County Championship Review – Week 2

Division 1

Hampshire (438) vs Middlesex (356 & 278/9d)

Hampshire (10 points) drew with Middlesex (10 points)

Middlesex hung on for a draw at the Rose Bowl to deny Hampshire a second straight win. 98 from Michael Carberry and 99 from Rilee Rossouw saw the home side claim a handy first innings lead. Beginning the final day on 111/4, just 29 runs ahead, Middlesex edged towards safety thanks to 92 from Adam Voges. When he departed though, his wicket was followed quickly by two more and Middlesex were in trouble once more. However, Hampshire could not find a way through the tail, Ollie Rayner batted for nearly two hours for his 19*, ably supported by Tim Murtagh and Toby Roland-Jones.

 

Somerset (209 & 174) vs Essex (129 & 257/2)

Essex (19 points) beat Somerset (4 points) by 8 wickets

Alastair Cook made an impressive return to county cricket, playing in his first competitive match since relinquishing the England captaincy, as Essex beat Somerset at Taunton. Cook made 52 in the first innings, more than double the score of any of his teammates as Essex conceded a first innings deficit of 90. Neil Wagner’s 6/48 brought them back in to the game before Cook (110) and Tom Westley (86*) made light work of the 255 target.

 

Surrey (319 & 323/3d) vs Lancashire (470)

Lancashire (11 points) drew with Surrey (9 points).

Surrey and Lancashire played out a high-scoring draw at The Oval. Lancashire had been in trouble on the first day at 122-6 before a mammoth partnership of 243 between Shivnarine Chanderpaul (182) and Jordan Clark (140) helped them up to 470. The spin of Simon Kerrigan and Stephen Parry then turned the game firmly in Lancashire’s favour. Surrey went from 211/2 to 319 all out and were asked to follow on. Second time around it was a different story, Kumar Sangakkara and Scott Borthwick reaching centuries as the game petered out in to a draw.

 

Warwickshire (178 & 115) vs Yorkshire (381)

Yorkshire (23 points) beat Warwickshire (2 points) by an innings and 88 runs

Warwickshire suffered a second consecutive innings defeat, this time at the hands of Yorkshire at Edgbaston. The Bears were blown away by young seamer Ben Coad, who followed up his 6/37 against Hampshire last week by claiming another two five-wicket-hauls for match figures of 10/102. Warwickshire, who were 7/5 at one stage in their second innings, already look in for a difficult season.

 

 

Division 2

Durham (162 & 250) vs Nottinghamshire (305 & 110/1)

Nottinghamshire (22 points) beat Durham (3 points) by 9 wickets.

Last season Durham finished five places and 76 points above Nottinghamshire in Division 1. However, relegated to the second division as punishment for their financial problems, Durham’s season got off to a difficult start. Durham will not be the last team this season to find things difficult against Nottinghamshire’s pace attack, but their real crime was allowing nightwatchmen Luke Fletcher to score 92. Fletcher rescued Notts from a potentially difficult position to give them a healthy first innings lead and, despite Keaton Jennings’s unbeaten 102, they were always in control after that. Nottinghamshire already look destined to return to the top flight at the first time of asking but Durham, who started the season on -48 points, cannot afford to lose any more ground if they are to do the same.

 

Derbyshire (281 & 351/1d) vs Northamptonshire (307 & 330/7)

Northamptonshire (22 points) beat Derbyshire (5 points) by 3 wickets.

Northamptonshire won a thrilling contest against Derbyshire off the penultimate ball of the match. With the game heading towards a draw, the captains conspired and, after some generous Northamptonshire bowling, the away side were set a target of 326 in 65 overs. 98 from Rob Newton and 99 from Richard Levi set them on their way before both were caught behind off the bowling of Jeevan Mendis. Needing two runs to win with two balls remaining, Rory Kleinveldt struck a six to secure a fantastic victory for Northants.

 

Glamorgan (207 & 223) vs Worcestershire (403 & 28/2)

Worcestershire (24 points) beat Glamorgan (4 points) by 8 wickets

Glamorgan’s poor start to the season continued as they suffered an 8 wicket defeat to Worcestershire. Having lost inside two days in the opening round, this game was over by lunch on day three, with Worcestershire in control throughout. Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who struck a century, and Josh Tongue, who took 5/45 on his County Championship debut were their standout performers. Things can only get better for Glamorgan, whose second innings score of just 223 was still there highest in four attempts this season.

 

Gloucestershire (466/8d) vs Leicestershire (259 & 201)

Gloucestershire (22 points) beat Leicestershire (3 points) by an innings and 6 runs.

Leicestershire’s nightmare start to the season continued as they suffered another heavy defeat. Having been deducted sixteen points before the season begun, they’ve picked up just eight from their two games so far. Gloucestershire were always in control of this one, Will Tavare, 101, was supported with fifties from van Buuren, Mustard, Taylor and Payne, whilst Liam Norwell achieved match figures of 10/99. Norwell twice dismissed Ned Eckersley, the only Leicestershire player to come out of the game with any real credit, who scored 88 and 85. He’ll need far more support from his teammates if Leicestershire’s fortunes are to change.

 

Sussex (291 & 200)  vs Kent (304 & 413/5d)

Kent (22 points) beat Sussex (5 points) by 226 runs.

Sam Northeast scored an unbeaten 173 as Kent continued their excellent start to the season with victory over Sussex at Hove. Northeast averaged an incredible 83.56 in the Championship last season and showed his quality again here in partnership with Sean Dickson (89) and the evergreen Darren Stevens (71*). That left Sussex a formidable target of 427 and Stevens finished the job himself, ripping through the top order in claiming 5/51.