Essex’s lingering hopes of winning the LV= Insurance County Championship Division One title were dealt a huge blow by Ben Sanderson’s bowling for Northamptonshire.
Essex need at least 400 but Sanderson claimed three for 15 with the wickets of Alastair Cook, Nick Browne and Dan Lawrence in a devastating nine-over spell, conceding just 14 runs.
They were 125 for four by close of play, still trailing by 244 runs but their slight hopes are still alive following Surrey’s collapse at the Ageas Bowl.
Liam Dawson claimed his fourth five-wicket haul of the season for Hampshire to make Surrey suffer, but the visitors only need a draw to seal top spot.
Left-arm spinner Dawson moved to 45 wickets for the season and his five for 44 kept Surrey, who needed to post 300 for the title, waiting.
Joe Denly smashed an unbeaten century to help relegation-threatened Kent to 345 for four on day two against Lancashire at Canterbury.
Kent were in pursuit of 327 and Ben Compton anchored their innings but fell five short of a century.
Denly then played a more flamboyant 105 not out, from 149 balls with 11 fours and a six, to record his first red-ball century of the season as Kent closed with two potentially crucial batting points and a lead of 18.
Neil Wagner registered a career-best 72 for Somerset but weather played spoilsport once again in their meeting with Warwickshire at Edgbaston.
There were 35 overs lost on day one and another 36 were wiped out on day two, which ended with Warwickshire on 112 for three in reply to the visitors’ 215.
Ryan Higgins became only Middlesex’s second player to make a County Championship century to give the relegation threatened side a chance of victory against Nottinghamshire.
Higgins held Middlesex’s first innings together with 137 – his first hundred for the county and shared partnerships of 61 with Stevie Eskinazi (58) and 108 with Jayant Yadav (56).
Middlesex claimed three batting bonus points with 366, but Nottinghamshire responded with 92 for two, with Ben Slater on 49 not out.
Worcestershire have secured promotion back to Division One of the LV= Insurance County Championship.
The Pears secured second spot in Division Two, behind champions Durham, after they reached 300 for a second batting bonus point during the early stages of a weather-interrupted second day against Yorkshire at Headingley.
Worcestershire started this fixture needing a maximum of two points to seal top-flight cricket for 2024 and were 280 for five overnight.
Captain Brett D’Oliveira reached a century before he fell lbw to Matt Milnes to leave the score 299 for six and Worcestershire were stuck on 299 for 10 balls before Baker pushed Milnes through the covers for two at 10.55am – 25 minutes into day two – as celebrations erupted on the players’ balcony.
Durham batter David Bedingham passed 1,000 runs for the season before team-mates Ben Raine and Vishwa Fernando did the damage with the ball on day two.
In a rain affected day, Division Two champions Durham looked to secure maximum batting points and declare with rain heavily on the radar and Bedingham passed his landmark and went on to make 156 as Durham declared on 457 for eight in Chester-le-Street.
Bowler Raine dismissed the visitors’ top four in the hour before lunch and Fernando picked up his first two wickets for Durham before rain arrived at 1.45pm with Leicestershire 96 for six.
Derbyshire’s Luis Reece became the first batter to be given out by a female umpire in 123 seasons of county cricket as they totalled 450 on day two over Glamorgan.
Reece had reached his century but Redfern lifted her finger in the 100th over of the Derbyshire first innings when he was caught behind by Chris Cooke off Jamie McIlroy for 139.
Glamorgan have a big total to chase but play was cut short by bad light with Zain ul-Hassan and Eddie Byrom unbeaten at 22 without loss from 11 overs.
Shamar Joseph grabs 5-76 but South Africa “A” set West Indies “A” 421 to win decisive third “Test”
West Indies “A” will once again have a mountain to climb on day four of the third “Test” against South Africa “A” if they want to complete a series win.
The hosts began Thursday’s day three in Bloemfontein 104-3 with a commanding 252-run lead with Zubayr Hamza unbeaten on 33 and Khaya Zondo on 29.
While Zondo was dismissed quickly for 31, Hamza carried on to make a brilliant 110* off 152 balls including 12 fours and a six.
He shared in a crushing 159-run fifth wicket partnership with Ruan de Swardt who made a 126-ball 86 including nine fours and a six.
South Africa eventually declared at 272-5 off 66 overs, leaving the West Indies “A” needing a massive 421 for victory.
Shamar Joseph took all five wickets for the West Indians while conceding 76 runs in 18 overs.
