Vitality County Championship Round 7, Day 3 - 19th May - Live Cricket Streaming, Latest Scores, Match Reports – All Matches – Division 1 and 2

Here are all the latest scores, match reports and news for the Vitality County Championship Round 7, Day 2, May 17th – 20th 2024.

Sunday 19th May

DIVISION ONE

Essex vs Warwickshire, 26th Match, Vitality County Championship Division One

Essex (162 & 224-4) trail Warwickshire (397 & 94) by 105 runs

An unbroken fifth-wicket century stand between Jordan Cox and Matt Critchley gave Essex the chance of pulling off an unlikely Vitality County Championship victory over Warwickshire at Chelmsford.

Set 330 to win in 170 overs, Essex finished day three on 224, requiring a further 106 runs on the final day, with six wickets standing, to resurrect their hopes of launching a serious challenge to Surrey at the top of the table.

Both players mixed aggression with caution as they pieced together a partnership worth 112 in 37 overs with Cox becoming only the third player in the match to pass fifty. He was 77 not from 144 balls at the close with Critchley on 46 from 111.

Warwickshire, who had amassed 397 in the first innings and looked favourites to record their first win of the season, were dismissed inside 38 overs for just 94 in their second. Essex spinners Critchley and Simon Harmer sharing seven wickets, including all five that fell in the morning.

Essex’s chase had begun disastrously when Feroze Khushi was trapped first ball on his crease playing down the wrong line to Michael Rae.

It became even worse when Che Simmons pulled off a stunning diving catch in the covers to account for Nick Browne. The batsman dwelt momentarily before walking ahead of the result of the umpires’ consultation and receiving a consolation pat on the back for his honesty.

Essex consolidated either side of lunch as Elgar and Westley stood firm. Westley, dropped on three whipping the ball off his legs to midwicket, hooked Simmons’s short balls and defended resolutely as Rob Yates mixed up his lengths.

Elgar found a gap through the covers for the boundary that brought up only the second fifty partnership in the match – the first was ultimately worth 209 between Ed Barnard and Michael Burgess. Almost immediately, though, Simmons produced a fuller ball and Westley departed lbw for a 69-ball 18.

The introduction of Jordan Cox upped the tempo and the fourth-wicket pair put on 47 in 12 overs as Warwickshire rang the changes until Barnard found one that kept low and pinned Elgar for 60 from 85 balls.

The third half-century stand was brought up by Critchley’s lofted four off Yates. Critchley had taken time to get started but he hit full throttle when he launched Yates for six over long-on. Cox was setting the pace, though, and reached his fourth score of fifty-plus from 101 balls.

Warwickshire had opted not to enforce the follow-on despite being 235 runs ahead on first-innings. Their second innings lasted just another 75 minutes in the morning session while they added 51 runs for five wickets.

Rae’s nightwatchman duties did not extend long before he was beaten by the extravagant turn of Harmer, became unbalanced and was bowled. It was Harmer’s second wicket in five balls, separated by a night’s sleep.

Burgess, one of two Warwickshire centurions in the first innings, lasted 35 balls this time for 18 before he pulled Critchley to midwicket where Luc Benkensein – who had only just entered the field as a substitute ahead of that ball – took a comfortable catch.

Chris Benjamin, called down from Edgbaston as concussion substitute for Sam Hain who was struck on the helmet at short leg by Jordan Cox on day two, faced seven balls before he nicked to none other than Jordan Cox at slip.

Jacob Bethell hit Critchley’s first two balls of an over for a towering straight six and an off-driven four. But he skied the third ball and Critchley had time to move to mid-off to claim the caught-and-bowled in figures of 4-24.

Harmer (3-28) wrapped up the innings when Simmons charged down the wicket and picked out Westley stationed on the long-on fence.

 

Lancashire vs Durham, 27th Match, Vitality County Championship Division One

Durham’s Ben Stokes took five second-innings wickets for 98 against Lancashire at Blackpool but Keaton Jennings’s second century of the match helped ensure that his side will go into the final day of this game as warm favourites to win their first Vitality County Championship match of the season. 

Jennings was dismissed by Stokes but only after making 155 in his side’s 353 for nine declared, setting his former side what would a county record fourth-innings score of 475 to win.

Durham’s confident pursuit of that distant target was damaged by Tom Aspinwall, who took two wickets in seven balls, and the visitors ended the day on 134 for three

Lancashire made the most cautious of starts to the morning, only nine runs being scored in the opening eleven overs of the day for the loss of nightwatchman, Will Williams, who was lbw to Ben Raine for one.

