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Vitality County Championship 2024, Round 10, Day 4 - July 3rd - Live Cricket Streaming, Latest Scores, Match Reports – All Matches – Division 1 and 2

James Anderson, Southport

©REUTERS

By Cricket World Staff

Wednesday 3 July 2024

Here are all the latest scores, match reports and news for the Vitality County Championship 2024, Round 10 June 30th – July 3rd 2024.

Wednesday 3rd July

Division One

Hampshire vs Kent, Vitality County Championship Division One
The Rose Bowl, Southampton

Liam Dawson astounded Utilita Bowl with a 29 ball 56 to give Hampshire a sensational six-wicket in the Vitality County Championship victory over Kent.

Hampshire were given 179 runs to chase in 31 overs, and after Toby Albert, Fletcha Middleton and James Vince had given them a flyer, Dawson made it a cakewalk.

His two sixes and seven fours meant he completed the win in 23 overs to keep Hampshire in the title race with three wins in their last four matches.

Kyle Abbott had taken a five-wicket haul while 84-maker Harry Finch had frustrated the hosts, but Kent remain winless in the Championship since May 3.

Fletcha Middleton and Toby Albert remained as openers but hit their T20 switch to put on 41 in seven overs – coloured in with Middleton clearing long on and Albert scooping Grant Stewart over the ropes.

Albert edged behind but James Vince carried on the momentum with 32 off 21 – which included a humungous slog sweep six.

But Vince was yorked and Middleton was bamboozled by a pea-roller either side of a rain delay which lost one over.

Nick Gubbins and Dawson initially put the power-hitting back in the locker, with the run-rate in hand, to focus on smart running and precision strikes.

But then Dawson ran amok to terrorise Matt Parkinson and Nathan Gilchrist – whose figures were an unflattering one for 48 and one for 52 and included Dawson led overs which went for 14 and 19.

Gubbins holed out but James Fuller got Hampshire over the line with seven overs to spare when he threw his bat at a wide delivery.

Hampshire started the day needing eight wickets at the very least on the final day, with their lead a slender 30. But were a bowler down all day after Keith Barker pulled out of an over the previous evening, initially thought to be cramp.

It was hardly helpful when Jack Leaning was dropped on 32 and 43, although only lasted two further balls after the second shelling when an attempted hook was glanced to wicketkeeper Ben Brown.

That ended a 106-run partnership with Ben Compton, who had been a brick wall to frustrate Hampshire as long as possible, while also giving his side a slim chance of victory.

His gritty stay ended when he was adjudged to have gloved the ball to short leg before Joey Evison was pinned by a delivery which stayed low from Fuller.

What Compton had started with his 92, Harry Finch continued, initially at a quicker rate than his predecessor – especially during his 72-run stand with Tawanda Muyeye.

The wicketkeeper-batter was the glue with the tail, as Leaning had been in the first innings, although Muyeye, Charlie Stobo and Grant Stewart all fell to the rampaging Abbott.

Muyeye hit onto his own stumps, Stobo was undone by a beauty which hammered the top of off stump and Stewart was lbw to a full in-ducker.

Finch was tigerish though as he reached 50 in 81 balls, and found company with Parkinson – who like the first innings helped add 44 for the ninth wicket.

Parkinson tickled Mohammed Abbas behind but another 23-run stand for the last wicket further maddened a tetchy Hampshire before Abbott finally wrapped things up, via a Finch top edge and a juggling Vince. Abbott returning five for 85.

The 179 should have been a test, but Hampshire won at a canter.

Lancashire vs Nottinghamshire, Vitality County Championship Division One
Trafalgar Road Ground, Southport, Southport

Joe Clarke made his fourth century of the season and blunted the threat posed by Lancashire’s James Anderson to ensure that Nottinghamshire drew their Vitality County Championship match with Lancashire at Southport.

Clarke passed fifty for the seventh time in 14 first-class innings this season and had put on an unbroken 136 for the fifth wicket with Lyndon James to steer the visitors to 270 for four when the players shook hands at 4.50 with James unbeaten on 43 and Clarke on 115 not out, bringing his first-class aggregate for the season to 795

By contrast to his astonishing spell on Tuesday morning, Anderson had figures of one for 25 from eleven overs in two spells on the final day at Southport but the eight points the sides collect for the draw enable both of them to pull a little further away from Division One’s relegation zone.

Anderson took his only wicket of the second innings with his 17th ball of the day when Will Young pushed a trifle tentatively forward and edged a catch to Matthew Hurst. The same combination had dismissed Young nearly 24 hours previously but Clarke and Jack Haynes then steadied the ship and Haynes hooked Tom Bailey for a six onto the Southport to Liverpool railway linen narrowly missing a fast-moving train by seconds.

In the next over, though, Haynes was caught behind off Chris Green, thus giving the Australian off-spinner his maiden first-class wicket for Lancashire on his Championship debut.

