Notts, set 385 in a minimum of 86 overs to win their Division One clash with Middlesex, reached their target with six wickets and 11.1 overs to spare to pull off their third highest run chase of all time.
Opening pair Alex Hales and Phil Jaques put on 156, Michael Lumb scored 68 and it was left to James Taylor and Riki Wessels to see their side over the line with an unbeaten stand of 103, Wessels hammering 74 not out from 48 balls.
In Division Two, James Vince hammered a career-best 240 and put on 387 with Will Smith (151no) as Hampshire declared on 440 for three to set Essex an unfeasible 606 to win.
Essex had been skittled for 121 in their first innings and bettered that by only 14 second time around, Ravi Bopara’s 39 the top score before the last six wickets fell for 14 – with the final one, Tymal Mills, appropriately caught by Vince off Smith to round off Hampshire’s 470-run win.
Three matches in each division are still ongoing, with half-centuries from Jack Leaning and Adam Lyth boosting Yorkshire’s response to new top-flight leaders Notts’ win.
Having allowed Sussex to reach 316, Jon Lewis hitting 61 as the hosts recovered from 188 for seven at Arundel, the Tykes ended day two on 208 for three with Leaning unbeaten on 75.
Durham took two Lancashire wickets before stumps on day three, having set them a target of 340 at Chester-le-Street.
Scott Borthwick scored 92 as Durham reached 267 in their second innings, Tom Smith taking five for 42.
Lancashire will resume on Wednesday needing a further 299 with eight wickets intact after Chris Rushworth removed openers Paul Horton and Alex Davies.
Northamptonshire were left battling to avoid an innings defeat after Warwickshire piled up 602 for nine before declaring with a first-innings lead of 290, thanks to centuries from Sam Hain and Keith Barker.
Hain, at 18 years and 336 days, became the youngest player to make a first-class hundred for Warwickshire before falling for 134.
The struggling hosts closed on 51 for three, still 239 in arrears, as Chris Woakes took all three wickets.
Worcestershire, who started this round of matches level on points with Hampshire at the Division Two summit, will look to bowl Leicestershire out on day four to force victory.
Tom Fell and skipper Daryl Mitchell made centuries as the Pears declared on 444 for eight and Leicestershire, facing an unlikely target of 404, were 20 without loss at stumps.
Derbyshire avoided an innings defeat but Surrey will chase just 21 on day four after centurion Zafar Ansari and fellow spinner Gareth Batty took four wickets apiece to bowl the hosts out for 288.
Kent were also battling to prolong their match with Glamorgan into a fourth innings after being reduced to 137 for five, only halfway to overhauling a first-innings deficit of 274 and making the Welsh side bat again.
Jim Allenby (100) and Chris Cooke (96) lifted Glamorgan to 527 and Michael Hogan then took two wickets, though Darren Stevens’ run-a-ball half-century was a show of defiance.
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