Vitality County Championship 2024 - Live Cricket Streaming, Scores, Reports, Reactions – All Matches – Division 1 and 2 - 9th -12th Sept

Durham maintained their complete domination of their Vitality County Championship match against Lancashire on a day when David Bedingham became the highest individual scorer in the county’s first-class history.

Bedingham’s 279 surpassed Martin Love’s 273 against Hampshire in 2003 and his innings was the bedrock of his team’s 573 for nine declared. Facing a deficit of 345, Lancashire ended the day poorly placed on 155 for four with Matthew Potts having taken three of the wickets. Keaton Jennings’ side therefore need another 190 runs to avoid their fourth innings defeat of the season.

And it was a day when other records tumbled at the Riverside. Bedingham and Colin Ackermann’s 424-run fifth-wicket partnership set a new record for any wicket in Durham’s first-class history, easily eclipsing the 334 put on by Stewart Hutton and Michael Roseberry against Oxford University in The Parks in 1996.

It is also the eighth-highest fifth-wicket stand in the history of first-class cricket and the second highest first-class partnership for any wicket against Lancashire.   

The mammoth stand was eventually broken by the leg-spinner, Luke Wells, who had Ackermann leg before wicket for 186 in the fourth over after lunch. Wells then enjoyed more success when he had Ben Raine caught at backward point by George Bell for 17 and Bas de Leede stumped by Matty Hurst for four.

Tom Hartley took his only wicket of the innings when he had Potts leg before wicket for four and the declaration was applied when Bedingham was caught at long-on by Anderson Phillip off Wells. He had batted 489 minutes, faced 359 balls and hit 27 fours and a six.  

Wells finished with respectable figures of four for 69 but was soon out in the middle again when he opened Lancashire’s second innings with Jennings. However, their alliance lasted only nine balls before the Lancashire skipper was caught at second slip by Ackermann off Potts for nought.

Josh Bohannon joined Wells and guided Lancashire to 49 for one at tea but the visitors lost two wickets in five balls immediately after the resumption. Wells was bowled by Callum Parkinson when attempting to reverse sweep the slow left-armer and George Bell was caught behind by Ollie Robinson off Potts for a two-ball nought.

Bohannon and Hurst then added 73 for the fourth wicket in increasingly untroubled fashion before Bohannon groped at a ball from Potts without moving his feet and was caught at first slip by Scott Borthwick.   Hurst ended the day on 43 not out and he and George Balderson ensured no more wickets fell before close of play.  

However, Lancashire have so far earned just one point from this match and their relegation fears will not have been eased by this third day’s play. By contrast, Durham have eight points with plenty of power to add more tomorrow.

 

David Bedingham, (whose 279 was also a career-best) Durham batter, said:

It was a special day. Waking up, i think I would have been happy just scoring a couple more runs but obviosul;y myself and Colin Ackermann took it quite deep. I think we were quite responsible and it worked out quite well. 

The only milestone I was nervous about was mine because if I beat my career-best, I have to buy everyone a drink. People told me about the Durham record at lunch and I didn't know how long it had stood for. It's obviously quite special and I'm just glad the hard work Ackers and I put in has paid off. 

Ackers is so controlled. He works really hard and I think No6 is a new role for him. He's so controlled and it's a pleasure to bat with him.

We had the better of the conditions on day one, since when the pitch has been quite flat. So we did well to take four wickets today and I hope that tomorrow we can put them under serious pressure. We get a new ball in 29 overs, so I hope we cna utilise that and have some beers after the game. 

 

Luke Wells, Lancashire batter, said:

It's obviously very difficult. We're all desperate to do well and the last two four-day games were very tough as well. So it's tough times. 

We are trying hard and training as hard as we can. The only way we can rectify things is as individuals, so I'm disappointed not to get the runs I'd like to.

We came up against two guys in serious form today. Bedingham's got about 500 runs against us this year and he looked in unbelievable touch. I think he's one of the best players I've come up against in the County Championship. He's right up there. 

We have to keep showing resilience, there's no other way than to keep trying our best. There's no secret as to why we haven't done well: bowlers haven't got that many wickets, batsmen haven't got that many runs.   

Jamie Porter and Simon Harmer shared nine first-innings wickets as Essex skittled Nottinghamshire for 93 on a morning of utter carnage at Chelmsford.

  Seam bowler Porter took his third five-wicket haul of the season, and second in consecutive Vitality County Championship matches, to finish with 5-35, season’s best figures that included three wickets in five balls.

  Simon Harmer also claimed his best bowling figures of the summer with 4-16 from 12.5 overs and then took the first two wickets of Nottinghamshire’s second innings. Allied with a season’s best 51 in Essex’s 457, it was a welcome return to form for the off-spinning all-rounder who has been dogged by persistent injury.

  Nottinghamshire’s inability to cope with Porter’s pace and Harmer’s guile on a wicket that had become less benign overnight, left them 364 runs adrift on first innings. When they followed on, captain Haseeb Hameed led the fightback with a patiently crafted unbeaten 100 from 151  balls and put on an unbroken 131 with Joe Clarke (62 not out) for the third wicket. At the close, Nottinghamshire were 180-2, still 184 runs from making Essex bat again.

