Brydon Carse with the ball and Zafar Gohar upper-cuts it away to the boundary for four off the first ball.

He and Harry Duke exchange singles in the rest of the over, as Middlesex restart after lunch.

The Seaxes have 66 more overs to bat to either win or save this game.

As BBC Radio London's Kevin Hand pointed out this morning, only victory keeps their slender hopes of promotion alive.

Tom Lawes is on for the first time in the innings.

The Sussex 50 arrives in the 20th over with two runs clipped through square leg by Tom Haines.

Wide outside off and Haines crashes the ball through point for four.

We are back playing in the afternoon session at the County Ground in Derby - and Ben Aitchison, fresh from taking a fifer in the morning session, is back with the ball in his hands.

Kent pair Ekansh Singh and Chris Benjamin are digging in having put 50 on for the sixth wicket.

An intriguing factor to consider when it comes to the Division One title race is that all three contenders face away matches next week - but will have home advantage for the final round of fixtures.

Yorkshire v Somerset, Essex v Warwickshire and Sussex v Nottinghamshire all start on Tuesday. Could this be any more exciting? Surely not.

Mark Church
BBC Radio London commentator

"Sussex will be quite happy to bat till after tea, shake hands and walk away with 14 points."

Single to Charlie Tear off the third ball.

Tom Haines works the ball square for a single of his own.

Mahipal Lomror is giving the ball plenty of loop and flight to end a tidy first over.

Just the one early wicket to fall in the fourth over as Sussex look to bat to safety.

Charlie Tear batted patiently for his unbeaten 10, occupying the crease for just under an hour.

He will face spinner Mahipal Lomror for the first ball of the session.

Tear's captain and batting partner Tom Haines is on 29 off 49 balls.

Early wickets a must for Surrey to force a result and build a bigger cushion than the current wafer thin one between them and the relegation zone.

A lot of people have talked up England's current seam quartet as their best for 20 years. Despite Mr Stone's injury setbacks over the years, should he be part of the fab four? If so, who would you leave out? Send us your views.

Image source, Shutterstock

Somerset all-rounder Craig Overton insisted there are no easy wins in the County Championship despite the margin of their 377-run three-day victory over Leicestershire which moved them a step closer to a first title.

The Cider Boys ensured they will stay top of the table with two games to play - away against Yorkshire next week and then at home to Surrey.

"We’ve got a bit of momentum going into these last games but I think we've had momentum the whole year really - we've played a lot of good cricket and the two games that we lost, we probably should have won them," he said.

"Now it's just (about) finishing off the season the way we've played all year but we know it's going to be hard work. We’re against teams in the bottom half of the table, but they're still very good sides and there's no easy win.

“We’ve been in this position a few times in recent seasons where we’ve been in with a chance. It doesn’t get any easier but it's obviously nice having a lead at this stage."

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Northamptonshire will continue to take it game by game in their bid for promotion from Division Two, says head coach Darren Lehmann.

They bounced back from being bowled out for 50 by Durham in the previous game to beat Worcestershire at New Road on Thursday and boost their chances of pipping Kent for second spot.

“A good response after last week, we played well and wrapped up a win against a quality side away from home, and with a day to spare," the former Australia Test player said.

“I am really pleased with that performance, but now we have to play Derbyshire next week who are playing some really good cricket themselves.”

Division One

Nottinghamshire 377 & 104 v Hampshire 304 & 123

Nottinghamshire won by 54 runs

Sussex 393 & 46-1 v Surrey 321

Division Two

Derbyshire 300 & 352-8 dec v Kent 219 & 91-5

Durham 252 & 374 v Middlesex 203 & 179-6

Lancashire 134 & 142 v Gloucestershire 212 & 169

Gloucestershire won by 105 runs

So, that Nottinghamshire victory over Hampshire means this is the way things look at the top of the Division One table with just two rounds of matches to go.

It could hardly be any tighter and we look set for a thrilling climax as none of the top three will be playing each other.

Nottinghamshire take on Sussex at Hove on Tuesday, while Hampshire travel to Grace Road to face Leicestershire - a match which could confirm their relegation to Division Two for next season.

That is lunch at the County Ground in Derby.

It has unquestionably been Derbyshire's morning - and it might have been even better with the final ball before lunch when Brooke Guest behind thought he had had Chris Benjamin stumped off the bowling of Jack Morley, but the umpires were not having the appeals.

Still, Ben Aitchison has five wickets in the morning, and career-best match figures too. Kent had been reduced to 38-5 as Aitchison ripped through the top order with the new ball, but Benjamin and Singh have dug in - although the visitors still need an enormous number of runs themselves.

It took something special to get the job done but Notts have the win that means there are still three runners in the Championship title race.

Teenager Manny Lumsden drives at a wide ball from Fraser Sheat but can't keep it down and sub Ben Martindale swoops to his left at backward point to catch a brilliant catch.

It looked like game, set and match when Olly Stone picked up three wickets at the start of play, but Scott Currie and Lumsden kept them at bay for more than 20 overs, adding 43 for the 10th wicket.

Currie finishes unbeaten on 44 not out as Notts collect 22 points and Stone's final figures are 6-28 - and 9-95 in the match.

Zafar Gohar and Harry Duke make it to the interval with no more alarms.

But that is a glorious morning in a glorious season for Durham.

Four wickets, including one off the very first ball from Kasey Aldridge, leaves them four shy of the tally that will bring them promotion.

And with Kent in deep trouble at Derby, the title could be theirs today as well.

It should be an excellent fish Friday lunch!

Charlie Tear shapes up to drive and gets a thick inside edge along the ground to Tom Lawes.

Turn for Rahul Chahar, getting a ball to fizz away and bounce outside off.

A play and a miss as Tear goes forward to defend.

He nearly drags one on to his stumps and then gets two to deep mid-wicket.

A single off a no ball follows and Tom Haines blocks into the off side.

That's lunch.

Sussex not quite out of the woods here but a lead of 118 with nine wickets in hand has enhanced the prospects of a draw.

Very few loose deliveries from a fine Surrey attack who have extracted seam movement and turn on this surface.

There may yet be a result here.

Manny Lumsden has shown a willingness to play the hook shot, though he hasn't always made contact.

He does on this occasion as he takes one to long leg off Fraser Sheat and another over ticks by.

Lunch is delayed as Hampshire are nine down.

Into the last embers of the morning session at Chester-le-Street and Durham will be delighted with how things have gone.

The runs are almost irrelevant, but the four wickets are worth their weight in gold.

Can Ben Raine snag one more before some sandwiches?