-scored with 100, while Timm van der Gugten and Ryan Hadley each took four wickets to bowl out the home side for 279. Glamorgan were skittled out for 113, Fergus O’Neill taking four for 24 and Brett Hutton four for 33. It was Joe Clarke, with 136, who led the way in the hosts’ second innings, enabling them to declare on 311 for nine, setting an unlikely target of 478. Highly rated Asa Tribe made 85, but no one else made a significant contribution as they were bowled out for 285, beaten by 192 runs.

Hampshire travelled up to Leeds and were put in to bat. Jake Lehmann made 76 but had little support as the away side were all out for 251, with George Hill taking five for 46. However, Kyle Abbott and Sonny Baker both took four wickets each as Yorkshire fell away to 177 in reply. Skipper Ben Brown’s unbeaten 103 in just 109 balls enabled him to declare on 351 for five, setting a target of 426. Yorkshire, meanwhile, had lost both Jhye Richardson and Jack White to illness, with Benjamin Cliff and Logan van Beek replacing them (the latter taking four wickets in Hampshire’s second innings). Yorkshire’s batters had no answer to Abbott, who finished with six for 21 to give him match figures of ten for 70, as they were bowled out for 211. For Hampshire, their 214-run victory was a dramatic turnaround from their poor effort in the first round.

Leicestershire seemed to have made a mistake when they chose to field first at The Oval, as Surrey took full advantage of a great batting track. Jamie Smith made his second consecutive century (166) while Ollie Pope also reached three figures (103), the pair adding exactly 200 for the third wicket, as the home side piled up a hefty total of 520 at 4.58 runs per over. Rishi Patel (164) and Jake Weatherald (96) put on 156 for the first wicket to set the visitors on their way, but it was a sixth-wicket partnership of 227 between Stephen Eskinazi (100) and Ben Cox (a career-best 162) that took them into a comfortable lead. Leicestershire’s mammoth total of 691 all out was the third highest in their history. There was just time for Smith to fall narrowly short of a third successive hundred (89) and Pope to make 83 not out before the match ended as a draw, with Surrey on 263 for four. The 1474 runs scored came at an average of 61.41 across the game.

In the Second Division, Durham recorded their largest ever innings victory, beating Gloucestershire by an innings and 225 runs at Bristol. The home side chose to field first, and by the time they picked up their first wicket at the end of the 58th over Alex Lees (129) and Ben McKinney had put on 305 runs. McKinney wasn’t finished, scoring an unbeaten 214 runs on the first day. He was finally dismissed for 244, his innings including 36 fours and six sixes, giving him 180 runs in boundaries. Durham weren’t finished, as David Bedingham then hit 118, before his side declared on 605 for five. After all that, the hosts were at a loss and crumbled to 175 all out, Ben Raine taking five for 45. Forced to follow on, they fared little better in their second innings, reaching 205. The result left Durham top of the table.

Also beaten inside three days were Middlesex, but their game at Lord’s against Worcestershire was much closer indeed. The visitors were asked to bat first and a captain’s knock of 75 from Brett D’Oliveira took them up to 191 all out, before Middlesex fell 8 runs short of that in their reply as on-loan Oliver Hannon-Dalby took four for 45. An opening partnership of 112 by Daniel Lategan (63) and Jake Libby (79) put the away side en route to a total of 253, setting a target of 262. Once again, no Middlesex batter could manage fifty and they were dismissed for 204 to lose by 57 runs.

Kent’s woes from last season continue. Northamptonshire visited Canterbury and made the wise decision to bat first. Ricardo Vasconcelos (127) put on 224 for the first wicket with skipper Luke Procter, who then added 248 for the second wicket with Calvin Harrison (153). Procter eventually declared on 684 for two, having scored a career-best 261 not out, when Nathan McSweeney reached 101 not out off just 85 balls. The runs had come at 5.12 an over. Kent needed something special after that, but none of their batters reached fifty and they were all out for 178, with Harry Conway taking five for 36. Unsurprisingly they had to follow on, and under-pressure England opener Zak Crawley continued his poor start to the summer, having scored just 60 runs in four completed innings. With defeat seemingly inevitable, fortunately the weather meant that fewer than 40 overs were possible on the final day, and Ben Compton batted a little over six hours for his 114 not out to see his side safely to a draw, finishing on 253 for five.

Finally, at Old Trafford Derbyshire chose to field first, only to find the returning Marcus Harris in fine form, making 125. Lancashire were eventually bowled out for 351, with Shoaib Bashir taking four wickets. The away side replied with 374 to take a narrow lead into the second innings. Harris top-scored again (66) in the home side’s second innings, but they managed only 160, leaving the visitors to chase a meagre target of 138. At 73 for three, Derbyshire seemed to be cruising to victory, but when skipper Harry Came was caught behind for 30, the rest of the line-up crumbled to James Anderson, the Red Rose captain, who took four for 18. Lancashire edged home in a thrilling game by 29 runs as the visitors were all out for 108.