SKIPPER Justin Bishop claimed his 100th Minor Counties Championship victim and Tom Huggins scored a century as Suffolk took control of their match against Hertfordshire at Bury St Edmunds yesterday.

Suffolk ended day two at the Victory Ground on 222 for three in their second innings – an overall lead of 265 – going into today’s final day of the season.

Hertfordshire, resuming on 77 for one from 21 overs, were dismissed for 235 two balls shy of 70 overs as off spinner James Finch took four wickets.

Steven Snell was caught at mid off in the second over of the morning without addition to his overnight score, and Nesan Jeyaratnam was bowled by a quick Matt Hunn delivery five overs later.

Opener Jamie Hewitt, who had underpinned the innings with 59 from 97 balls in 134 minutes with nine fours, fell leg before to Finch sweeping in the 32nd over.

Ben Frazer was caught by wicket-keeper Chris Warn in the 39th over for 36, and five overs later Rhys Wynne was caught and bowled by Finch, who took a good low catch that required confirmation from the umpires that it had carried.

Bishop, the former Essex all-rounder who made his Suffolk debut in 2005, reached the milestone of 100 championship wickets when Jason McNally was trapped lbw playing back in the very next over.

George Scott and Will Oxley then rallied with a stand of 55 spanning 21 overs before Scott was bowled by Finch, and Oxley departed in the next over, skying an attempted pull off Huggins who took the catch over his shoulder at mid off.

Two overs later Simon White was stumped by some distance as he unsuccessfully gave Finch the charge, giving Suffolk a first-innings lead of 43.

Suffolk made an inauspicious start to their second innings when Ben France lobbed the ball to mid wicket in only the second over, but his dismissal merely set the scene for a second-wicket stand of 127 between Huggins and Martyn Cull.

Cull was first to reach his fifty, which came in the 39th over, and Huggins followed suit in the next over. They had been batting together for 44 overs when Cull turned a ball around the corner and set off for a run, but after initially being sent back he was run out at the bowler’s end as Jeyaratnam returned the ball to Frazer.

It was a disappointing end to his innings for Cull, who faced a total of 147 balls, 12 of which he dispatched to the boundary, across 133 minutes.

Hassan Adnan was caught behind off a thin edge in the 50th over as he tried to run the ball down to third man, which only served to bring Bishop into bat.

He has so far added 75 in 120 balls in a 74-minute stand with Huggins, who reached his century with a lovely cover drive for four off the first ball of the 66th over. Huggins was 112 not out at the close, after facing 183 balls in 230 minutes and striking 14 fours and two sixes.

VICTORY GROUND SCORECARD

HERTFORDSHIRE

First innings (Overnight 77 for 1): J Hewitt lbw b Finch 59, S Snell c Adnan b France 7, N Jeyaratnam b Hunn 10, B Frazer c Warn b Bishop 36, W Oxley c & b Huggins 49, R Wynne c & b Finch 8, J McNally lbw b Bishop 0, G Scott b Finch 16, S White st Warn b Finch 1, S Greenall not out 3. Extras 36. Total (off 69.4 overs) 235.

Fall: 2-79, 3-104, 4-127, 5-157, 6-168, 7-176, 8-231, 9-231, 10-235.

Bowling: Edwards 4-1-16-0; Hunn 14-2-56-2; France 11-3-36-1; Finch 20.4-5-69-4; Bishop 10-4-28-2; Huggins 10-6-14-1.

SUFFOLK

First innings: 278 for 9 dec (H Adnan 91).

Second innings: T Huggins not out 112, B France c Oxley b Scott 0, M Cull run out 64, H Adnan c Greenall b McNally 12, J Bishop not out 20.

Extras 14. Total (for 3 wkts, off 69 overs) 222.

Fall: 1-2, 2-129, 3-147.

Bowling: McNally 15-6-43-1; Scott 6-3-11-1; White 5-0-24-0; Hewitt 6-1-21-0; Frazer 22-5-59-0; Jeyaratnam 9-1-31-0; Wynne 6-1-21-0.

Suffolk 7pts, Hertfordshire 6pts.