County Championship Review – Week 11

Hampshire (224) vs Lancashire (149 & 314/5)

Hampshire (9 points) drew with Lancashire (8 points)

Hampshire and Lancashire played out a rain-affected draw at the Rose Bowl. Liam Dawson’s 75 had given the home side a handy first innings lead before Haseeb Hameed ground out his highest score of the season and Alex Davies hit a quick fire 97 to change Lancashire’s fortunes. No play was possible on the final day however.

 

Middlesex (161 & 136) vs Warwickshire (126 & 361)

Warwickshire (19 points) beat Middlesex (3 points) by 190 runs.

Warwickshire won their first game of the season against Middlesex at Lords. Despite the Bears making just 126 in the first innings, Ryan Sidebottom took 4/29 on debut to ensure Middlesex’s lead was not insurmountable. Chris Woakes, on his return from injury, and Keith Barker then shared a hundred partnership as Warwickshire set Middlesex a testing 326 to win. The home side never got near it.

 

Somerset (436) vs Surrey (345)

Somerset (13 points) drew with Surrey (11 points).

Somerset drew with Surrey in another rain-affected match. Steve Davies made a century against his former club as Somerset made a large first innings total. Rain then left just bonus points to play for on the final day.

 

Yorkshire (113 & 150) vs Essex (231 & 34/2)

Essex (20 points) beat Yorkshire (3 points) by 8 wickets.

Mohammad Amir took 10 wickets in the match as Essex blew Yorkshire away at Scarborough. Amir collected match figures of 10/72 as the visitors cemented their place at the top of the County Championship. Amir even made 22 useful runs in a 52-run partnership with Ryan ten Doeschate that helped Essex to go way beyond Yorkshire’s first innings total.

 

Division 2

 

Derbyshire (220 & 227) vs Nottinghamshire (508/9d)

Nottinghamshire (24 points) beat Derbyshire (4 points) by an innings and 61 runs.

Alex Hales hit a run-a-ball 218 as Nottinghamshire continued on the path towards promotion. Hales did his chances of selection for this winter’s Ashes no harm by leading his side to 508/9d. Brett Hutton took a five-for in both innings as Derbyshire were twice dismissed cheaply.

 

Leicestershire (124/4) vs Durham (525/8d)

Leicestershire (6 points) drew with Durham (10 points).

Leicestershire drew with Durham after the last two days were lost to rain. A 234 run partnership between Tom Latham (124) and Cameron Steel (224) had put Durham firmly in control before the weather ended any chance of a positive result.

 

Northamptonshire (343 & 50/5) vs Gloucestershire (265)

Northamptonshire (11 points) drew with Gloucestershire (10 points).

In another game that fell foul to the weather, Northamptonshire drew with Gloucestershire. Despite having a healthy first innings lead, Northants were in huge trouble at 19/5 in their second innings before rain intervened.

 

Worcestershire (268 & 170 f/o) vs Sussex (430 & 11/1)

Sussex (23 points) beat Worcestershire (4 points) by 9 wickets.

Sussex closed in on second place Worcestershire thanks to a comfortable win at New Road. The home side were left to rue dropped catches as Sussex recovered from 49/3 to post 430 all out thanks to a first century of the season from Chris Nash. Despite runs from Joe Clarke and Ed Barnard, Worcestershire just failed to avoid the follow on and then only just succeeded in forcing Sussex to bat again.