  It was the perfect repost from Essex on the day the Cricket Regulator confirmed their 12-point deduction after opening batsman Feroze Khushi was found to have used an illegally-sized bat in the reverse fixture at Trent Bridge in April. It does, however, end their dwindling hopes of challenging for the title.

  Nottinghamshire’s first innings fell apart spectacularly on a sunny, though chilly morning as 48-1 became to 93 all out, with nine wickets clattering in 87 minutes

  There was no sign of what was to come in the first half-hour as Ben Slater and Freddie McCann added 31 to their overnight score. But then Harmer came on and struck first ball when McCann moved forward half-cock and was the first of five lbws in the morning.   Harmer had two of the next three wickets to fall as Ben Slater was snaffled at slip and Jack Haynes was the second lbw victim.

  In between Porter replaced the unlucky Sam Cook, who had discomforted McCann on several occasions and might have had something to show for a venomous opening spell had Matt Critchley not dropped Joe Clarke at gulley. It did not prove too expensive as Porter had Clarke pinned lbw in his first over.

  Nottinghamshire’s South African wicketkeeper-batsman Kyle Verreynne came out all guns blazing, reverse-sweeping Harmer for four and driving Porter over the long-off boundary. However, his nine-ball cameo ended on 12 when he drove Porter uppishly into the covers.

 Lyndon James departed to a stunning full-length dive low to his left by Michael Pepper to spark Porter’s three-quick-wicket burst. Luke Fletcher, first ball, and Liam Patterson-White fell lbw before Harmer wrapped things up by having Rob Lord caught at bat-pad.

  Following on, Hameed and Slater looked comfortable for a dozen overs after lunch before Slater misjudged a delivery from Harmer that beat the outside edge and bowled him. The teenaged McCann was bamboozled for a second time by Harmer, the sixth player to go lbw during the day.

  Hameed was particularly strong off the back-foot, punching the ball through extra cover for a succession of boundaries, and reached his sixth fifty-plus score of the season from 70 balls. That Nottinghamshire made a better fist of it in the second innings was illustrated by the fact they had overhauled their first-innings total by tea for the loss of just two wickets.

  Hameed found a willing partner in Clarke and the pair steadied things by putting the first fifty of their stand in 14 overs, taking another 15 for the second fifty. As confidence grew, Clarke came down the wicket and smashed Harmer over midwicket for six on the way to reaching his half-century from 105 balls.

  A quick single took Hameed to three-figures just before stumps off his 151st ball.

 

 

Simon Harmer took six of the 11 wickets to fall and said: “It’s been a good day though we would have enjoyed a few more wickets. But Haseeb and Joe Clarke batted really well, credit to them. It felt like there was more [in the wicket] this morning than there was this afternoon. Hopefully we can take some early wickets tomorrow and get things wrapped up as quickly as possible.

  “I don’t think I’ve had the best season, though I’m still in the top 10 wicket-takers. Form at last? I’m not sure, that’s a subjective opinion. Look, I want to be taking wickets all the time, and I want to be scoring runs. It doesn’t always work that way. I feel especially this season with the ball that things haven’t really gone my way, missed chances, whatever it may be. But that’s the nature of cricket, the way things go. It is what it is. I’d love to be contributing more, but the seamers have been exceptional this season. I take my lessons and move forward.

  "I'm still trying to get 60 wickets this season. It will be a helluva effort if I could, but there are still eight out there to get, so hopefully I can do some damage tomorrow.

  “I felt this evening we were one [ball] away. It can happen quickly particularly with new batters coming in as we saw this morning the way that Ports bowled. We just need to make sure that when that chance comes our way we take it. Hopefully there is a little bit more in the wicket otherwise we’re going to have to wait for the second new-ball.

  “My back affected me more last season. I think this season we’ve been able to get on top of it. I felt as good as I ever have today, so it’s definitely moving in the right direction.”

 

 

Nottinghamshire’s head coach Peter Moores said: “It’s been a frustrating day in some ways. We got bowled out very quickly in the first session, but I think the way Has and Joe Clarke have batted in the last two or three hours shows you can still bat on that pitch. They played beautifully and it still keeps us alive in the game. It’s not easy out there. Simon Harmer bowled very well as did Porter.

  “They showed a lot of character, a lot of skill. You’ve got to be very skilful to play like that. I thought Has played Harmer really well. Both were very frustrated first innings because both have had good seasons. Between the two of them there was great focus, they didn’t give a chance. But they need to come back tomorrow and do it again if we are to save the game.

  “We spoke this morning and everyone was really clear on what the goal was. It’s not lost on anybody the significance of the game and where we’re at this season. We were really excited about the challenge on a good pitch, but we didn’t get it right. We were disappointed against Porter because he bowled well, but he didn’t bowl that well to get the wickets maybe as quickly as he got them. We’ll take that on the chin. We’ve still got a chance in the game to come out with something if we play well tomorrow.

  “The batting in the first innings was frustrating because that’s where the batting points are, where the game gets live and it’s something we’re going to have to make sure we get better at moving forward. The goal in this game is really clear: to bat and bat all day tomorrow and come out of the game with something.”

Kent were battling hard to save their Division One status after being forced to follow on by Hampshire, on a rain-affected third day in the Vitality County Championship at Canterbury.

The hosts could be relegated by the end of this round of fixtures, but they were 70 without loss in their second innings, still 126 behind, with Tawanda Muyeye unbeaten on 46 and Ben Compton 24 not out.

