County Championship Review – Week 8

Division 1

 

Essex (541/9d) vs Warwickshire (283 & 94 f/o)

Essex (22 points) beat Warwickshire (3 points) by an innings and 164 runs.

Simon Harmer took fourteen wickets in the match as Warwickshire suffered yet another innings defeat. Ravi Bopara and James Foster rolled back the years with centuries to take Essex to 541/9 declared before Harmer took over. His six first innings wickets enabled Essex to enforce the follow on and he then took 8/36 to dimiss Warwickshire for just 94 and give Harmer match figures of 14/128. Essex cement their place at the top of the table, Warwickshire look to be heading for Division Two.

 

Lancashire (593) vs Hampshire (395 & 168)

Lancashire (24 points) beat Hampshire (5 points) by an innings and 30 runs.

Dane Vilas scored a career-best 244 as Lancashire beat Hampshire by an innings at Old Trafford. George Bailey’s century and Kyle Abbott’s 97* had helped Hampshire to 395 all out before Vilas, with support from Alex Davies (115) and Ryan McLaren (107), gave Lancashire a huge lead. James Anderson then took 4/20 to bowl the home side to victory.

 

Middlesex (446) vs Yorkshire (208 & 174 f/o)

Middlesex (23 points) beat Yorkshire (3 points) by an innings and 64 runs.

Sam Robson and Paul Stirling both hit centuries as Middlesex completed an innings victory over Yorkshire at Lords. After racking up 446, the county champions twice dismissed Yorkshire for low totals to earn their first win of the season.

 

Division 2

 

Durham (402 & 158/1) vs Glamorgan (295 & 263)

Durham (23 points) beat Glamorgan (5 points) by 9 wickets.

Durham finally picked up their first win of the season with victory against Glamorgan at Chester-le-Street. Graham Clark and Paul Collingwood’s partnership of 185 gave Durham a healthy first innings lead and, despite Colin Ingram’s unbeaten 70, Glamorgan could not bat for long enough to save the game.

 

Nottinghamshire (548/9d) vs Leicestershire (134 & 134 f/o)

Nottinghamshire (24 points) beat Leicestershire (2 points) by an innings and 280 runs.

Samit Patel’s incredible form continued as Nottinghamshire thrashed Leicestershire at Trent Bridge. Patel’s 247, his second consecutive Championship double hundred, helped his side to548/9 declared. Leicestershire crumbled and were twice dismissed for 134, James Pattinson finishing with match figures of 8/71.

 

Worcestershire (336 & 401/6) vs Kent (260 & 474)

Worcestershire (22 points) beat Kent (5 points) by 4 wickets.

Joe Clarke scored a century in each innings as Worcestershire completed the third-highest run chase in their history. Earlier, Joe Denly had hit a career-best 227 as Kent recovered from a first innings deficit to post a challenging target of 399. Centuries from Clarke and Daryl Mitchell took Worcestershire to the brink of victory and, despite a flurry of late wickets, Clarke saw his team home and ensured Worcestershire leapfrog Kent in to second place.