Phew, what a day of County Championship cricket!

Congratulations Sussex, Yorkshire and Northamptonshire on your wins - the former two crucial in the Division Two promotion race.

Well done also to Kent and Nottinghamshire for their rearguards while following on. And Somerset's Tom Banton (pictured below) for his heroics off the medical bench!

But if you thought today was manic, just wait until the excitement of day four!

Thanks for joining us today and see you tomorrow.

Image source, Getty Images

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

Lancashire passed the 150 mark in the 48th over with a four driven off the back foot through cover point by George Balderson off Callum Parkinson.

Chemar Holder will bowl the last over of the day (the 51st) and Balderson is defending down the ground.

That's stumps.

Lancashire battle through the session with six wickets in hand and Matt Hurst unbeaten on 43 with George Balderson on 14.

But they still have a mountain to climb, still 190 in arrears.

The Red Rose lost their captain and leading run scorer in the second over of the innings and Josh Bohannon was out while well set on 56 chasing a wide ball from Matt Potts, who ends Day Three on 3-38.

A frenetic innings that started so brightly with runs flowing from the blades of Sam Robson and Max Holden in particular ends in just 29.2 overs.

Henry Brookes is late on a defensive block against Zafar Gohar, bowling with beautiful flight and a bit of turn and the ball hits the stumps.

With less than two overs remaining in the day's play up to that point that will be a wrap for Day Three.

Glucestershire will need 234 tomorrow to win.

Andrew Radd
BBC Radio Northampton

Image source, Andrew Radd - BBC Sport

For the first time in 349 days, Northamptonshire's team song echoed around Wantage Road after Luke Procter's team broke their duck in this season's Championship.

Rob Keogh - in his 15th summer as a first-team cricketer at Wantage Road - finished the job with his fifth wicket of the innings, and told BBC Radio Northampton "we've been close in a few games this year but haven't been able to get over the line - to do it today was special."

It was Northamptonshire's first match since the departure of head coach John Sadler at the end of last week - with his former assistants Rory Kleinveldt, Greg Smith and Graeme White now in temporary charge.

Supporters will hope for a strong finish to the Championship campaign (at home to Leicestershire next week, followed by a trip to Headingley in the final round of fixtures) as the club looks to 2025 and beyond.

Shakib Al Hasan in for the final over of an absorbing day.

Craig Overton nudges the ball down to fine leg for two and then takes a single leaving Tom Banton two balls to survive.

And of course he does. An unbelievable turn of events which may have put a twist on this huge match in the title race.

Somerset looked all but cooked at 122-8 but the last two pairs have put on 72 to nudge the lead to a more defendable 190.

Very few expected Tom Banton to come out and bat after turning his ankle in the warm up and returning to Taunton on crutches, but remarkably he did.

He has raced to a run-a-ball 28 and has put on 41 so far with Craig Overton (40 not out).

Phew!

Image source, Getty Images

Chemar Holder replaces Matt Potts in the attack and Matty Hurst gets a single to deep square leg.

The innings gap is down to 200.

George Balderson drives to point off the back foot for one.

Josh de Caires moves into double figures with a punch through cover point on the back foot off the bowling of Zaman Akhter.

De Caires and Leus du Plooy trade singles off Tom Price, bowling short and leg side.

Tom Price changes his line and the fifth ball is pushed off the back foot to deep point for one by De Caires.

A short, slower ball to end the over as Du Plooy somehow taps it safely to point.

Five overs left here tonight.

All over at Hove as Sussex collect their seventh win of the season to edge closer to promotion.

Henry Crocombe delivers the coup de grace for Glamorgan as he ends the brave resistance of Dan Douthwaite, uprooting his middle stump.

Douthwaite falls for 16 as Crocombe picks up a third wicket of the innings and fifth of the match.

Surrey spinner Cam Steel finally gets his first bowl of the second innings.

Tom Banton doesn't need a look and smashes a full toss for four through midwicket.

A leading edge runs safe. Banton dispatches another full toss, but doesn't get hold of it and collects just one.

Craig Overton pulls a short ball away for one more and Banton takes a single off the final ball to move to 27.

Four runs to George Balderson, pulling Callum Parkinson in front of square leg.

Just the one run from the Matt Potts over that follows and Lancashire have six more overs to get through tonight.

Shakib Al Hasan is into his 24th over and looks a little jaded as Craig Overton pushes his second ball down the ground for two more.

Good patience from Overton who sees out the over in safety.

A tale of two halves of the days.

Essex were rampant, and Notts were horrendous in the first half of the play as the visitors were routed for 93.

But Haseeb Hameed dug in to score a magnificent century, with Joe Clarke (62) in tow after being asked to follow-on. They've added 131 together.

A disappointing second half of the day for Essex was compounded by news they had been deducted 12 points.

Middlesex were 122-2 at one point and this game is moving so rapidly it's hard to say with absolute clarity which team is in control of it.

Josh de Caires connects with a flashing drive off Tom Price but can't clear the cover fielder this time.

He cuts a single to deep cover point.

Leus du Plooy takes Middlesex to 150 in 23.4 overs with a clip into the onside as Tom Price switches to bowling round the wicket.

One more run to De Caires pushing to deep square leg.

The last ball is a yard down the leg side but it's not ruled as a wide. Has to be a lot wider than that in this form of the game.

Image source, Getty Images

This match has been delivering all day long and Tom Banton's heroics are just the latest chapter.

Both sides can take an awful lot of credit for serving up a match fitting of its top-of-the-table billing. And who knows what could lie ahead yet?

Let's not forget Craig Overton - he's played a super hand here and moves to 34 off 47 balls with a single.

Curran serves up a slower ball and Banton creams it through the covers for his third boundary. He's up to 21 from 20 balls.

Three overs left in the day - Somerset lead by 177.

100 for Hasseb Hameedpublished at 17:57 British Summer Time 11 September

17:57 BST 11 September

Essex 457 v Notts 93 & 177-2

Image source, Rex Features

Haseeb Hameed pushes into the off side and scampers through to raise his bat.

1,000 runs and a third century of the season.

Not a bad afternoon for Hameed, but even better for his side.

A great captain's innings.