Earlier Kyle Abbott took five for 46 as Kent were dismissed for 207 in their first innings, Compton their highest scorer with 51.

Torrential rain fell during an already truncated evening session and play was eventually abandoned for the day at 5.26pm.

Kent began day three on 64 for five, still 339 runs behind Hampshire’s first innings score of 403, but Compton and Harry Finch survived for the first 90 minutes of an extended morning session, aided by some sub-optimal slip fielding.

Toby Albert dropped Compton twice, on 24 and 32, the first when he couldn’t hang on to a difficult slip catch off Abbott, the second a more routine head-high chance offered by James Fuller.

Albert finally snared Compton at the third attempt when Abbott found his edge with the first delivery after he'd switched to the Nackington Road End.

In his next over Abbott had Finch caught behind for 44, before Liam Dawson bowled Charlie Stobo for 10.

Matt Parkinson was out soon after lunch, caught behind off Brad Wheal for four, but the last wicket pair of George Garrett and Jas Singh proved a nuisance, particularly after James Vince dropped the former when he was on 17, again in the slips.

Singh passed his previous best first class score of 14, before he was removed by the new ball, lbw to Abbas for 1, leaving his partner stranded on 27.

With 45 overs remaining in the day Hampshire immediately announced they were enforcing the follow on, but a whiff of farce arrived when Tawanda Muyeye hit the penultimate ball before tea for a six into the gardens on the Old Dover Road side of the ground.

Hampshire were unhappy with the replacement and four of their fielders, the twelfth man and a coach climbed awkwardly over the fence to look for the original, finally finding it after seven minutes.

Shortly after the resumption the importance of those seven minutes was magnified when the rain arrived and a total of nine overs were lost. When play resumed at 5.05pm it was already raining again, the ground staff were already holding the covers and Compton faced down three balls from Abbas before they gave up and went off again.

Tom Curran launched an extraordinary assault on the Somerset bowlers as Surrey turned up the heat on the third day of the crucial Vitality County Championship match at Taunton.

Making his first appearance in the competition for two years, the all-rounder smashed 8 sixes and 6 fours in a game-changing innings of 86 from 75 balls, which rescued the Division One leaders from a perilous 228 for eight in their first innings and allowed them to post 321 all out.

Eighteen-year-old off-spinner Archie Vaughan finished with six for 102, while Jack Leach claimed four for 105. But Surrey had gained a slender advantage of four runs and soon built on it, reducing their opponents to 194 for nine by stumps on a rain-interrupted afternoon, which saw Shakib Al Hasan take four for 83.

Craig Overton was unbeaten on 40, having added 41 for the last wicket with a stricken Tom Banton (28 not out), batting heroically with a runner after suffering an ankle injury playing football in the warm-up for the day’s play.

Only the most optimistic of Surrey fans could have expected a first innings lead when their team lost five wickets for 32 runs from a promising 196 for three. Ryan Patel had added nine to his overnight score of 61 when top-edging a sweep off Leach to short third-man.

Shakib made 12 before being caught and bowled by Leach off a leading edge. Then Vaughan added to his three second day victims by having Ben Foakes caught at short leg for 37 off 122 balls.

It was 228 for seven when Jordan Clark chipped a catch to the diving Tom Abell at mid-wicket off Vaughan, who struck again two balls later as Cameron Steel played down the wrong line and was bowled off stump.

Surrey trailed by 89 runs. But Kemar Roach played a key role in contributing just five runs to a stand of 54 with Curran, who had begun his blitz with a six over long-on off Vaughan.

Two more maximums off the same bowler followed by a four through the covers took Surrey to their first batting point and the all-rounder was far from finished. When Somerset skipper Lewis Gregory took the decision to remove Vaughan from the attack and introduce part-time spinner Lewis Goldsworthy, the left-armer’s only over went for 18 runs.

The first ball was a full toss, dispatched over the mid-wicket boundary by Curran, who followed up with two straight sixes of the fourth and fifth deliveries. The story of the day was being transformed and by the time Roach was pinned lbw by Leach, Somerset’s lead was only 35.

Still Curran ran riot, a six off Leach taking Surrey to a second batting point, celebrated by another six in the same over. A four off Vaughan gave the visitors the lead before the memorable exhibition ended with a skyed catch to long-on.

Surrey team-mates gathered on their dressing room balcony to cheer Curran off the field, while Vaughan followed holding up the ball to acknowledge applause for his outstanding contribution to Somerset’s bowling. Lunch had been delayed and was taken between innings.

Momentum was with Surrey and their bowlers soon increased it, reducing the hosts to 85 for five by the time rain forced an early tea. Vaughan was bowled playing around a delivery from Shakib and it was 12 for two when Goldsworthy suffered the same fate attempting to pull a short ball from Roach.

Shakib claimed the key wicket of Tom Abell, lbw for 18 and, with Banton absent, Jordan Clark bowled Kasey Aldridge with his second ball of the innings before pinning Tom Lammonby lbw for 24.

The final session, starting at 4.05pm, saw Gregory fall leg-before for 13, pushing forward to Shakib after a stand of 35 with Rew, whose composed innings of 29 ended when he edged the Bangladesh left-arm spinner to Dom Sibley at slip.

