2018 County Championship round-up, round 1: Bowlers' dominance at the Old Trafford

Division Two:

Wiese and Stone shine in a run feast at Edgbaston

David Wiese was an absolute star in the first innings as he picked up 4/56 and scored 106 runs. The runs were flowing in slowly but constantly for the Warwickshire team after an initial firing from Ian Bell. Later, wicket-keeper Tim Ambrose added 81 runs more to the board. The Sussex returned stronger with captain Ben Brown's 91 and Wiese's quick century. Despite the flood of runs for the Sussex, Oli Stone managed to pick 8/80. Warwickshire didn't collapse, however, and kept going for 35 overs with Dominic Sibley's unbeaten 42 runs before the match was finally drawn.

Match was drawn (Bell - 70 & 10, Stone - 8/80, Wiese - 106, Sharma - 5/152)

Wickets go the Matt way as Kent misses its stars

Gloucestershire got off to a great start after they put Kent to batting, winning the toss. They were all out within 19 overs, adding only 64 runs to the board. Matt Taylor picked 4 wickets, Worrall 3 and Miles 2. With the help of Gareth Roderick's 51, Gloucestershire managed to put up a lead of 46 runs as Matt Henry picked up 4 wickets for Kents.

Kents were back stronger in the second innings and Daniel Bell-Drummond and Zak Crawley contributed the maximum to accumulate a total of 153. A slow partnership between Roderick and James Bracey worth 78 led the Gloucestershire team to a comfortable win with 5 wickets left.

Gloucestershire won by 5 wickets (Roderick - 51 & 26, Howell - 0 & 52, Taylor - 6/69, Worrall - 4/45)

James Harris leads Middlesex to its first victory

After scoring 214 runs in the first innings with Harris' 46 atop, Middlesex bowled out Northamptonshire for 74 runs. While four batsmen scored over 30 for Middlesex, 20 was the highest individual score for the Northants. In the second innings, Middlesex went a little slower adding 159 while Procter and Bracewell picked up 3 wickets each.

While Rob Newton got off a good start, no other batsmen could set up a decent partnership with him. Murtagh and Harris shared 8 wickets between themselves reducing the Northants to 142 in the 2nd innings.

Middlesex won by 160 runs (Harris - 46 & 18, Stirling - 44 & 1, Harris - 9/48, Murtagh - 8/63)