Chelmsford's 262-5 against Nottinghamshire was anchored by Essex captain Tom Westley's 108 not out.
To steer his side out of trouble, he shared a fourth-wicket stand of 142 with Paul Walter (72).
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Durham's Ben Raine took four wickets to reduce Lancashire to 177-6, which was only averted by Matthew Hurst's unbeaten 74 and Josh Bohannon's 49.
Kent reduced Hampshire to 213-7 on a rain-shortened day thanks to Hampshire skipper James Vince's 88.
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Six wickets were shared by Matt Parkinson (3-31) and George Garrett.
In the mid-table battle at home to Warwickshire, Worcestershire captain Brett D'Oliveira struck his fourth successive half-century after returning from injury.
Sussex's promotion hopes were boosted after left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat took 4-52 against Glamorgan.
With Daniel Hughes (57no) and Tom Haines (48), the hosts reached stumps at 121-1.
Leicestershire were beaten by Yorkshire by 18 wickets on the first day of their promotion chase.
Banton, Tom
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At one point, Somerset had 305 for five
Ben Cox's 51no helped the hosts recover from 15-7 in the first hour to 98.
Ben Coad took 5-15 before Yorkshire captain Jonny Tattersall hit 90 to finish with 263-8.
Middlesex were put in by Gloucestershire at Lord's and Jack Davies scored 91, his best first-class score.
Middlesex's left-hander shared a sixth-wicket partnership of 120 with Josh de Caires (64); Max Holden made 77 at three; and Tom Price and Ajeet Singh Dale shared nine wickets.
In the clash between two bottom teams, all seven Derbyshire bowlers claimed at least one wicket, with Saif Zaib (90) and Justin Broad (45) making any difference.
With two wickets each, Zak Chappell and Martin Andersson led the visitors to a 65-1 reply.