Brett Randell fell cheaply and when Curran’s great day continued by having Leach caught behind for 13, Banton hobbled painfully and slowly to the crease with the total 153 for nine.

Incredibly, with little or no foot movement, he struck 4 fours in helping Overton give Somerset genuine hope for the final day.

 

Somerset director of cricket Andy Hurry on Tom Banton’s injury: “Tom went over awkwardly playing football in the warm-up this morning and as a consequence couldn’t take field.

“He has been for an X-ray and we know nothing is broken. We will get him scanned tomorrow and will have more information by the end of play.

“His heroics in batting today show how passionate he is about the club. We think about playing football as part of the warm-up all the time, considering the benefits and the risks associated with it.

“As director of cricket, I am keen to support it because I understand the value players get from it. It gets the energy and heart-rate going in the morning, having rested from the previous day, and also gets them mentally ready to compete.

“The situation in the game dictated that Tom might be needed to bat at the end of our innings. I was not in the dressing room, but I understand that he was adamant that he wanted to go out there.

“We thought that the way the pitch is playing we needed to squeeze out a 180 lead to give ourselves a chance. We have now done that and it won’t be easy batting last on the surface.”

 

Surrey all-rounder Tom Curran: “It was a deliberate plan for me to counter-attack. It wasn’t easy out there, with Jack Leach in particular tough work for the right-handers.

“I wanted to put pressure on the off-spinner (Archie Vaughan). Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, but today it came off for me.

“It was a bit of a bitter ending to the day for us, but the game has ebbed and flowed, with both teams on top at different times, and if you had offered us this position at the start of the match we would have taken it.

“Tom Banton’s injury is terrible news for him and Somerset during such a big week. He battled really hard at the end there. It’s a clash of the top two in the table and it just shows how much the Championship means to players.

“Things are in the balance, but if we can get the last wicket quickly in the morning and put some partnerships together we can chase down the target.

“I have been managing some injuries over the last couple of years and it’s nice to be back out there helping the team. I would certainly like to play more red ball cricket in the future.”

 

After taking six wickets in only his second first class game, Somerset off-spinner Archie Vaughan said: “It was a pretty special day for me. It’s the first five-for I have ever taken, so I am very happy.

“I have watched Rory Burns and Dom Sibley on TV and bowling against such class players is a real challenge. Getting them out is a real achievement for me.

“I just concentrated on hitting the right area and allowed the ball and the pitch to do the rest. I was a case of being as consistent as possible.

“I couldn’t tell you whether batting or bowling is my strongest suit. Whichever I am doing, I try to enjoy it and that makes me play my best cricket. Maybe I am a genuine all-rounder, but this pitch suits spin, which has helped me do well with the ball.”

Worcestershire all-rounder Tom Taylor produced a deadly spell with the ball on his way to career best figures as Warwickshire were forced to follow on in the Vitality County Championship derby at Visit Worcestershire New Road.

Taylor picked up five wickets in six overs this morning as Warwickshire were bowled out for 128 in 42.2 overs in their first innings.

The 29-year-old finished with 11-2-28-6 as he surpassed his best figures of 6-47 for Leicestershire against Sussex at Hove in April 2019.

His morning analysis was 5-6 from five overs and Warwickshire lost six wickets for 16 in 9.2 overs after resuming on 112-4.

Taylor added one more in Warwickshire’s second innings when they followed on 179 runs in arrears to take his tally to 23 wickets in five Championship games for Worcestershire.

The visitors provided sterner opposition second time around with captain Alex Davies and Will Rhodes both hitting half centuries.

But Matthew Waite, Ethan Brookes and that man Taylor picked up a wicket apiece to leave Warwickshire still eight runs in arrears.

Warwickshire resumed on 112-4 – 195 in arrears – but quickly were plunged into trouble by Taylor’s dynamic wickets burst.

The pace bowler had deserved a greater reward than one wicket for his efforts on the second day but quickly made an impact on the third morning.

His second delivery accounted for Hamza Shaikh (11) who pushed forward and was taken by keeper Gareth Roderick away to his right.

Michael Burgess (3) fenced at a Taylor delivery and Ethan Brookes held onto the chance at second slip.

Taylor then struck with the first two deliveries of his third over of the morning to complete his five-for.

Danny Briggs (2) was lbw after attempting to work to leg and then Michael Rae (0) was beaten all ends up and bowled.

Taylor then had figures for 5-27 and had taken four wickets in the space of 13 balls.

Oliver Hannon-Dalby (2) was yorked by Taylor to complete his career best performance and then Logan van Beek wrapped up the innings as Ed Barnard (10) holed out to Club Captain Brett D’Oliveira at deep mid wicket.

D’Oliveira enforced the follow on with van Beek and Matthew Waite sharing the new ball.

Waite picked up the wicket in his first over of Rob Yates (5) who was beaten all ends up by an in-swinging delivery and plumb lbw.

There was still enough in the pitch to encourage the seam bowlers but Alex Davies, who yesterday became the first player to score 1,000 Division One runs this summer, and Will Rhodes provided determined resistance.

Young pace bowler Jack Home was on the receiving end of some fine stroke-play from Davies, conceding three successive fours to the Warwickshire captain during a spell costing 41 runs.

Davies completed a 73-ball half century with nine fours and a six and also brought up the 100 in the 27th over.

