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LONDON, May 8: New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming struck an unbeaten double century for Nottinghamshire on the second day of their First Division County Championship match away to Surrey at The Oval on Saturday. Fleming, now also the Nottinghamshire skipper, was 223 not out at stumps. The left-hander struck five sixes and 27 fours in his near run-a-ball innings as the visitors ended a day disrupted by a wet outfield on 580 for four — a lead of 363 in reply to Surrey’s 217.
Former Nottinghamshire captain Jason Gallian weighed in with 141 while Darren Bicknell, once a Surrey stalwart, scored 91 and David Hussey 74 as both teams looked to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.
Elsewhere Glamorgan were forced to follow on against Gloucestershire at Sophia Gardens after all-rounder Alex Gidman broke through the hosts’ top order with four for 47.
The hosts were bowled out for 239 in reply to Gloucestershire’s 466 and at the close in their second innings were 93 for one - still 134 runs shy of making Chris Taylor’s team bat again.
At the Rose Bowl, Middlesex eked out a first innings lead of four runs over Hampshire after being bowled out for 279, Owais Shah (83) and Ed Joyce (70) the main contributors.
But the home side also struggled before closing on 28 for two in their second innings, just 24 runs in front.
Close of play scores on Saturday:
County Championship (second day of four):
First Division:
At Sophia Gardens: Gloucestershire 466 (C.G. Taylor 176, C.M. Spearman 73, S. Adshead 59, Kadeer Ali 55); Glamorgan 239 (M. Wallace 52; A. Gidman 4-47) and 93-1.
At The Rose Bowl: Hampshire 275 (J.P. Crawley 84, M. Brown 51; S.B. Styris 4-45, A. Richardson 4-53) and 28-2; Middlesex 279 (O.A. Shah 83, E.C. Joyce 70)
At The Oval: Surrey 217 (J. Benning 56; M.A. Ealham 4-53); Nottinghamshire 580-4 (S.P. Fleming 223 not out, J.E.R. Gallian 141, D.J. Bicknell 91, D.J. Hussey 74).
Second Division:
At Chelmsford: Leicestershire 220 (D.D.J. Robinson 73) and 57-1; Essex 362 (W.I. Jefferson 93)
At Headingley: Northamptonshire 281 (J. Louw 58, B.J. Phillips 55 not out; G. Kruis 5-59) and 9-0 v Yorkshire 328 (P. Jaques 176, I. Dawood 51; D. Wright 8-60).
At Stockton: Somerset 252 (J. Hildreth 70; P.D. Collingwood 5-52) and 88-3; Durham 298 (L. Plunkett 74 not out, M. Davies 62; A.R. Caddick 6-106).
At Old Trafford: Derbyshire 215 (L. Sutton 95; J.M. Anderson 4-62); Lancashire 175-1 (M.B. Loye 91 not out, M.J. Chilton 50).—AFP
