Somerset cling on at Headingley after Hill and Bess dominate
George Hill made 89 and Dom Bess 77 as Yorkshire piled on runs, but Abell and Lammonby steadied Somerset's chase of 287 by the close.
Set 287 to win by Yorkshire, Somerset lost Josh Thomas caught behind in the first over, and two more wickets went down before Abell and Lammonby steadied things. Yorkshire's overnight pair had made them work for it. George Hill and Dom Bess put on 166 for the seventh wicket, Hill top-edging a pull to Craig Overton for a season's-best 89, Bess following for 77 —, having left Somerset himself. The Guardian's live coverage set tomorrow's magic cider number at 214.
At Grace Road, Leicestershire and Hampshire are locked in a straight relegation fight — a draw sends both down, a win keeps the mathematics alive for the winner. Leicestershire took the last six Hampshire wickets for 80, then reached 156 for three chasing 334, Rehan Ahmed contributing eight fours in a brisk 55 before he was out. Rishi Patel made 27 in his final Grace Road innings before his move to Southampton. The club is already absorbing a 27-point penalty from the Cricket Regulator, and its chief groundsman has been fielding questions of a different kind, blaming some of the pitch problems on the filming of a Sourav Ganguly biopic, "Dada", starring Rajkummar Rao, at the ground.
Nottinghamshire, the reigning champions, go into the final day under pressure of their own, still to be separated from Warwickshire and Somerset with two rounds left to decide Division One, as reported three days ago.
If Somerset close out the chase at Headingley, they stay level with the two teams above them going into the final round — the title picture that made the top of the table a five-point contest earlier this week.
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