The century partnership spanned 162 deliveries and was worth 115 in total when Ethan Brookes accounted for Davies (65) in similar fashion to the first innings.

Davies tried to steer the ball square on the offside but it nipped back sharply and he only succeeded in playing onto his stumps for the second time in the game  

Brookes delivered an excellent post lunch spell of 7-4-5-1 before Rhodes brought up his half century from 117 balls with seven boundaries.

But Taylor came back into the attack after tea and his fourth delivery accounted for Sam Hain (22) who aimed a blow to the on side and was lbw to a full length ball shortly before the heavens opened.

 

 

Yorkshire moved a step closer to securing promotion after completing a three-day victory over Leicestershire in Division Two of the Vitality County Championship despite more time lost to the weather.

Leicestershire, who had trailed by 281 on first innings after being dismissed for 98, were bowled out for 209 second time around as all-rounder George Hill played the starring role.

The 23-year-old seamer took the last half-dozen wickets to fall for season’s best figures of six for 59, handing Yorkshire a fourth win in five matches by an innings and 72 runs, the last wicket falling just as dark clouds were threatening to cause a fourth stoppage in a disrupted day.

The win lifts Yorkshire to second place in the table, where they will find themselves with two games left if Middlesex fail to beat Gloucestershire at Lord’s.

All-rounder Rehan Ahmed celebrated his England recall with an aggressive but well-crafted 77 from 86 balls but India star Ajinkya Rahane could make only 32 and, with top-scorer Peter Handscomb having returned to Australia for his own domestic season, Leicestershire were unable to force Yorkshire to bat a second time.

After more than half of day two was lost  to the weather, rain restricted the opening session of day three to 14 overs, during which Leicestershire, who had been 35 for two overnight, advanced to 90 for three, still 191 runs away from making Yorkshire bat again.

Yorkshire’s pace spearhead of Coad and Fisher were eager to build on their work of the two days before, having shared eight wickets as Leicestershire were shot out for 98 on day one, which Fisher followed up by picking up both second-innings wickets to fall before rain set in on Tuesday.

Coad’s celebrations were cut short in the fifth over of the morning when his appeal for caught behind against Ajinkya Rahane was turned down and it was Fisher who drew first blood on the day as Lewis Hill was caught low down at second slip in the next over.

Two boundaries in Fisher’s next over gave immediate notice of Rehan Ahmed’s  intended approach to his side’s predicament. He was dropped at first slip on 13 off Jordan Thompson shortly before the first of the day’s stoppages but looked in good touch nonetheless and he and Rahane, fresh from his first century for Leicestershire last week, had added 50 in as many minutes – 38 from Ahmed - when the England player crashed Coad square on the off-side for his seventh boundary.

Ahmed lofted Coad somewhat imperiously over long-on for six and brought up his personal half-century from 47 balls but if the division’s current leading wicket-taker was beginning to suffer any frustrations they were abated in an instant when Rahane bottom edged him into his own stumps, a major breakthrough regardless of Ahmed’s impact at the other end. At 131 for four, Leicestershire were still 150 in arrears.

Yet in the event, it was Hill who delivered the decisive spell of the day after replacing Fisher in the attack just before Rahane’s dismissal.

In the space of six overs before tea, the 23-year-old found enough movement to remove Louis Kimber and Ben Cox leg before and, crucially, Ahmed, responding to belted back down the ground for six by finding the outside edge, Adam Lyth taking the catch at second slip.

Hill’s spell continued after the interval and soon accounted for Tom Scriven, also leg before, before clipping Scott Currie’s off stump with another fine delivery past the outside edge, the wicket giving him the second five-wicket haul of his career after his six for 26 against Lancashire at Old Trafford in 2022.

After 33 overs already lost on the day, Yorkshire were looking upwards anxiously as dark clouds rolled in from the west but Hill spared his teammates the prospect of coming back tomorrow as last man Chris Wright skied one into the offside field and Fisher ran round from mid-off to take the catch at just before 20 to five.

Yorkshire all-rounder George Hill, who took six for 59, said:

“Very nice to get it done a day earlier. There’s been some key contributions, starting with Tatts (Jonny Tattersall) in that first innings. When he has scored his hundreds, it has often come when we’re in a bit of trouble, like the one against Surrey at Scarborough two years ago, and against Derbyshire at Chesterfield this season. And here, when we needed him the most, he’s delivered again.

“Ben Coad bowled unbelievably well in the first innings here and really well in the second without much luck, and Fish (Matthew Fisher) has bowled beautifully in his first game back from injury. I know he’s leaving but he’s still a big part of the squad as we try to get promotion.

“It was my day, today. I thought it might not be when I was seven overs, none for 40, but things can happen quickly on that sort of wicket. Rehan played really well but once we’d got him out things happened pretty quickly.  The odd one was nipping for me and starting to keep low and I just tried to be consistent.

“We’ve matured as a group since last year. Then, if someone like Rehan had come out and started playing shots, there might have been a bit of panic, potentially, that could have seen us start to go away from our plans. But we were patient today, we were clever with our fields and kept the slips in play, with there still being a bit in the pitch, hoping we would put balls in the right areas. We are definitely maturing as a group and learning how to win.

“We are confident going into the last two games. Having some momentum at this stage of the season is massive, with different people contributing in different aspects of the game, not just one or two.

“We want to give the coach a really nice send off after all the work he has put in over the last three years, he deserves it.”

