The County Championship: Another Quick Round-Up

Posted on September 9, 2011 by Matt H in First Class

The third day of this round of County Championship matches was not too badly affected by the weather (even Glamorgan had play) and there will be a lot of tension tomorrow, with no games yet resolved.

Division One

A Sean Ervine century assisted Hampshire as they were bowled out for 381, just seven runs shy of Lancashire’s total. However Lancashire had much the better of the remainder of the day, with Paul Horton (96) and Stephen Moore (77*) adding 168 for the first wicket. They finish the day 195/2. With victory crucial for both sides, a competitive target could see this match go down to an exciting denouement.

Warwickshire will be chuffed with their performances today. They bowled Nottinghamshire out for 238, impressive considering an Alex Hales 72 and Darren Bravo 70 had taken the visitors to 133/2. Chris Woakes took 4-91, with the other three bowlers (Chris Wright, Boyd Rankin and Rikki Clarke) all picking up wickets. The follow-on is also going Warwickshire’s way, with only Hales (69*) providing any resistance. Three wickets apiece for Wright and Rankin leaves Nottinghamshire 200 runs behind at 136/6.

At Headingley, Yorkshire failed to reach Somerset’s 265, falling 70 runs short as only Adam Lyth reached 50. Alfonso Thomas once again consistently took wickets (5-66) as he and Steve Kirby shared more than two-thirds of the overs. Nonetheless, the Somerset second innings has not gone particularly well, with Ryan Sidebottom taking his second four wicket haul of the match (4-34) in reducing Somerset to 124/6 at stumps, a lead of 194.

Meanwhile Sussex bowled Worcestershire out for 222, with Monty Panesar’s 5-58 the standout figures, although Amjad Khan’s 3-77 should not be ignored. Only Alexei Kervezee (69) reached a half-century. Already leading by 153, Sussex batted again and are currently 267/4. Ed Joyce (60) and Joe Gatting (116*) contributed handsomely. A defeat for the home team, as looks likely, is good news for Yorkshire and Hampshire, the two counties behind Worcestershire in the division.

Division Two

Starting at the bottom: David Payne took 6-26 for Gloucestershire as they bowled woeful Leicestershire out for 135. Following on Leicestershire are doing better and they were 255/4 at close of play, with inevitable contributions from James Taylor (70) and also Ned Eckersley (52*).

In Derby, Kent managed to total a decent 419ao, Joe Denly eventually falling for 199. He was supported by a 97 from Azhar Mahmood. Tony Palladino took 5-84 and Mark Footitt 3-80. The Derbyshire innings never got going and they were bowled out in 44 overs: only Wayne Madsen (73) prevented a lower total. David Balcombe, Matt Coles and Darren Stevens all took three wickets apiece. This presents Kent a target of 298 runs in a day (only two balls were possible in their second innings tonight). Game on.

The Essex vs. Surrey match also looked well-balanced; after the Essex first innings finished 62 runs shy of Surrey’s total, David Masters took another bagful of wickets (6-93) as Surrey made 286ao. Zander de Bruyn top scored with a precise 100, Chris Jordan made a handy 79*. This left Essex a target of 349, but they scored slowly and lost wickets regularly and finished the day on 142/5: Tim Linley took 3-41. Surrey will be confident of a victory that could take them to the edge of promotion.

Finally, Cardiff had a dry day and the match commenced. Middlesex dominated the day, with Gareth Berg taking 6-58 as Glamorgan limped to 157ao. William Bragg was the only batsman to make a half-century (52). Although Andrew Strauss was dismissed for 9, Chris Rogers scored an unbeaten 81 in guiding Middlesex to 169/4 at stumps. Will they have the time and conditions to force a division-sealing victory tomorrow?