No more wickets fell until lunch by which time home spectators could reflect on a session in which they had been treated to the sight of Nathan Lyon bowling in tandem with Anderson, a combination that has taken 1230 Test wickets. The statisticians believe it is the most ever taken by one first-class team. (The nearest challenger discovered so far is another Lancashire side, one that contained Muttiah Muralitharan, Andrew Flintoff and Dominic Cork.)

Regardless of who he was facing though, Clarke continued to bat with careful fluency, lapping Lyon for four to fine leg, pulling him onto the railway line and reaching his fifty in 107 balls. Nottinghamshire lunched on 164 for four and were therefore only 63 runs in arrears. But the prospect of Anderson with the new ball in his hand was enough to have those supporters looking anxiously at the sky and wondering when the forecast rain might arrive.

Anderson duly took the new ball two overs into the afternoon session and Clarke prepared to receive it as though he was starting his innings afresh. However, the Lancashire bowler had delivered five wicketless overs for 16 runs when rain swept in from the west at 2.20.

Contrary to some expectations, play resumed at 4.00 with a minimum of 33 overs to be bowled. Rather than be unsettled by the resumption of play, though, Clarke and James played with increasing freedom and had taken their side into the lead when Clarke reached his century off 185 balls with a square cut off Luke Wells.

Somerset vs Warwickshire, Vitality County Championship Division One
The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton, Taunton

Tom Abell hit a perfectly-paced century as Somerset chased down 410 to beat Warwickshire by five wickets on the final day of an absorbing Vitality County Championship Division One game at Taunton.

The former club captain finished unbeaten on 152, off 207 balls, with 14 fours and 2 sixes, as his side made light of their mammoth target, winning with 4.2 overs to spare.

Tom Banton contributed 81, James Rew 57 not out and Tom Kohler-Cadmore 49 after Warwickshire had declared on their overnight second innings total of 281 for eight.

It was the second highest successful fourth innings run chase in Somerset’s history. They took 20 points from the game to go second in the Division One table, while Warwickshire had to be content with seven.

Chasing such a big target, Somerset knew a good start was imperative. Andy Umeed played positively from the outset and had made 30 of the 44 runs on the board when wafting at a delivery from Oliver Hannon-Dalby and edging through to wicketkeeper Michael Burgess.

Kohler-Cadmore demonstrated admirable restraint to ensure a solid start, but lost another partner with the total on 77 when Tom Lammonby top-edged an attempted pull shot off Michael Booth and fell for 26, Ed Barnard taking a tumbling catch at fine leg.

Having curbed his natural attacking instincts for much of the morning, Kohler-Cadmore opened his shoulders to hit left-arm spinner Jacob Bethell over long-on for six in the final over before lunch, which was taken at 117 for two, the former Yorkshire player unbeaten on 35.

Abell was 25 not out and the afternoon session saw the pair complete a half-century stand off 92 balls. But, with the total on 144, Kohler-Cadmore aimed an expansive shot over the leg side off Hannon-Dolby and got a thick edge to third-man where Barnard pouched his second catch.

Abell went to fifty off 92 balls with an on-driven boundary off Hannon-Dalby, but he and Banton sensibly took few chances in ensuring Warwickshire did not enjoy any more success before tea. Banton’s half-century occupied 76 deliveries and featured 4 fours and a six.

Somerset went into the final session still needing 188 runs from a minimum of 33 overs. The century partnership between Abell and Banton was brought up off 158 balls and Banton immediately went on the attack, lofting Bethell for six over long-on.

Somerset were starting to look favourites as runs started to flow more quickly. With 25 overs remaining, they needed a further 131 on what is traditionally a fast-scoring ground.

Warwickshire desperately needed a wicket. It came with the total on 281 when Banton, who has made giant strides as a red-ball cricketer this season, attempted to force a short ball from Barnard through the leg-side and picked out Yates at mid-wicket. He had faced 109 balls and hit 7 fours and 2 sixes.

Somerset promoted Migael Pretorius in the bid for quick runs. The South African had managed 14 off ten balls when top-edging a catch to cover off Will Rhodes. At 299 for five, the hosts required 111 off the final 20 overs.

That brought in Rew, who has struggled for runs this summer after a prolific 2023 season. The left-hander produced a classic extra cover drive for four off Rhodes before Abell went to a chanceless 171-ball hundred, which included 9 fours, with a single off Barnard.

The second new ball was about to become due. Rew slog-swept Bethell for four and followed up with a straight six next ball. With 85 needed, the umpires signalled the final hour and minimum of 16 overs left in the game.

Warwickshire delayed taking the new ball, perhaps reasoning a softer one was more difficult to strike for boundaries. Instead, Rhodes turned to Dan Mousley, giving the off-spinner his first bowl of the match.

It was a gamble that didn’t work as Mousley’s two overs went for 12. By the time Oliver Hannon-Dalby was handed the new ball, there were just 11 overs left and 54 runs required, Abell and Rew having completed a half-century stand off 51 deliveries.

From there, the pair cut loose to finish the game with a flurry of boundaries, Rew completing a 51-ball fifty and Abell ending a memorable day with a pulled six off Booth.