Leicestershire head coach Alfonso Thomas said:

“We rolled the dice with the pitch. First, I’ve got to compliment the ground staff for preparing exactly the kind of wicket I wanted. After we lost the toss I said to the guys, it’s all on me.

“But we needed a result here. It was a gamble we felt was worth taking because I play cricket to win games, rather than to not lose. If we finished fourth or fifth by playing safe cricket, nobody is going to remember that, but they will remember if we try to win a game and end up promoted to Division One. And everyone in the dressing room was completely on board with it.

“We left 60mm of grass on and I think I would have done a lot on it, as a bowler, even at this stage of my career, and once they won the toss, they had two world-class bowlers in Coad and Fisher who put us under the pump, and we just couldn’t recover.

“When we bowled, I felt we didn’t bowl in the way we wanted to. I had a chat with the bowlers and said that if we are going to go that way in terms of the pitch, we have to do better, we can’t afford to be off the mark.

“But as a coach I want to create an atmosphere where people aren’t afraid to make mistakes. In terms of our skill levels we have made big strides over the last 18 months, but in terms of mentality I don’t want us to be scared to take that extra leap to take the game to the opposition, and those kinds of things don’t happen overnight. So as a coaching staff, we want people to be not afraid to make mistakes because that’s when you learn.

“The same goes for the batters too. Take Rehan, who is still very young, even though he has had a taste of international cricket. He is a classic case of having to allow these young kids to go and express himself. Yes, he can be a bit more selective with his shots, but I don’t want to kill that free spirit he plays with, because that’s what England is encouraging from him.”

Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal starred with career-best match figures of nine for 99 as he bowled Northamptonshire to their first Vitality County Championship victory of the season inside three days against Derbyshire.

The experienced India white-ball international followed up his five-wicket tally from the first innings with four for 54 to demolish Derbyshire for just 132 second time around at Wantage Road.

Chahal plugged away in tandem with off-spinner Rob Keogh, who took five for 45 – a season’s best of eight for 110 in the match – through most of the final session after the entire afternoon had been lost to rain.

The visitors, whose defeat keeps them at the foot of Division Two, never looked likely to mount a convincing challenge to their target of 266 despite bowling Northamptonshire out for 211 earlier in the day.

Resuming their second innings on 178 for five, Northamptonshire managed to stretch that total by a further 33, with Keogh completing his third half-century of the season before he was last man out for 63.

Derbyshire spinner Jack Morley (three for 69) extracted some turn, having both Justin Broad and Ben Sanderson caught at slip before Martin Andersson sent Dom Leech’s middle stump flying.

Andersson finished off the innings with figures of three for 23 after bowling Keogh around his legs, leaving Derbyshire to chase 266 – and they stumbled to 26 for two during the 40 minutes before rain arrived.

Harry Came was first to depart as Broad brought one back to trap him lbw and Brooke Guest, having punched his first delivery to the cover fence, was foxed by the final ball of the session from Chahal.

Guest was followed off by partner Luis Reece as well as the Northamptonshire fielders, with rain prompting an early lunch interval and a further heavy shower put paid to the afternoon session.

Chahal accounted for Reece, playing for turn to a ball that kept straight on and struck his off stump, soon after the resumption – and he might also have removed Wayne Madsen with an edge that eluded the slip fielder.

The veteran Derbyshire batter led a charmed life at times, attempting to late cut a couple of deliveries from Chahal that whistled just past the stumps before almost playing on to Keogh with a reverse sweep.

Madsen’s presence in the middle became ever more vital for the visitors as sharp glovework by Lewis McManus, stumping David Lloyd and then snapping up a leg-side catch off Keogh to dismiss the dangerous Aneurin Donald, plunged them into deeper trouble.

Andersson was bowled swinging across the line at Chahal, while Keogh continued to drive nails into the Derbyshire coffin, removing Zak Chappell lbw before Alex Thomson and Harry Moore were caught close in.

Morley held Northamptonshire up for almost five overs before he was bowled sweeping at Keogh, who completed his second five-for of the season against Derbyshire and left Madsen high and dry on 48 not out.

Northamptonshire spinner ROB KEOGH, who took five for 44 (and match figures of eight for 110), said:

“It’s always special to get a four-day win. We’ve been close in a few games this season but not able to get over the line, so it was nice to be ruthless and get that win and everyone chipped in.

“For the standards I set myself, it’s been a tough year personally and I’d like to score a few more hundreds. I might not have got the hundred, but to get a five-for and win the game – there’s nothing like a tough four-day win and to contribute to that is very special.

“We knew anything upwards of 240 was going to be tough (to chase) and once we got out there bowling, we knew myself and Yuz (Chahal) would have a role to play.

“We call him (Chahal) the Magician – he’s got a bag of tricks and luckily it was too cold for him to get all of them out! He said he just stuck to the flipper a few times and that got him some wickets.

“I think it helps me – not only his cricket brain, he knows spin bowling – but it takes the pressure off me at the other end and I feel like I can just bowl and not worry about going for too many runs.

“I’ve been lucky enough to bowl with some great spinners, but he’s got to be up there. I’m finally starting to see myself as a natural bowler rather than a part-timer who can chip in, so five-fors are a little bit more special than a hundred at the minute.”

