Sussex get the jitters as Lancashire close in
Frizzell County Championship Division One
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Lancashire 450 for 6 dec v Sussex 251 and 21 for 2 at Old Trafford
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Sussex will have to endure a nervy final day at Old Trafford, after they were forced to follow-on by a tigerish Lancashire side whose hopes of snatching the title at the death have improved dramatically. Murray Goodwin gritted his teeth and survived a nasty blow from Peter Martin to make 118, but Gary Keedy and John Wood shared nine wickets between them as Sussex folded for 251. Only Mushtaq Ahmed, with a brisk 54, halted the slide. Sussex were then reduced to 21 for 2, and have managed a mere four bonus points in the match. That is enough to end Surrey’s hopes, but should Lancashire wrap up victory tomorrow, everything will hinge on the final round of matches – when Sussex are at home to Leicestershire and Lancashire face Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.Leicestershire 295 and 5 for 0 beat Kent 130 and 169 by ten wickets at Leicester
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After a shambolic season, Leicestershire finally recorded their first championship victory in 15 attempts – and emphatically as well, as a disinterested Kent side crumbled to a ten-wicket defeat at Grace Road. Kent contrived to lose 19 wickets in the day, and it was a measure of their surrender that there were no outstanding performances from the Leicester bowlers. Charlie Dagnall grabbed three wickets in the first innings, and David Masters three in the second, and although the pitch was beginning to show unpredictable bounce, there were several carefree end-of-term shots on display. Leicestershire were denied an innings victory – just – but had no hassles in rattling off the five runs required in their second knock.Nottinghamshire 361 and 48 for 0 v Middlesex 326 at Lord’s
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Owais Shah top-scored with 87 to all but ensure Middlesex top-flight cricket next season, as their match against Nottinghamshire dwindled towards a draw. Chris Cairns gave Notts the perfect start when he removed Andrew Strauss early in the day, and a below-par Stuart MacGill grabbed 4 for 98 in a curate’s egg of a performance. Ten of Middlesex’s batsmen reached double-figures, with David Nash slashing his way to an unbeaten 53. They were aided by an unfortunate injury to Charlie Shreck, who broke a finger in the outfield while diving in vain to cut off one of Shah’s classical off-drives.Essex 256 v Warwickshire 456 for 7 at Chelmsford (Day 2)
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Mark Wagh led the way in a powerful Warwickshire performance, scoring a fine 118 to push Essex towards the brink of relegation. Essex had resumed on 249 for 9, and were soon cleaned up to leave John Stephenson unbeaten on 75, before Warwickshire demonstrated what should have been possible had Essex’s top-order applied themselves. Wagh and Nick Knight added 107 for the second wicket, and only James Middlebrook – with four top-order wickets in 42 disciplined overs – was able to make an impression. Dougie Brown, fresh from his century against Lancashire last week, compounded Essex’s problems with an unbeaten 67.Frizzell County Championship Division Two
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Somerset 409 and 214 v Derbyshire 400 at Taunton
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Dominic Cork completed the superb match figures of 10 for 127, to give bottom-placed Derbyshire every chance of their third victory of the season, against Somerset at Taunton. Derbyshire had conceded a first innings deficit of nine runs after being bowled out for exactly 400, and Somerset built on that by pushing on to 124 for 1. But Mohammad Ali removed both of Somerset’s top scorers, Matthew Wood and Neil Burns, and with Nathan Dumelow wheeling through the middle-order, Cork swung out the tail – including the final two wickets from consecutive deliveries in the last over of the day. Derbyshire will need an eminently gettable 224 tomorrow.Northants 319 and 265 v Glamorgan 203 and 167 for 4 at Cardiff
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Robert Croft denied Mike Hussey a record-equalling sixth consecutive century, but Northants nonetheless remained on course for victory thanks to a solid batting performance on a spinners’ wicket at Cardiff. Hussey made 50 before falling to Robert Croft, who finished with 5 for 54 and ten wickets in the match. But David Sales kept him at bay with a half-century, before Andre Nel topped up the total with a hard-hitting 42 from No. 10. Glamorgan were left needing 368 for victory, and Jason Brown and Graeme Swann continued the spin-domination with three wickets between them. Mark Wallace was run out for 38 as they closed on 167 for 4.Gloucestershire 374 and 288 for 7 dec v Durham 218 and 171 for 4 at Bristol
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Jonty Rhodes produced the perfect send-off for his adoptive home crowd at Bristol, by scoring his second century of the match to put Gloucestershire in sight of a hugely important victory against Durham. Rhodes added 102 to his first-innings 103, to leave Durham needing an unlikely 445 for victory. He was aided and abetted by Ian Harvey, who clubbed five fours and two sixes in his 36-ball 41, and Jack Russell, who was left unbeaten on 34 at the declaration. Shoaib Akhtar was the pick of Durham’s bowling with 4 for 48. In reply, Durham reached 171 for 4, with much resting on Martin Love, who finished unbeaten on 49.Worcestershire 309 for 5 v Yorkshire at New Road (Day 1)
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Ben Smith and Kadeer Ali dominated Yorkshire’s bowling with a third-wicket stand of 182, to put Worcestershire in control of the match – and the second division championship – at New Road. Kadeer, who was this week called into England’s academy squad, fell one short of a celebratory hundred, but Smith made no mistake with 110, his second century of the season. He eventually fell lbw to Steve Kirby, who picked up two wickets but was dispatched for 100 runs in his 23 overs.