The County Championship: Saturday’s Round-Up

Posted on September 10, 2011 by Matt H in 40/50-over

The fourth day of the penultimate round of championship matches saw some vital victories that ensure all significant matters are unresolved going into the final week.

Division One

Warwickshire wrapped up their victory over Nottinghamshire with ease. The visitors were bowled out for 222, although Alex Hales did carry his bat for 106. Chris Wright took 5-74 and Boyd Rankin 3-63 as they won by an innings and 114 runs.

It was harder, much harder, for Lancashire to achieve a result at Liverpool. They declared their second innings at 353/3, with Stephen Moore unbeaten on 169. Hampshire’s target of 361 was unreachable, but they were soon struggling against the spinners. At 119/9 defeat looked inevitable, but Neil McKenzie and James Tomlinson survived for a further 22 overs, in which they added only 19 runs. But with four minutes to go before stumps, Simon Kerrigan took his ninth wicket to win the match. Gary Keedy (1-38 from 33 overs) and Kerrigan (9-51 from 37.2 overs) performed their own version of Laker & Lock and in the end, the margin of victory was 222 runs.

Defeat always looked likely for Worcestershire against Sussex. Presented with a target of 421, they succumbed for only 169 (Daryl Mitchell top scoring with 61); James Anyon taking 4-55. Sussex won by 251 runs.

Meanwhile at Leeds, Ryan Sidebottom turned back time as he took 7-37 to bowl Somerset out for only 132. Yorkshire never looked in trouble in chasing their target and they reached 205 for the loss of only 4 wickets, with contributions from Joe Root, Joe Sayers, Anthony McGrath and Jonny Bairstow.

These four results leave the table thus:

Warwickshire 226

Lancashire 223

Durham 211

Somerset 184

Nottinghamshire 168

Sussex 159

Yorkshire 138

Worcestershire 137

Hampshire 120

 

The final matches start on Monday:

Durham v Worcestershire (Chester-le-Street)

Hampshire v Warwickshire (Southampton)

Nottinghamshire v Sussex (Nottingham)

Somerset v Lancashire (Taunton)

Division Two

The most significant fixture of the day was at Chelmsford. Despite a hefty 80 off 64 balls from Graham Napier, Surrey had few problems in dismissing Essex for 239, thanks to Tim Linley 4-61 and Chris Jordan 4-57. The 109 run victory keeps them on the promotion trail.

At Derby, Kent had a target of 298 to win; Joe Denly scored 68 and Darren Stevens 54, but they could only make 196ao. Jonathan Clare and Wes Durston both took four wickets as Derbyshire won by 101 runs.

In scoring 311 in their second innings, Leicestershire avoided an innings defeat, but gave Gloucestershire a target of a mere 53, which was reached in only nine overs with all wickets in hand.

At Cardiff, Middlesex declared on 302/8 (John Simpson scoring 95, Chris Rogers 121), with Will Owen the most successful bowler for Glamorgan (5-124). The match petered out into a lame draw as Glamorgan ambled to 178/4 before it finished in a draw.

 

Middlesex 216

Northamptonshire 204

Surrey 203

Gloucestershire 195

Derbyshire 179

Essex 159

Glamorgan 156

Kent 146

Leicestershire 83

 

Leicestershire v Middlesex (Leicester)

Northamptonshire v Gloucestershire (Northampton)

Surrey v Derbyshire (The Oval)

Kent v Glamorgan (Canterbury)- featuring pink balls