Jennings was particularly careful, taking 54 balls to score the dozen more runs he needed for his half-century, but his circumspection was justified on a pitch offering left-arm spinner Callum Parkinson plenty of help.  

Stokes was brought on from the South End in the 15th over of the day and soon had a wicket when he trapped George Bell lbw for 17. Stokes also had Jennings caught at second slip off a no-ball when the opener was 75 but the England captain’s initial six-over spell cost 36 runs as Jennings and Tom Bruce sought to accelerate in the second half of the morning session.

Having scored 33 runs off 16 overs in the first hour of play, Lancashire added another 82 off 15 in the second and Jennings reached his century off Paul Coughlin’s last ball before lunch when he tucked the ball backward of square on the leg side. He therefore became only the second batter after Warwickshire’s Jim Stewart in 1959 to score a hundred in each innings of a match at Blackpool.

Jennings and Bruce had taken their fifth-wicket partnership to exactly 100 when Bruce was caught behind by Robinson for 43 but Jennings went on to pass 11,000 first-class runs on what became an unusually productive afternoon for Lancashire’s batters.

Stokes returned to the attack and had George Balderson caught behind for 17 before he eventually had Jennings pouched at mid-off by Scott Borthwick for 155. Typically, the England captain was the first man to congratulate his former Durham colleague and he also dismissed Aspinwall to finish with five for 98 in Lancashire’s second innings and a match analysis of 38-2-169-7.

Jennings declared when Lancashire’s ninth wicket fell just before the scheduled tea-break, leaving Durham needing 475 to win. Borthwick and Alex Lees made an impressive start to their pursuit of that goal by putting on 83 in 16 overs but Aspinwall then struck twice in his first seven balls.

First he had Lees well caught low down to his left by Matty Hurst for 40 and then he bowled Colin Ackermann for a five-ball nought with a fine delivery that nipped away to hit the off stump. Three overs later, Borthwick was bowled by Nathan Lyon for 39 when he attempted to slog-sweep the Australian off-spinner and Durham ended the day still 341 runs short of their improbable goal with David Bedingham unbeaten on 31.     

Nottinghamshire vs Hampshire, 28th Match, Vitality County Championship Division One

Hampshire’s opportunity to notch a first win of the season is in the balance after a fast-moving third day of their Vitality County Championship match at Trent Bridge left them with still much work to do.

Chasing a modest 169 to win, Hampshire ended the day still 85 runs away from their target at 84 for five and probably a man short unless Tom Prest can bat with the injured shoulder that has kept him off the field since tea on day one.

Nottinghamshire had been bowled out for 209 in their second innings by tea, with veteran quick Kyle Abbott (3-41) and off-spinner Felix Organ (3-38) taking three wickets each after Joe Clarke and Jack Haynes had made half-centuries.

But Hampshire then slumped to 44 for five as Dillon Pennington (2-16) and Dane Paterson (2-19) led a determined effort with the ball by the home side before Fletcha Middleton (33) and James Fuller (23) saw out the final overs to calm their nerves.

Still eight runs behind at 33 for one overnight, Nottinghamshire stumbled into early trouble as the pattern of the first two innings repeated itself.

Against a ball that was only 15 overs old, they lost wickets in each of Abbott’s opening three overs. Will Young edged to wicketkeeper Ben Brown from a ball that lifted and left him, Ben Slater was pushed back in his crease to be leg before and Tom Moores saw his off-stump uprooted by one angled in from wide by the veteran South African seamer.

At 44 for four - effectively three for four - Nottinghamshire were in a difficult spot that could have turned worse still had Clarke not been dropped on 17 at 65 for four. It was Michael Neser at first slip - substitute for the injured Prest - whose hands let him down, a second such error of the match by the Australian and a fifth for Hampshire overall.

Clarke punished the mistake by passing fifty for the fourth time this season as he and Haynes added 96 for the fifth wicket before the former was out for 57, gloving a catch to Brown after being tempted by a short delivery from Mohammad Abbas.

Haynes completed his half-century from 111 balls, but against the spin combination of Liam Dawson and Organ on a three-day old pitch Nottinghamshire’s hopes of building a substantial lead unravelled.

Organ struck the first blow as Haynes was caught at short leg via an inside edge on to pad, picking up a second when Lyndon James, trying to help one round the corner, gave an easy catch to short fine leg.

