County Championship Review – Week 9

 

Division 1

Essex (542/3d) vs Middlesex (246 & 262)

Essex (24 points) beat Middlesex (1 point) by an innings and 34 runs.

Simon Harmer took fourteen wickets in the match, for the second match in succession, as Essex beat Middlesex, and the weather, to cement their place at the top of the table. Nick Browne (221) and Alastair Cook (193) shared a mammoth opening partnership of 373 runs as Essex made a huge first innings score. Pushing for victory on the final day, Essex were frustrated by Nick Compton who nearly made the game safe in making 120. But, when he became one of Harmer’s nine second innings victims, the rest of the Middlesex batsmen quickly departed, the last four wickets falling for no runs in twenty-seven deliveries.

 

Hampshire (211/9d & 96/5d) vs Somerset (147 & 88/8)

Hampshire (9 points) drew with Somerset (8 points).

Hampshire failed to force an unlikely victory against Somerset. In another game affected by rain, Hampshire set Somerset 161 to win in 31 overs. Steve Davies hit a quickfire 47 but when he was the sixth man out, Somerset battened down the hatches to secure a draw.

 

Warwickshire (321) vs Lancashire (273 & 178/4)

Warwickshire (10 points) drew with Lancashire (9 points).

Andrew Umeed scored the slowest century in County Championship history as Warwickshire avoided defeat for just the third time this season. Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s unbeaten 117 helped Lancashire to 273 before Umeed took over. He batted for the entirety of day 2, eventually making a painstaking 113 off 392 deliveries. A draw here took Warwickshire off the foot of the table, but more batsmen will have to show Umeed’s fight in the remaining games if they are to avoid relegation.

 

Yorkshire (27/1) vs Surrey (516/7d)

Yorkshire (7 points) drew with Surrey (10 points).

Kumar Sangakkara hit yet another century as Surrey drew with Yorkshire at Headingley. His sixth hundred of the season, an unbeaten 180, ensured he became the first batsmen to pass 1,000 first-class runs for the season. Rain arrived soon after Surrey declared on day 2 and there was to be no more play in the game.

 

Division 2

 

Durham (197) vs Worcestershire (367)

Durham (8 points) drew with Worcestershire (12 points).

Rain prevented Worcestershire from capitalising on a strong first innings as their game against Durham ended in a draw. John Hastings, against his former club, and Joe Leach caused carnage with the new pink ball, reducing Durham for 18/5. Josh Tongue then continued his excellent form with four wickets as Durham were bowled out for 197. In reply Worcestershire built a lead of 170 thanks to a century from Brett D’Oliveira. However, rain meant that no play was possible on the final two days.

 

Glamorgan (237 & 172) vs Derbyshire (288 & 160)

Derbyshire (21 points) beat Glamorgan (4 points) by 39 runs.

Derbyshire won their first Championship match in almost two years against Glmaorgan at Cardiff. Having bowled out Derbyshire for just 160 in their second innings, the home side needed just 212 to deny their opponents their first win in the competition since September 2015. However, sixteen-year-old Hamidullah Qadri, playing in his maiden first-class match as the first County Championship cricketer born in the 21^st Century, took five wickets to give Derbyshire a much-needed victory by 39 runs.

 

Northamptonshire (261 & 289/7d) vs Leicestershire (157 & 391)

Northamptonshire (21 points) beat Leicestershire (3 points) by 2 runs.

Northamptonshire won an incredible game against Leicestershire by just two runs. Ben Duckett had hit a century in the first session of the match and, despite a collapse thereafter, Northamptonshire held a significant first innings lead. A challenging target of 394 was set but Colin Ackermann (105) and Mark Cosgrove (76) gave Leicestershire a chance of pulling off a fantastic victory. However, with just three needed for victory, debutant Matthew Pillans, who had already amassed his highest first-class score, was caught at point of the bowling of Rory Kleinveldt, to hand Northants the victory.

 

Nottinghamshire (371) vs Kent (180 & 265)

Nottinghamshire (12 points) drew with Kent (8 points).

Nottinghamshire were left frustrated by the weather as they were forced to settle for a draw against Kent at Trent Bridge. Steven Mullaney hit a century and took five wickets in the match as Kent ended their second innings just 74 runs ahead. But rain denied Nottinghamshire what would surely have been a successful chase.

 

Sussex (358/9d & 142/1d) vs Gloucestershire (150/1d & 212/6)

Sussex (9 points) drew with Gloucestershire (8 points).

Gloucestershire hung on for a draw  in a rain-affected game against Sussex at Hove. With much of this game lost to the weather, some clever declarations left Gloucestershire chasing 351 to win. Having been reduced to 117/6, Jack Taylor and Kieran Noema-Barnett batted for thirty overs to make the game safe.