 

Derbyshire head coach MICKEY ARTHUR said:

“We missed opportunities to dominate and, once we got into the last innings, chasing 266 was always going to be a tall order in those conditions.

“We knew an international quality leg-spinner, someone that’s RCB’s highest wicket-taker and decorated by India numerous times, was going to be a handful.

“What we saw from him was an exhibition in skill that was probably unseen by everyone in our dressing-room. Because he doesn’t give anything anyway, it makes the spinner at the other end a lot better.

“He didn’t let us off the hook and created pressure throughout the whole innings, whereas I felt yesterday we didn’t get enough balls in the right area and create pressure. But I thought Jack Morley came out this morning and bowled exceptionally well.

“We went through phases in the game where I thought we were very, very good but just not good enough in this game with the bat. It is that consistency of sessions – if you lose three sessions in a row, you put yourself under the pump.

“I back our dressing-room 100 per cent, and the talent we’ve got and I’m prepared to let this one slide – but at some point we’ve got to nail it.”

Middlesex: 377 & 165 all out

Gloucestershire: 309-9 declared

Debutante Archie Bailey led the rout as Gloucestershire’s bowlers sparked a dramatic Middlesex collapse on an eventful day three at Lord’s.

Bailey took 4-30 as the hosts crumbled from 122-2 to 165 all out, leaving Gloucestershire 234 to win on day four. Zafar Gohar chipped in with 2-22 as the hosts lost their way following Sam Robson’s 50 at almost a run a ball. Wicketkeeper James Bracey took his tally to a record-breaking 11 catches plus a run out in the match amid the carnage.

Zafar had earlier made a stylish 86 with a six and 10 fours as the visitors rallied from an overnight 154-5 to 309-9. Ollie Price, 56 not out overnight went on to make 76 while Zaman Akhtar (30) helped Zafar add 90 for the eighth wicket to leave the men from the West Country only 68 in arrears. Skipper Toby Roland-Jones led the wicket quest for the hosts with 5-79, the fifth time in the last nine innings he has taken five wickets or more.

Gloucestershire began the day needing 74 to avoid the follow-on and were dealt and early blow when Roland-Jones castled Tom Price with only two added to the score.

Sadly, no other home bowler was able to carry the menace of their skipper and after new batter Zafar got underway with an edge through the slips for four, he and Ollie Price set about reducing the deficit.

Price, on his first appearance at Lord’s looked untroubled as he moved to 76 before falling into the leg trap to give Henry Brookes his only wicket of the innings.

Zafar played beautifully, mixing sound defence with controlled aggression, sweeping Josh De Caires to raise the 200 before hitting the next ball over mid-off for a one-bounce four. Pace too was summarily despatched, a short one from Brookes pulled to the midwicket fence as he moved to 50 in 108 balls.

Akhtar proved a great foil either side of the lunch interval before Roland-Jones returned to remove him in the first over with the new ball to complete his five-fer, though the decision looked harsh with the impact well above the knee roll.

Zafar cleared the ropes in his quest for a second first-class hundred five years on from his first but came up short when he pinned in front by Higgins, at which point Gloucestershire declared nine down.

Robson quickly avoided a king pair before surviving vociferous appeals for caught behind on 22 Tom Price spreading his arms more than once in a vain attempt to have his cries upheld and all fielders seemingly convinced the ball had been feathered. Robson remained unmoved as the appeals fell on deaf ears

Bailey immediately replaced the crestfallen Price and the youngster soon had a moment to cherish, his maiden first-class wicket, Mark Stoneman caught by Cameron Bancroft diving away to his left at second slip.

A cloudburst prior to tea proved a precursor to a stormy evening for the Middlesex batters.

Robson initially forged on, driving and cutting forcefully until nicking Akhtar’s first ball through to Bracey immediately after completing his half-century.

Max Holden was even more forceful in his quickfire 39, reverse sweeping Zafar to the boundary twice in quick succession, before falling to a catch in the deep.

His dismissal sparked the slide as the hosts either couldn’t or wouldn’t reverse out of their all-out attacking mindset.

Higgins chopped on before Jack Davies’ hesitation over a second run proved fatal, Bracey intercepting the throw from the deep to turn and flatten the stumps.

Bracey would figure in the dismissals of Josh De Caires, Luke Hollman and Roland-Jones as the procession from to and from the pavilion gathered pace while Bailey got the prize wicket of Leus Du Ploy lbw.

Zafar completed the collapse by bowling Brookes for a duck to leave the visitors favourites for a successful run chase tomorrow.

 

Middlesex batter Sam Robson said: "The last hour has certainly put us in a sticky situation.

I still think we are in with a fairly good chance of winning the game. The pitch has had more than enough in it for the seamers the whole match, especially when the ball has been brand new in that first 30-40 overs or whatever. If we bowl well I still think we are in pole position. We are still confident we can win the game. 

"I can't really put my finger on why what happened, happened. I think sometimes you just have hours like that. I thought we got off to a good start just after the rain break with myself and Max (Holden) got a few away and we were in a great position.

"With the table and where things are at we tried to take the game on we wanted to take the game on and push hard, a few blokes got out and one thing led to another, so I don't think there is much to explain really. Clearly it wasn't ideal the last 40 minutes or whatever it was but if we bowl well 230 can be enough.