Dawson then claimed two in consecutive overs as Olly Stone’s paddle sweep looped up gently for James Vince to catch running across from slip before Dillon Pennington was trapped leg before.

Organ wrapped things up by having Calvin Harrison stumped, leaving Hampshire needing 169 to win.

With Nick Gubbins missing the match on paternity leave and Prest unlikely to bat, it was never likely to be a straightforward task against the Nottinghamshire attack, even with 127 overs at their disposal.

Knowing the potency of the new ball so far in this contest, Hampshire made no attempt to hurry yet still found themselves two down for 15 inside the first 10 overs, thanks to two superlative catches.

Nottinghamshire captain Haseeb Hameed took the first, plucking the ball out of the air one-handed at mid-on as Ali Orr mistimed his shot horribly against Pennington, who picked up his second wicket soon afterwards.

This time Harrison produced the athleticism, using every inch of his 6ft 4ins plus a fully extended right arm to grab the ball a good eight feet off the ground. Organ, the man out, had aimed a rather wild slash at a ball wide of off stump but was nonplussed nonetheless that it had not cleared the cordon.

It was enough for Nottinghamshire to sense an opportunity and they took full advantage of Hampshire’s frailty.

Skipper Vince, on whom much seemed to rest, fell for six, leg before to a full delivery from Paterson that he was trying to work to leg, Dawson hit James straight into the hands of short cover and Brown lost his off stump to a swinging delivery from Paterson, leaving Hampshire 44 for five and now facing a fight for survival.

Somerset vs Kent, 29th Match, Vitality County Championship Division One

England opener Zak Crawley returned to form with a superb double century to lead a stirring Kent fightback on the third day of the Vitality County Championship First Division match with Somerset at Taunton.

There were three wickets each for Craig Overton and MIgael Pretorius as the visitors were bowled out for 178 in their first innings from an overnight 108 for five. Only Joe Denly, with 61, offered much resistance and his side followed on 376 runs behind.

But it was a different story in the second innings as Crawley and Ben Compton (65) put together an opening stand of 194 in 42 overs. Crawley, who had mustered only 67 runs in seven previous Championship innings this season, fell shortly before the close for 238, having faced 267 balls and hit 31 fours and 4 sixes.

Skipper Daniel Bell-Drummond made 62. At 409 for five, Kent’s lead at stumps was only 33, but they had given themselves a fighting chance of salvaging an unlikely draw on day four.

Despite seamer Josh Davey being unable to bowl because of illness, it took Somerset just an hour and ten minutes to claim the five remaining Kent first innings wickets when play began in bright sunshine. Unbeaten on 32 overnight, Denly moved untroubled to a 70-ball half-century before a late order collapse.

Joey Everson was bowled for 11 aiming to drive Pretorius. Denly responded with two boundaries through the covers off Lewis Gregory’s opening over, but started to run out of partners when Beyers Swanepoel played a strange shot to a wide ball from Gregory and edged to first slip.

Kent were 166 for seven and with only seven runs added Grant Stewart played back to Pretorius, falling lbw for a single. Somerset wicketkeeper James Rew then added to a list of stunning catches this season by diving low to his left to hold an inside edge from Denly off Craig Overton.

When Gregory bowled Nathan Gilchrist for a duck, Kent had added 70 to their overnight total in 15.1 overs. With his bowlers still fresh, Somerset’s skipper had little hesitation in inviting the opposition to bat again.

Crawley, dismissed first ball by Overton the previous day, was 23 not out at lunch, with Compton unbeaten on 22 and the first innings deficit reduced by 47.

Warm afternoon sunshine greeted the players after the interval and Crawley was not about to waste ideal batting conditions, with the pitch having flattened out. The tall opener cracked two boundaries off Leach and then three in the next over from Overton.

The third took him to a half-century off 68 balls. He and Compton went on to dominate the afternoon session, barely playing a false shot as Gregory switched his bowlers and field placings to no avail. Compton went to an unblemished fifty off 67 deliveries, with 9 fours.

Crawley reached three figures with a pulled four off the left-arm seam of Tom Lammonby, his 18th boundary of a majestic innings. In desperation, Gregory turned to the occasional off-spin of Matt Renshaw and the Australian obliged with his tenth ball, earning an lbw verdict against Compton with a delivery slanted into his pads.

Tea was taken at 197 for one, with Crawley on 117. There were still 43 overs remaining in an extended day’s play and the final session saw the England player survive a couple of scares when skying shots just beyond the reach of fielders.