Surrey vs Essex, Vitality County Championship Division One
Kennington Oval, London

Tom Lawes was Surrey’s last day hero with four for 26 as they bowled out Essex for 215 to complete a 145-run victory over their nearest rivals at the Kia Oval and increase their lead at the top of the Vitality County Championship table.

Dean Elgar scored a typically defiant 60 but Surrey’s quicker bowlers chipped away relentlessly once morning rain had cleared, with 21-year-old tyro Lawes first taking two wickets in successive balls and then returning after tea to break further Essex resistance from Paul Walter and Michael Pepper.

Surrey’s 20-point win, their sixth from nine Division One matches so far this season, was completed with 25.5 overs to spare and they remain on course for three championship titles in a row. In support of Lawes, Jordan Clark finished with three for 56 and Dan Worrall two for 71.

Second-placed Essex, rightly, will be sore that they effectively had to play a vital top-of-table fixture with ten men due to the absence virtually throughout of Jordan Cox, who left the field early on day one feeling unwell. Cox has since had an operation to remove his appendix but ECB regulations allow a substitute only for concussion victims.

Perhaps Cox’s full involvement might have made little difference, particularly on a well-grassed pitch that encouraged the seamers throughout, but the 23-year-old came into the game heading Essex’s championship batting averages with 763 runs at 69.36. Losing him to illness was unfortunate enough, but not be able to replace him with another batsman in such circumstances meant Surrey also had to take just 18 wickets overall, not 20.

Resuming their second innings on 21 for two, Essex would have been aiming only for survival, rather than an improbable chasing down of a 361-run win target, and a two-hour bad weather interruption early in the day certainly helped their cause.

Only 13 balls were bowled at the start, Essex moving quickly to 38 for two as Westley took two fours from Clark’s opening over, before rain ruled out a resumption until after an early lunch at 1.10pm.

Elgar and Westley then initially flourished – once Westley had survived a huge early shout for leg-before when a Worrall outswinger squared him up and thudded into his back pad – and the pair took their third wicket alliance to 69 before Lawes’ introduction dramatically swung the contest back in Surrey’s favour.

Worrall had been taken for three offside fours in one over by Elgar, while Westley off drove Clark elegantly for four before flicking Worrall away for further boundaries to fine leg and then off his pads to square leg.

But, with his second ball, after replacing Worrall at the Vauxhall End, Lawes had Elgar dropped by Dom Sibley at second slip on 36 before, in his second over, removing both Westley and Matt Critchley.

Each time Ben Foakes dived to his right to take good catches as perfectly-pitched outswingers took the edge of both Westley and Critchley’s forward defensive bats and, suddenly, Essex were 86 for four with Lawes on a hat-trick.

He had to wait until the first ball of his third over for the hat-trick opportunity, only to see Elgar clip away a full ball to deep mid wicket for three to complete his half-century.

Lawes’ six-over spell of two for 18 had, however, seriously damaged Essex’s hopes of batting out the day for a draw and, when Worrall returned to replace Lawes in the attack and tempt Elgar into hooking a short ball straight into deep mid wicket’s hands it looked as if the end was nigh for the visitors.

Walter and Pepper, though, added 64 until Lawes struck again with the sixth ball after tea to have Pepper held at second slip for 26, and the young fast bowler then bowled Walter for 56 – via an ugly under-edged pull to a ball that was not there for the shot – to leave Essex 194 for seven.

Simon Harmer (7) hung around bravely for 42 balls before edging Worrall to Foakes and the next ball, Clark’s first of the following over, pinned Shane Snater lbw for seven to wrap up Surrey’s win.

An overall attendance for the match of 13,706, meanwhile, boosted considerably by the 6,300 who turned up to support the club’s Festival of Red Ball Cricket initiative on day one – when the Oval concourses were offering a wide variety of family-friendly activities – is a ground record for a Surrey championship fixture this century.

Surrey’s Tom Lawes said: “I had a lot of fun out there and to be able to contribute to a big win against one of the best teams in the country is very nice.

“But there were also a few nerves in this game for me because after being out for a couple of months [with a heel injury] you do wonder if you can get back to bowling like you did before the injury happened.

“So it is doubly nice to come back like that and with a win. We back ourselves as a team to win every game we play, and I don’t see us changing that approach.”

Essex head coach Anthony McGrath said: “The Jordan Cox situation in this match is a difficult one because you know the rules before you play. It’s just unfortunate

“I’ve never seen something like this happen in all my time as a player and as a coach, so perhaps it should be looked at for the future.

“It’s a pretty unusual situation and you would miss any player that had to pull out of a match with illness but especially someone like Jordan who was in such great form with the bat this season.

“It’s certainly not an excuse [for us in this game] but it’s just a real shame it has happened in such an important match. You simply cannot legislate for something happening to a player like that on the first day.

“The most important thing is that Jordan had the tests and found out what it was. He’s only just come out of hospital now following the appendix operation and it’s hard for us to put any timescale on how long he is going to be out.

“We will speak to the surgeons and see what they say [about his recuperation schedule] but he is young and otherwise very healthy so hopefully it won’t be too long before he is able to play again.”