"We were still conscious the pitch was doing a bit. I stand at slip when I am not out there batting and the ball has beaten the bat all through the game, especially with the new ball there has been some really good balls in there. 

"Toby was outstanding in the first innings and I thought overall it was a decent effort, but I don't think we were actually at our best. They ended up getting 309 when at one stage there looked to be every chance of knocking them over for 220-230. If we are a bit better than first time around we are in with a good chance."

 

 

 

Gloucestershire batter Zafar Gohar said: “To be fair we knew they were going to come at us hard, so we set the field for a few catches and it worked pretty well.

“We were pretty confident we could bat deep so our mindset was to get closer to our score and so stay in the game.

“This is a pretty exciting ground so I was really happy to help the team

“We were confident about Archie (Bailey). He has got so much talent in him. He worked really hard on a pitch with a bit of help there. To be fair he bowled pretty well first innings and had a few chances that didn’t work out well for him.

“Bracey is a wonderful guy, so hard working and I was really happy with his run-out.

“We are pretty confident (about the run chase). We still have to work pretty hard. They had a crazy session and it is still a good wicket for all sorts of bowlers, but we just have to get it done.”

Sussex are closing in on a return to Division One of the Vitality County Championship after wrapping up their seventh win of the season with a day to spare against Glamorgan.

Having established a first-innings lead of 305 they bowled Glamorgan out for 218 to win by an innings and 87 runs at Hove.

The second division’s leading run scorer Colin Ingram and Kiran Carlson scored half-centuries but Sussex’s relentless attack kept chipping away. There were three wickets each for Ollie Robinson, Henry Crocombe and off-spinner Jack Carson, the second division’s leading wicket-taker who took his tally to 45.

Glamorgan had batted again 305 behind after finally dismissing Sussex for 491 and Jaydev Unadkat made the breakthrough in his first over, Asa Tribe collecting a pair when he under-edged the Indian left-armer.

Carson bowled just three overs after lunch before going off for treatment to a bad back and in his absence Robinson stepped up to bowl an excellent nine-over spell during which he had Ingram dropped at slip by Tom Alsop on 36.

But it was Crocombe who struck in his third over when Billy Root, promoted to owner, played on and lost middle and off stumps.

Ingram took his aggregate for the season to 1170 runs at an average of 97.5 and had moved onto 71 when Carson produced a fine delivery which turned and Ingram, aiming to drive down the ground, got a leading to cover.

Glamorgan skipper Sam Northeast, coming in at No6 after spending time off the field with an elbow problem, became Crocombe’s second victim when he took on a well-directed short ball and picked out James Coles who didn’t have to move to take the catch at deep backward square.

Carlson and Kellaway added 57 but Sussex were revived after a brief stoppage for rain. In the second over after the resumption Kellaway missed a reverse sweep and Carson struck again in his next over when Carlson, who had lodged his eighth fifty of the season, was caught at short leg propping forward to a ball which turned sharply.

Carson bowled 16 overs in tandem with slow left-armer James Coles to get Sussex’s over-rate back down and, having done so, Robinson was summoned to sweep away the rest of Glamorgan’s resistance, pinning Chris Cooke with his second ball back and bowling James Harris and Andy Gorvin in the space of 17 balls before Crocombe wrapped things up when he plucked out Dan Douthwaite’s middle stump.

Earlier, Tom Clark completed his third first-class hundred and first since May 2022 before Sussex were bowled out 40 minutes before lunch for 491.

Clark and skipper John Simpson extended their sixth-wicket stand to 213 when Simpson, who’d added five runs to his overnight 112, missed a sweep at off-spinner Kellaway looking to accelerate the scoring rate.

A sweep off Kellaway for his 11^th boundary took Clark to a 220-ball hundred made in four-and-a-half hours and he finished unbeaten on 112 while Kellaway completed a maiden five-for in only his fourth first-class match when Robinson missed a paddle sweep.

 

Sussex head coach Paul Farbrace said: "That's back-to-back innings win at Hove so I'm delighted - over the course of the three days we played a lot of really good cricket. We had to show resilience and a high level of skill at times but we did that. 

"We're all delighted that Tom Clark got his hundred today; he's had to work hard this season but we feel he's got a very high ceiling as a player. Our bowling throughout has been very good too. Jack Carson is getting better with each game. Not only is he a wicket-taking threat but his control has been exceptional. And along with his keeping and captaincy, I can't think of too many batters who have had a better season in county cricket than John Simpson.

"I was a bit worried going into this game as Glamorgan had the wood over us this season and gave us a proper beating in the Championship game in Cardiff so to play as well as we did was really exciting. 

"Promotion is close but it's not done. Middlesex and Yorkshire are making it tough but our goal at the start of the season was to go into September with a chance of winning the title. We're looking forward to the challenge of the last two games but there's a lot of work still to go."

 

Glamorgan captain Sam Northeast said: "Sussex are flying and we ran into a bit of a freight train this week, Sussex simply outplayed us - they are a really good side. 

"Ben Kellaway's performance was a big positive. We're constantly looking to the future and Kellers is going to be a big part of that. He bowled brilliantly and is going to be a fantastic player for Glamorgan.

"We haven't quite got up and running in the second half of the Championship and we'll have to do some reflecting on that. We've got the One-Day Cup final to focus on but we want to go into it by playing good cricket against Yorkshire in the Championship next week." 

 

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