By the time he lofted an Andy Umeed leg-break over the long-on rope to reach 200, Crawley had faced 242 balls and extended his boundary count to 29 fours and 2 sixes. With Bell-Drummond looking equally unruffled moving to a 90-ball half-century, Somerset appeared totally frustrated when Leach straightened two deliveries off a good length to lift spirits markedly.

They accounted for Bell-Drummond and Marcus O’Riordan, both lbw pushing forward. With Kent just 12 runs ahead at 388 for three, Somerset took the second new ball, knowing there were just six overs were left in the day’s play.

It accounted for Crawley, caught behind off Pretorius aiming a back-foot forcing shot through the off-side, and nightwatchman Gilchrist, bowled by Pretorius off what proved the final ball of the day.

Surrey vs Worcestershire, 30th Match, Vitality County Championship Division One

Surrey’s quest for a hat-trick of Vitality County Championship titles gained further momentum with a 281-run demolition of Worcestershire inside three days at the Kia Oval.

Dan Worrall added four for 35 to his first innings’ six for 22 and late hitting from Ben Gibbon and Nathan Smith merely delayed the inevitable as Worcestershire, set a nominal 513 to win, were bowled out for 231 in their second innings.

Worcestershire, a sickly 102 for eight at one stage, were boosted by Gibbon’s spirited 63-ball 75, his career-best, and Smith’s 60, while Kemar Roach picked up two for 29 and Dan Lawrence two for 53. Sean Abbott and Gus Atkinson took a wicket apiece, leaving only Jordan Clark wicketless.

It is Surrey’s fourth successive victory and, having begun the game already 21 points clear of their nearest rivals, their 19-point haul could stretch their lead at the top of Division One table.

Surrey’s second innings 427 left Worcestershire, 85 runs in arrears on first innings, with not just a mountain to climb but an impossible task even to save the game against the 2023 and 2022 champions’ formidable five-pronged pace attack.

And, despite a well-grassed surface playing far easier than when Surrey – put in – had slipped initially to 15 for four at the start of the match, Worcestershire’s top order were still no match for Worrall and company.

Gareth Roderick (1) was the first to go, before lunch, nibbling a legside catch to keeper Ben Foakes off Worrall, and in the fifth over after the interval Kashif Ali (12) glanced Roach to leg slip, where Lawrence took a smart low catch.

Soon Worcestershire were an ugly 34 for four, with Worrall producing classic outswingers to have both Jake Libby (13) and Adam Hose (1) caught at the wicket.

Atkinson’s introduction, for the 20^th over, brought an almost immediate reward as the centrally-contracted England fast bowler bowled Brett D’Oliveira with his sixth ball for 13.

Matthew Waite was the next to depart, at 69 for six, when he swished at Abbott’s fast-medium and edged through for Foakes to claim the fourth of his five catches in the innings.

Worrall, recalled for a second spell at the Vauxhall End after Atkinson’s initial 6-1-14-1, struck with his eighth ball back to have Rob Jones leg-before for 14 and Roach also returned to have Joe Leach caught behind for six.

But Smith, the New Zealand international, then offered defiance with some lovely strokes against the Surrey quicks, and in No 10 Gibbon he also found a willing partner in a ninth wicket stand of 71 that took the game beyond tea.

But after he reached 60, with two sixes in the first over following the interval from Lawrence which cost 18, Smith hit the off spinner high to long on where Roach took a comfortable catch.

Gibbon continued to attack, taking three sixes from Lawrence’s third over, that cost 25, and in the process completing his maiden first-class fifty before also hooking Abbott over the deep mid wicket ropes for another maximum.

Last man Yadvinder Singh joined in the fun, as Lawrence was replaced nursing the extraordinary figures of 3-0-49-1. Singh’s unbeaten 14 helped Gibbon to post another 58 for the tenth wicket, a Worcestershire record against Surrey, before Gibbon greeted Lawrence’s return to the attack by mis-hitting a reverse-swipe to deep mid-wicket. Gibbon’s 75 had included four sixes and seven fours.

Surrey had earlier spent 75 minutes adding 85 more runs to their overnight 342 for five, with both Lawrence and Clark – resuming on 86 and 69 respectively – failing to complete their hundreds after adding 117 together in 22 overs for the sixth wicket.

Clark got closest, agonizingly falling for 98 from 116 balls when one from Waite kept a little low and pinned him in front. Lawrence went in the morning’s second over, having added just a single to reach 87 before swivel-pulling Gibbon straight to deep square leg, but Abbott helped Clark to add a quickfire 42, pummeling two legside sixes in the process.