Windies “A” ended the day 47-1 off 20 overs, with Zachary McCaskie being the batsman dismissed for eight.
Kirk McKenzie (26) and Tagenarine Chanderpaul (11) are the batsmen at the crease.
Full Scores:
South Africa “A” 274 off 67.4 overs (Khaya Zondo 70, Neil Brand 62, Zubayr Hamza 30, Kevin Sinclair 5-44, Shamar Joseph 3-65, Shermon Lewis 2-68) & 272-5 dec. off 66 overs (Zubayr Hamza 110*, Ruan de Swardt 86, Khaya Zondo 31, Raynard Van Tonder 30, Shamar Joseph 5-76)
West Indies “A” 126 off 42.5 overs (Kevin Sinclair 50, Jordan Johnson 33, Dane Paterson 4-34, Hardus Viljoen 2-43) & 47-1 off 20 overs (Kirk McKenzie 26*, Tagenarine Chanderpaul 11*)
Little bit of relief – Sam Curran and England bounce back in Antigua
Sam Curran refused to dwell too much on his weekend drubbing and believes he demonstrated his strength of character by helping England level their ODI series against the West Indies.
Curran recorded the most expensive figures by an England bowler in ODIs on Sunday as the Windies drew first blood in the three-match series, finishing with nought for 98 after 9.5 bruising overs.
He returned to the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Wednesday and laid the groundwork for England’s six-wicket win, snaring top-order trio Keacy Carty, Brandon King and Shimron Hetmyer.
After a redemptive display as he regained his moniker of “making things happen”, Curran felt there was nothing to be gained from focusing on the negatives as he drew an emphatic line under the experience.
“Any time you bowl in certain scenarios, you know you’re going to have a tough day but I think if you dwell on those things too much, I feel like it would have probably affected me here,” he said.
“The big, big messaging from this group was ‘you’ve got to learn from those situations’ and I feel like I’m a very strong character in that regard. I don’t feel like that’s going to affect me at all.
“Hopefully I just bounce back stronger and learn from those days that are tough. There’s a little bit of relief, I guess, it was a tough day the other day but it was fantastic to get the win here.
“I feel like I haven’t played a huge amount over the last couple of months, like any player it’s a bit of rhythm and confidence and fingers crossed we can keep looking forwards.”
Curran was axed from the side after three anonymous displays at the World Cup, where he averaged 11.66 with the bat and took two wickets and leaked 140 runs in 17.2 overs.
Scrutiny increased on his long-term role in a new-look ODI set-up after being taken down by the Windies but Curran was named Jos Buttler’s vice-captain ahead of this series, emphasising the premium England place on the 25-year-old.
“Jos mentioned before the series if he’d like me to do it, that’s a great honour,” he said. “I do feel like more of a senior player in the side so that was a nice, proud moment.
“I definitely feel like I can play all three formats. People can have their opinions that I might not be able to but I feel like I’m a player who likes to back myself in all those tough moments.
“The message is that it’s a new side at the moment and it’s looking forward for the next couple of years.
“I think the energy around the group has been fantastic as well. It feels like a lot of energy and buzz around the group right now and I feel quite a big part of that, so I feel that’s a good thing.”
Curran’s three for 33 saw the Windies slip to 23 for four and while there were knocks of 68 from Shai Hope and 63 by Sherfane Rutherford, Liam Livingstone snuffed out any chance of a substantial total.
He dismissed Rutherford then Hope en route to figures of three for 39, with Gus Atkinson and Rehan Ahmed chipping in with a couple of wickets apiece as the Windies stumbled to 202 all out in 39.4 overs.
Will Jacks thumped four sixes in his sparkling 73 off 72 deliveries but his dismissal left England on 116 for four and the game on a knife-edge as the out-of-form Jos Buttler strode to the crease.
Without a fifty in his previous 13 ODIs and out for single figures in five of his last eight innings, the batter often touted as England’s greatest in the white-ball formats rediscovered his Midas touch.
He was twice beaten on the outside edge early on by leg-spinner Yannic Cariah but gradually found some fluency, thumping three sixes in his unbeaten 58 from 45 balls, sharing an unbroken 90 with Harry Brook.
It was left to Brook to hit the winning runs, finishing on 43 not out, as England won with 103 balls to spare to set up a series decider in Barbados on Saturday.
“We take a lot of happiness from our team-mates doing well, especially our captain, it’s really exciting,” Curran added. “Jos did what we know Jos can do.”
