County Championship Review – Week 13

 

Division 1

 

Hampshire (290) vs Surrey (200 & 280/4)

Hampshire (10 points) drew with Surrey (9 points).

In the first of many games to be hit by the weather, Hampshire drew with Surrey. Ollie Pope did hit his maiden first-class century on the final afternoon, but there wasn’t time to force a positive result.

 

Lancashire (290) vs Essex (202/8d)

Lancashire (9 points) drew with Essex (9 points).

Essex edged closer to the Division One title by drawing with Lancashire at Old Trafford. Rain ruined what promised to be an intriguing contest between the top two sides.

 

Warwickshire (146 & 232) vs Somerset (282 & 265/4d)

Somerset (21 points) beat Warwickshire (3 points) by 169 runs.

Somerset triumphed in the battle of the bottom two, beating Warwickshire at Edgbaston. Jack Leach and Craig Overton shared nine wickets to put Somerset in control before Marcus Trescothick hit a century to set up the declaration. Jonathan Trott (74) offered some resistance but Warwickshire are now almost certain to be relegated. Somerset on the other hand, have given themselves a fighting chance.

 

Yorkshire (358) vs Middlesex (272/8d)

Yorkshire (11 points) drew with Middlesex (10 points).

In another rain-ruined fixture, Yorkshire drew with Middlesex at Headingly. It was a result that did neither side much good, Somerset’s win over Warwickshire leaving them both under pressure towards the bottom of the table. The two points Middlesex were deducted for a slow over-rate in the last game could yet be crucial.

 

Division 2

 

Derbyshire (236/9) vs Glamorgan ()

Derbyshire (6 points) drew with Glamorgan (8 points).

Only 72 overs were possible in the whole game in a contest ruined by the weather.

 

Durham (217 & 359/7d) vs Kent (206 & 184/9)

Durham (9 points) drew with Kent (9 points).

Kent hung on for a draw against Durham but ultimately lost ground in the race for promotion. Batted out of the game by Durham on the final morning, Kent had 56 overs to survive. Sam Billings battled a migraine and the Durham bowlers to finish unbeaten on 70 whilst last man Mitch Claydon, who’d already taken seven wickets in the match, kept out five deliveries at the other end.

 

Leicestershire (222 & 160) vs Gloucestershire (368 & 15/0)

Gloucestershire (23 points) beat Leicestershire (4 points) by 10 wickets.

Leicestershire remain winless after they were well beaten by Gloucestershire at Grace Road. Liam Norwell took an incredible 8/43 to bowl his side to victory, once again exposing the home side’s fragile batting.

 

Northamptonshire (426 & 140/4) vs Sussex (172 & 393 f/o)

Northamptonshire (24 points) beat Sussex (3 points) by 6 wickets.

Northamptonshire damaged Sussex’s promotion hopes, and kept theirs alive, with a comfortable victory at Wantage Road. Ben Duckett produced a wonderful 193 before Rory Kleinveldt took 5/50 to put the home side in complete control. Following on, Jofra Archer and David Wiese put on 127 to give Sussex a chance but it wasn’t enough to force an unlikely victory.

 

Nottinghamshire (193 & 275) vs Worcestershire (243 & 229/2)

Worcestershire (20 points) beat Nottinghamshire (3 points) by 8 wickets.

Worcestershire took a giant step towards promotion by becoming the first side to beat Nottinghamshire this season. Daryl Mitchell’s unbeaten century helped his side to easily chase down what had appeared to be a challenging target.