Bustling medium-pacer Waite then produced a fine ball to send back Atkinson for four, leg-before in front of his stumps, and Abbott’s merry 31-ball 38 was ended when he swung once too often at Singh and was bowled.

Paceman Singh ended up with four for 103, on his first-class debut, when he also bowled Worrall for two, while Waite and the left-arm Gibbon – who toiled through 27 overs – both deserved their own figures of three for 69 and three for 102, respectively.

DIVISION TWO

Derbyshire vs Northamptonshire, 21st Match, Vitality County Championship Division Two

Northamptonshire regained control of the Vitality County Championship Division Two match at Derby after a Ross Whiteley counter-attack revived Derbyshire.

Whiteley scored 54 in his first championship match for nearly three years and dominated a last wicket stand of 58 with Daryn Dupavillon to carry his team to 362 after Ben Sanderson took 5 for 76.

Wayne Madsen and Matt Lamb also scored half centuries for the home side but positive batting after tea strengthened Northants position with Emilio Gay’s unbeaten 89 taking the visitors to 195 for 2, a lead of 255.

Warm sunshine and a cloudless sky made it a good day for batting but Derbyshire lost a wicket to the fourth ball of the third morning.

Brooke Guest had to play at a delivery that Sanderson moved away enough to take the outside edge and was caught behind without adding to his overnight score.

Derbyshire almost gifted Northants another wicket in the next over when Lamb took on Luke Proctor’s arm at mid on and was very fortunate not to be run out by a direct hit.

Lamb made the most of that escape by sharing a stand of 82 with Madsen who swung Rob Keogh for six on his way to a 118 ball 50 that contained only two fours.

Lamb dished out the same treatment to Liam Patterson-White before completing his 50 from 90 balls but the second new ball sent the innings into decline.

Sanderson got one to straighten to bowl Lamb before Siddharth Kaul tempted Aneurin Donald into playing at one he could have left and then found some late movement to have Anuj Dal caught at first slip.

Madsen was bowled trying to swing Kaul over mid on and when Sanderson had Zak Chappell and Blair Tickner taken at second slip, Derbyshire looked like conceding a substantial first innings lead.

But Whiteley played impressively, mixing watchful defence with controlled aggression, and with solid support from Dupavillon, kept his side in the game.

Whiteley, who pulled Kaul for six and drove Liam Patterson-White over the long on boundary, farmed the strike astutely while Dupavillon displayed a sound defence to frustrate the visitors. 

By the time Proctor ducked one in to trap Whiteley lbw, the deficit had been cut to 60 and Derbyshire had momentum going into the evening session.

That would have increased if Ricardo Vasconcelos had not been dropped at second slip off Tickner in the second over but by the time he was bowled charging wildly at David Lloyd’s off spin, the lead was 150.

Patterson-White took on the short ball until he was caught behind pulling at Chappell but Gay and Karun Nair maintained the tempo against pace and spin in the closing overs.

The pair added 76 from 77 balls to set a platform from where Northants can press on in the morning to give themselves enough time to try and bowl Derbyshire out on what is still a good pitch.

Glamorgan vs Middlesex, 22nd Match, Vitality County Championship Division Two

Glamorgan set about fighting their way back into their Vitality County Championship fixture against Middlesex on the third day with centuries from Colin Ingram and Marnus Labuschagne helping them to reach 294 for seven at the close. However, both batters were dismissed before the end of the day, leaving Glamorgan in a precarious position in this match.

The day began with Middlesex still batting in their first innings and looking to extend their lead. Some disciplined bowling saw Glamorgan take the final four Middlesex wickets for 40 runs as they went from 303 for six to to 343 all out. 

There were three early wickets in the Glamorgan innings but the 156 run stand between Labuschagne and Ingram allowed Glamorgan to erase the deficit and give them a chance of saving this game. 

Glamorgan go into the final day with a lead of 134 but will need further batting heroics to prevent their first defeat of the season. 

Glamorgan started the day trailing Middlesex by 120 runs on first innings and in need of quick wickets to get back into this contest. They had an early breakthrough when Andy Gorvin bowled Tom Helm with a lovely ball that ducked in sharply. 

Jamie McIlroy bowled well on the third morning and was rewarded with his second wicket when he trapped Jack Davies lbw to a ball that the batter left alone. That left Middlesex 324 for eight. That became 330 for nine when Luke Hollman chopped a ball onto his stumps for 3. 

