Yorkshire put themselves right back into the race for the LV= County Championship title with a deserved five-wicket victory over leaders Nottinghamshire.

After bowling the hosts out for 413 in their second innings, with Ajmal Shahzad picking up four wickets to take his match haul to eight for 121, Yorkshire raced to their victory target of 209 inside 43 overs thanks to a sparkling unbeaten 63 from Jonathan Bairstow.

There was a brief scare when they lost their top four in the space of six overs, but Bairstow put on 97 in 15 overs for the fifth wicket with Gerard Brophy (41), before taking a single to square leg to complete the win.

Somerset moved back into contention for a first ever Championship title with a nine-wicket victory over Lancashire at Taunton.

The 23 points gained by the home side took them to within two of leaders Nottinghamshire and they will go to Durham for their final game next week in confident mood.

Charl Willoughby took three for 37 and Alfonso Thomas three for 53 as Lancashire were bowled out for 170 in their second innings, Steven Croft top-scoring with 46.

That left Somerset needing just 48 to win and they knocked off the required runs in 8.4 overs for the loss of skipper Marcus Trescothick.

Hampshire vastly improved their chances of remaining in the top flight by extending their lead over Kent to 294 with four wickets intact going into the final day against their fellow strugglers.

Half-centuries from Michael Carberry, Jimmy Adams and Liam Dawson helped the visitors to reach 272 for six when rain stopped play.

Essex put themselves in a strong position to bid farewell to Division One on a winning note as they dominated the third day's play against Durham at Chelmsford.

After Matt Walker's first century of the season led them to a second-innings total of 367, the visitors found themselves facing a daunting victory target of 459.

When bad light ended play nine overs early, they had progressed to 31 for one.

Sussex virtually wrapped up Second Division title after completing an innings win over Northamptonshire at Hove.

Pakistan fast bowler Yasir Arafat took the 39th five-wicket haul of his career as the visitors' second innings resistance ended an hour and 15 minutes after lunch on the third day when they were bowled out for 237, giving Sussex victory by an innings and 19 runs, their eighth win of the season.

Torrential rain and a crucial ninth-wicket stand between Jim Allenby and Dean Cosker stalled Surrey's progress on day three against Glamorgan at the Brit Oval.

Glamorgan had just scraped past the follow-on target of 231 when the heavens opened shortly before 2pm, and although the ground was bathed in sunshine after the rain relented, it was not possible resume until 5pm.

When play did get under way again Allenby (65 not out) and Huw Waters (16no) safely negotiated the remaining 20 overs, trimming Surrey's lead to 107 as Glamorgan closed on 273 for nine.

Greg Smith scored a career best unbeaten 158 as Leicestershire set Gloucestershire a mountainous target of 488 to win at Grace Road.

And they then reduced the visitors to 78 for five after taking the first three wickets for just five runs in the opening six overs.

Owais Shah's century in his farewell appearance saw Middlesex take control of against Worcestershire at Lord's.

Shah converted his unbeaten overnight 70 into his 38th first-class hundred for Middlesex and, with Neil Dexter adding a classy 97, the hosts reached 392 to earn themselves a first-innings lead of 79 despite Moeen Ali's career-best five for 36 with his off-spin.

Toby Roland-Jones and Pedro Collins then spearheaded a good performance in the field from the home side as Worcestershire struggled to 195 for seven in their second innings.