MARK CHILTON hit an unbeaten century to save the follow-on for Lancashire in their match against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road.

Opener Chilton finished the day with 102 out of Lancashire's 251 for eight as they dipped under the target just before the close.

The day had begun with the hosts in a strong position on 365 for six but they could not capitalise as the tail failed to wag.

Glenn Chapple ripped out the last four wickets - David Ripley, John Blain, Darren Cousins and Jason Brown - for only 33 more runs to leave Northamptonshire short of the big total they would have been looking for. Chapple finished with figures of four for 77.

In response, Lancashire were soon in trouble losing Ryan Driver early and they continued to shed wickets at regular intervals.

Chilton proved harder to remove but the follow-on was still very much in the balance when Chris Schofield fell with the score on 191 for 7. Cousins, Blain, Brown and Tony Penberthy took two wickets each.

However, a partnership of 59 between Chilton and Chapple (31) for the eighth wicket saved the day for Lancashire.

Meanwhile, Yorkshire made good progress as they bid to put their CricInfo County Championship Division One match at Swansea out of Glamorgan's reach.

A fine five for 20 from Chris Silverwood removed Michael Powell, Matthew Maynard and Dean Cosker for ducks while opener Stephen James fell for just four and Keith Newell (14) was also removed.

Glamorgan, responding to the visitors' first-innings knock of 280, were swiftly dismissed for just 104 in 41.3 overs giving Yorkshire a golden opportunity to take complete control.

Their second innings started poorly with Matthew Wood retreating to the pavilion for a four-ball duck. Scott Richardson followed shortly, scoring just five from 21 balls to leave Yorkshire reeling on seven for two.

Craig White steadied the ship with a score of 24 before being bowled by Steve Watkin while Darren Lehmann hit 22 but was caught by Watkin off Cosker.

David Byas (64no) and Gary Fellows (61) put in a sterling performance for the fifth wicket as Yorkshire ended the day on 208 for six, Gavin Hamilton on an unbeaten 12 alongside Byas.

Kent maintained a relentless charge towards a dominating first-innings total of 518 for five declared after resuming their match with Essex at Tunbridge Wells on 320 for three.

David Fulton's mammoth innings ended when he was stumped by James Foster from Paul Grayson's bowling for 179.

Matthew Walker was in good form as he progressed from an overnight 37 to 124 from 242 balls before being caught by Ronnie Irani off Peter Such as Kent racked up a daunting total.

Essex struggled to respond after Paul Prichard was dismissed for a duck from 10 balls when caught by Paul Nixon off Ben Trott.

The Kent pair repeated the trick soon after, dispatching fellow opener Grayson for five in similar fashion.

Stuart Law restored some hope for Essex but was eventually bowled just one run short of his century.

Ronnie Irani (63no) and Steve Peters (unbeaten on seven) gradually began to whittle down the deficit and Essex ended the day on 195 for four.

After Leicestershire's 387 all out on Wednesday, Somerset - inspired by Peter Bowler (103no) - made good progress in their response.

Former England player Devon Malcolm took three for 69 as Somerset finished on 324 for six at the close, with former Leicestershire batsman Bowler making his former team toil.

In Division Two, Middlesex eventually scored 543 in their first innings at Derby.

Owais Shah scored a magnificent 203 before being caught by Graeme Welch off Nathan Dumelow while Ben Hutton also got into three figures, scoring 139.

Phil Tufnell (five for 42) and Paul Weekes (four for 25) piled even more pressure on Derbyshire, who were left staring at a follow-on having managed just 111 for nine by the close.

Murray Goodwin hit a superb 195 before he was trapped lbw by White to help Sussex record a first-innings target of 500 for seven declared against Hampshire at Southampton.

But the home side made good progress in their bid to match that total.

Despite Derek Kenway falling early on lbw to Robin Martin-Jenkins for 35, Hampshire ended the day on 92 for one with Giles White (45no) looking comfortable.

On the opening day at Birmingham, Mark Alleyne (53) and Chris Taylor (44) held up Gloucestershire after Vasbert Drakes had removed the opening three batsmen for just 63 to give Warwickshire a perfect start.

At stumps the visiting side were 261 for six with Tim Hancock (28no) and Reggie Williams (33no) at the crease.

At Chester-le-Street, Durham - responding to Nottinghamshire's first-innings 371 - stumbled to 205 for six with Paul Collingwood not out on 49 and Ian Hunter yet to score at stumps. Paul Johnson had earlier shone for the visitors with 109.