The Windies are now the side on the ropes ahead of this weekend but captain Hope said: “This is gone, we can’t control a thing that happened in this game or even the first game. We have to look ahead.”
Sam Curran and Jos Buttler return to form as England level series in Antigua
Sam Curran redeemed himself after his weekend drubbing and England captain Jos Buttler rediscovered his Midas touch in his side’s series-levelling victory over the West Indies in Antigua.
Chasing 203, Will Jacks put England into the ascendancy with a sparkling 73 off 72 balls, including four sixes and six fours, but his downfall left the tourists wobbling on 116 for four in the 20th over.
Buttler, who had been averaging 14.1 since the start of a miserable World Cup for himself and his team, gradually bloomed and his unbeaten 58 off 45 deliveries – his first fifty in 14 ODIs – sealed England’s six-wicket win.
Harry Brook finished on 43 not out as England prevailed with 17.1 overs to spare although the architect of them ensuring a decider in Barbados on Saturday was Curran, who took three for 33 in seven overs.
Having recorded the most expensive figures by an England bowler in Sunday’s four-wicket defeat, leaking 98 runs in 9.5 overs, the left-arm seamer snared top-order trio Keacy Carty, Brandon King and Shimron Hetmyer.
After the Windies lurched to 23 for four, captain Shai Hope did his bit for nominative determinism, following up his match-winning ton a few days ago with a run-a-ball 68 and rookie Sherfane Rutherford chipped in with 63 before the pair were dismissed by Liam Livingstone, who took three for 39.
Curran was initially wayward again and belted for three fours by King but an opening stand that put on 104 on Sunday was snuffed out for 15 here after Gus Atkinson scythed through Alick Athanaze, with England’s review for caught behind showing a big snick on UltraEdge.
Curran’s fortunes shifted as angled deliveries took the edges of Carty and King to Zak Crawley before Hetmyer was rapped on the back pad by a fuller ball. The not-out verdict was overturned after Ben Duckett seemed to persuade Buttler into sending the decision upstairs.
Curran’s three wickets in eight balls left Hope and Rutherford, in his second ODI, with a mountainous rebuild. A 129-run stand followed as smoke from the barbecue vendors beyond the stands occasionally drifted across the ground, Hope settling with three straight driven fours in an Atkinson over.
Brydon Carse was taken the distance by Hope as the partnership grew, with both Windies batters going past fifties, Rutherford doing so with a mighty heave off the otherwise parsimonious Rehan Ahmed.
Having been held back until the 26th over, Livingstone broke the union when Rutherford drove loosely to Phil Salt in the ring while Yannic Cariah was castled through the gate by a floaty off-spinner.
Livingstone had the big fish with a precision piece of bowling, his leg-spinner leaving Hope in two minds, missing an indeterminate prod and his off-stump as a consequence.
Livingstone’s figures were dented by Romario Shepherd’s four fours in an over but the Windies subsided after he holed out to Rehan, whose figures of 10-1-40-2 were identical to what he recorded on Sunday.
Despite tricky conditions, Salt and Jacks were authoritative from the off, evoking the spirit of predecessors Jason Roy and first Alex Hales then Jonny Bairstow.
The pair rode their luck, edging wide of slip off Alzarri Joseph before Salt’s luck ran out on 21, bowled by Shepherd, after a 50-run stand.
The early battle between Joseph and Jacks was worth the entry fee alone. A rising snorter took Jacks’ glove and ballooned over Hope but the opener responded by hammering over backward square-leg and then repeated the trick off Shepherd. Jacks then smeared Oshane Thomas over backward point for a third six.
Crawley chopped on off Gudakesh Motie, who found the glove when Duckett went for a customary sweep before Brook edged agonisingly short of slip from his first ball as tension crept in.
Nerves may have been jangling when Jacks was lbw to one that kept low from Rutherford, bringing out Buttler, who had been dismissed for single figures in five of his previous eight innings.
He made a cagey start and was beaten twice on the outside edge by leg-spinner Cariah but he steadily grew in confidence alongside Brook.
A whipped four off Joseph was followed by a skip down the track and thump for back-to-back sixes off Cariah as Buttler started to find some rhythm.
The second of those monstrous blows was measured at 94 metres before another mighty mow off Thomas brought up a 43-ball half-century. Buttler took 16 off that Thomas over to level the scores.
It was left to Brook to get over the line and he did so by sweeping Motie behind square for four in the 33rd over.
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