The final wicket of the Middlesex innings fell when Toby Roland-Jones was lbw to Mason Crane. Middlesex were160 runs in front of Glamorgan’s first innings total. While wickets fell at the other end, Higgins batted beautifully for his 75 not out. 

Glamorgan started their second innings batting efforts in a similar fashion to how they played on the first day with Eddie Byrom looking to be aggressive. They reached the lunch break at 33 for none but shortly after the resumption Byrom was bowled by Higgins for 24. 

Sam Northeast was dismissed for a 6 ball duck when he was caught at short mid-wicket off the bowling of Higgins to leave Glamorgan 45 for two, still 115 runs behind Middlesex. 

Kiran Carlson was bowled by Tom Helm for 15 when he chopped on. He was the fifth batter to fall to a ball that was hit into their stumps in this match. Glamorgan were 79 for three at the fall of his wicket, still significantly behind Middlesex and in need of a partnership.

That is what they got from their two overseas players. The decision to leave out Pakistan international bowler Mir Hamza in favour of picking both Ingram and Labuschagne was a matter for much debate on the first morning of this match, but sizeable stand between these two hugely experienced players went some way to justifying the decision. 

Labuschagne took time to get settled but became more attacking as he settled into his innings, going to fifty with back-to-back boundaries off Luke Holman. Ingram looked to be more attacking and he hit 15 fours and a six on his way to his fourth hundred of the season. 

Labuschagne fell to the bowling of Hollman after reaching his ninth century for Glamorgan and Ingram was dismissed for 105 by Helm. With James Harris and Chris Cooke before going before the close it leaves Middlesex as favourites to secure victory in this match. 

 

Leicestershire vs Gloucestershire, 23rd Match, Vitality County Championship Division Two

Gloucestershire 706-6 dec Leicestershire 371 and 24-0

OPENER Rishi Patel, with his first century of the season, and nightwatchman Scott Currie, led the fightback as Leicestershire's batsmen fought to save the game on the third day of the Vitality county championship match against Gloucestershire at the UptonSteel County Ground, Grace Road.

The two batted throughout the morning without being parted, and although Patel was bowled shortly after lunch, Currie remained unbeaten in the afternoon session, reaching a maiden first-class half century.

Currie was finally dismissed shortly after tea, one of four wickets to fall as Gloucestershire maintained their hopes of enforcing victory on the final day.

But they will need all ten wickets in Leicestershire's second innings as Patel, in company with Marcus Harris, saw the home side through to the close without being parted after the visitors enforced the follow on.

Patel demonstrated a determination to be positive from the off after Leicestershire resumed on 133-5 on a cloudless morning in the East Midlands. Having made a painstaking 51 from 136 deliveries the previous evening, the 25-year-old played a series of glorious straight drives in adding 24 to his score from the first 16 balls he faced before settling back into his innings – at least until he was on 86, whereupon he hit the leg-spin of Ed Middleton for four, four and six off consecutive deliveries, the century coming off 203 deliveries and including 13 fours and two maximums.

Only once had there been a real rush of blood, a mighty swing and miss against Middleton. Bracey took off the bails and appealed, but Patel's back foot had – just – remained in his crease.

At the other end, Currie was unmoveable, the only time he looked at all likely to get out coming when he twice tried to cut Middleton through the off side, missing on both occasions. Solid and impressively determined defence saw him go to lunch unbeaten on 19, made from 119 deliveries.

Having delayed taking the new ball for a couple of overs after the break, Gloucestershire had almost immediate joy when they did so, Matt Taylor producing a peach of a delivery to remove Patel's off-stump. 

That was the only moment of celebration in the session for the visitors, however, as Ben Cox picked up where Patel had left off, scoring at a run a ball, while Currie did nothing different, defending his wicket against all-comers and just occasionally unfurling a classy attacking shot. Having passed his previous first class best of 44, he went to his 50 off 182 balls, having hit five fours, and continued to play in exactly the same exemplary manner until tea.

Gloucestershire needed a quick breakthrough after the interval and it came first ball, Cox leg before to Middleton after missing a sweep. Currie too was given leg before on the back foot to Taylor soon afterwards, and Ben Mike missed a slog at an Ollie Price delivery which turned a touch and hit off stump. Price only needed two more deliveries to dismiss last man Josh Hull, leg before on the back foot.

Sussex vs Yorkshire, 24th Match, Vitality County Championship Division Two

© Cricket World 2024