Rain stops play at Tauntonpublished at 10:33 British Summer Time 12 September

10:33 BST 12 September

Somerset 317 & 195-9 v Surrey 321

Craig Overton slashes at the first ball of the day. And misses.

A drive through the covers gets the scoreboard ticking with a single to take the lead to 191.

No, no, no. The rain has come and it's heavy so the players are going off just two balls in.

Simon Harmer opens up day four with only a single off his over.

You fancy the South African to have a big say in proceedings today - as he has done many times over his years at Essex.

Haseeb Hameed was brilliant with his century yesterday. How big can he go?

The eyes of all Somerset supporters would have been on the pavilion door this morning, to see whether Tom Banton emerged from it to bat again this morning after his surprising cameo late on day three.

And he WILL! With a runner, naturally. Again he limps out gingerly giving his Kookaburra bat its alternative use as a walking stick.

He put on 28 from 28 balls yesterday, adding 41 for the last wicket with Craig Overton, all with a potentially significant ankle injury.

You feel Somerset will need a few more runs to defend with Surrey’s deep batting line-up.

But with this match, there’s no point guessing!

Dan Worrall will run in to start the day with Overton facing.

Lancashire have to bat out the day.

Durham have a cushion of 190 runs to go for all out attack if captain Scott Borthwick chooses to do so.

Matty Hurst resumes on 43 not out and George Balderson has 14.

Spinner Callum Parkinson will bowl the first ball of the day to Hurst.

Ben Compton and Tawanda Muyeye have a job on their hands.

They did well yesterday afternoon before the rain caused play to finish early. If they can knock off the 126-run deficit without too much damage to the wicket column this is heading to a 16:50 BST handshake.

A long way to go until then.

The good news is, in theory this is perfect batting conditions. Blue skies, 17 over old ball and a pitch which has proven you can stick around on it.

Mo Abbas will want to have something to say about that. He begins with a straight ball which is blocked by Compton.

If Gloucestershire manage this, Middlesex will rue their calamitous second innings collapse from 122-2 to 165 even more than they did last night.

Prior to that, Sam Robson, Max Holden and Leus du Plooy scored 117 runs between them in a combined total of 111 balls as the hosts tried to keep the pressure on promotion rivals, Sussex and Yorkshire.

But they lost momentum trying to force the pace risks and lost their last five wickets for four runs.

Middlesex have six points in this game so far and will be 15 points behind second-placed Yorkshire going into the penultimate round if they lose.

Ben Charlesworth and Cameron Bancroft are ready to open the innings.

Middlesex captain Toby Roland-Jones will bowl to Bancroft.

BBC Sounds

Remember, if you love listening to the County Championship action, you can now access our ball-by-ball radio commentary on most smart speakers, as well as through the 'Watch & listen' link at the top of this page.

Simply tell your smart speaker to ask BBC Sounds to play the fixture of your choice and the day of play. So, for example, today you could say "ask BBC Sounds to play Somerset v Surrey day three".

BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra will be bringing listeners every ball of the final day of Somerset v Surrey. You can listen to it from this page if you click the 'Watch & listen' link (which you can find towards the top of this page) and navigate to the match with a picture of stumps being broken.

Of course, you will also find all the other ball-by-ball radio commentaries in the same place.

If you have a smart speaker you can also say "ask BBC Sounds to play Somerset v Surrey day four", if you would prefer to listen on a different device.

Three-day wins for Yorkshire and Sussex have massively piled the pressure on Middlesex today.

Their second-innings collapse from 122-2 to 165 all out against Gloucestershire yesterday could prove hugely costly.

Can they defend a target of 234 to remain in the promotion picture?

Lancashire have picked up just one bowling point in this game and none with the bat.

They are now in danger of a third successive innings defeat in a row and an unprecedented four innings defeats in a season.

Notts are just above Lancashire in the table and in a battle of their own against Essex at Chelmsford.

They've picked up two bonus points in their match and can stretch their lead further over the relegation zone inhabited by Lancashire and Kent if they can bat out the day today.

They're 180-2 following on and trailing by 184 runs.

The current gap between Lancashire and Notts (including the current round to date) is 11 points.

A draw is worth eight points.

Image source, Getty Images

Where to start with this one?

First, the bare bones. Second-placed Somerset start the day with one second-innings wicket wicket in hand, 190 runs ahead of leaders Surrey.

But that scarcely tells the story of an absorbing, and at times frenetic, day three at Taunton which had just about everything.

Archie Vaughan, son of former England skipper Michael, takes 6-102 in just his second county championship as Surrey collapse to 228-8.

Tom Curran then smashes eight sixes to get the champions out of the soup and into a four-run lead on first innings.

Somerset subside and lose their first eight wickets while holding a slim 118-run lead, with Tom Banton unlikely to bat after injuring himself in the warm-up.

Then, when the ninth wicket goes down, Banton emerges, using his bat as a walking stick to reach the crease.

He hits an unbeaten 28 from 28 balls - virtually on one leg - in a 41-run unbroken ninth-wicket stand with Craig Overton (40).

All this with the County Championship title on the line.

Image source, Getty Images

Still all to play for at Taunton as Somerset fought hard to restore their chances of a win to narrow the gap on leaders Surrey and set up an interesting final two rounds to the season.

Hampshire are in a good position to pounce on any slip-ups, but Essex's hopes are shot after their 12-point deduction.

Kent will be all but down if they lose against Hants, while the other relegation place looks to be between Lancashire and Notts with both firmly on the backfoot in their matches.

Division One

• Durham 573-9 dec v Lancashire 228 & 155-4
• Essex 457 v Nottinghamshire 93 & 180-2
• Kent 207 & 70-0 v Hampshire 403
• Somerset 317 & 194-9 v Surrey 321
• Worcestershire 307 v Warwickshire 128 & 171-3

Division Two

• Leicestershire (98 & 209) lost to Yorkshire (379) by an innings and 72 runs
• Middlesex 377 & 165 v Gloucestershire 309-9 dec
• Northamptonshire (219 & 211) beat Derbyshire (165 & 132) by 133 runs
• Sussex (491) beat Glamorgan (186 & 218) by an innings and 87 runs

Image source, Getty Images

What a day we have in store for you today!

Lancashire, Nottinghamshire and Kent need big days with the bat to save their matches and boost their hopes of avoiding relegation.

With promotion rivals Yorkshire and Sussex winning on day three, Middlesex desperately have to beat Gloucestershire. Gloucs need a nervy 234 runs to win today.

And all that is before we consider the biggest match, with the title on the line - Somerset v Surrey.

Excitement at every turn. Let's get to it...