Warwickshire piled up the second-highest total in their history to put Durham under pressure in their County Championship Division One game at Edgbaston.
The home side, led by Alex Davies’ maiden double-century, amassed a giant 698 for three declared to leave Durham needing 549 to avoid the follow-on.
The visitors closed the second day on 178 for three with Alex Lees, unbeaten on 94, leading the resistance but with work still to do to dig his side out of trouble.
Keaton Jennings put his disappointment at missing out on England’s Test tour to India behind him by beginning his campaign with an unbeaten half-century for Lancashire against Hampshire.
He totted up 85 with only one dropped catch as a blemish in an otherwise authoritative innings, with his opening partner Luke Wells reaching 55.
Lancashire ended the day on 233 for four, 134 runs behind Hampshire’s first-innings total at the Ageas Bowl, having previously bowled their opponents out for 367.
Cameron Bancroft announced his return to Gloucestershire by scoring a half-century on day two against Yorkshire at the Seat Unique Stadium.
Returning to the club he last served in 2017, the 31-year-old Australian top-scored with 70 and shared in a stand of 98 with Miles Hammond for the fourth wicket as Gloucestershire recovered from 28 for three to post 263 in their first innings.
Lyndon James and Calvin Harrison starred as Nottinghamshire took control of their Division One match against Worcestershire on day two at Trent Bridge.
James struck 96 and Harrison added 52, racking up 146 for the seventh wicket, as the hosts took their overnight 305 for six to 399 all out.
Leg-spinner Harrison then returned 3-78, removing Adam Hose, Rob Jones for 90 and then Jason Holder for a second-ball duck, to leave Worcestershire 220 for six, still 179 runs behind.
Dom Sibley and Rory Burns led from the front as Surrey spent day two of their match against Somerset at the Kia Oval building a potentially match-winning lead.
Openers Sibley and Burns scored 100 and 75 respectively, putting on 167 for the first wicket, as Surrey advanced from their overnight 42 without loss to 358 for six, giving them a 73-run advantage at the halfway point.
Emilio Gay and James Sales both set new landmarks as Northamptonshire continued to dominate on day two of their clash with Middlesex at Wantage Road.
First-day centurion Gay forged on to post 260 – the highest-ever individual Championship score for the county against Middlesex, while Sales, brought back into the side for this game, made his maiden first-class hundred.
The pair set a new fifth-wicket record against the Seaxes of 181 before the hosts declared on 552 for six.
There was still time in the evening session for two young debutants to make an impression, Raphael Weatherall capturing his maiden first-class wicket, while Middlesex teenager Nathan Fernandes (65 not out) reached an impressive half-century before stumps were drawn with the visitors 128 for one.
Kent captain Daniel Bell-Drummond hit a second-successive County Championship century on a benign pitch where only two wickets fell all day on day two against Essex.
Bell-Drummond reached three-figures against Somerset last week and helped his side fight back here after suffering three-and-a-half sessions of unremitting toil in the field at Chelmsford.
However, in company with fellow centurion Ben Compton for 71 overs, Bell-Drummond helped put on 218 for the second wicket.
Needing 381 to make Essex bat again, Kent had knocked off 245 by stumps for the loss of one wicket with Bell-Drummond 134 not out and Compton unbeaten on 100.
“We have capable replacements”- Powell encourages bowlers to step up and be counted in Alzarri Joseph’s absence for first two England T20Is
West Indies T20 captain Rovman Powell called the unavailability of pacer Alzarri Joseph a big loss on the eve of the first of five T20 Internationals against England at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.
Joseph was suspended by Cricket West Indies for two games after abruptly leaving the field during the series-deciding third ODI between the West Indies and England at the same venue on Wednesday which the hosts won by eight wickets to claim a 2-1 series win.
“It’s a definite loss for us,” Powell said in a pre-match press conference on Friday.
“He’s the spearhead of our attack and one of our more experienced bowlers but, having said that, we have capable replacements. When you look on the bench strength, I think guys that are waiting in the wings are good also. It’s an opportunity for somebody to step up and be counted,” he added.
The West Indian T20 side are coming off a disappointing series loss to Sri Lanka and will be looking to bounce back against opponents they have become very familiar with over the years, especially on their home turf.
“Every time England comes to the Caribbean it’s a big rivalry. England is one of the best teams in the world so it definitely brings out the best in us from a T20 perspective,” Powell said.
“I think we’ve been playing some good T20 cricket so this series provides an opportunity for us to continue to do that,” he added.
Another added thought in the mind of players in the format this time of year is the looming IPL player auction.
With the amount of cricket played throughout the year, however, Powell doesn’t see how anyone’s performance in these five games will determine whether or not they are picked up during the auction on November 24 and 25.
Instead, Powell wants his team to focus on the task at hand.
“A lot of scouting has already been done. I don’t think five games would actually change the decisions of where IPL teams will go. It’s just for us from an individual standpoint to focus on what we can contribute to our team and leave the rest to whatever,” he said.
With the ODI team just winning their series, Powell was asked about whether or not there is pressure for the T20 side to do the same.
“There is always pressure, especially playing at home against such a good opponent,” he said.
“Fortunately for us as a T20 team, we’ve been managing that pressure pretty well, so far,” he added.
The first T20I bowls off tomorrow at 3:00pm JA time/4:00pm ECT.
Hamilton hits 96*; Cornwall, Walsh Jr dominate as Hurricanes go top with 84-run win over Volcanoes
Jahmar Hamilton, Rakheem Cornwall and Hayden Walsh Jr all played starring roles to lead the Leeward Islands Hurricanes to a comprehensive 84-run win over the Winward Islands Volcanoes in their CG United Super50 Cup game at the Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Ground in St. Augustine on Friday.
The Hurricanes, after winning the toss and batting first, recovered from being 68-6 after 23 overs to post 180 all out off 48.4 overs, a respectable total in the end.
Hamilton, who came to the crease at 23-2 in the ninth over, carried his bat though the innings on the way to a career-best 96* off 128 balls including just five fours and two sixes.
To put into context how crucial Hamilton’s knock was, Jewel Andrew was the next highest scorer for the Hurricanes with 17.
Kavem Hodge starred with the ball for the Volcanoes with 4-26 from his 10 overs while Darel Cyrus was good in support with 2-33 from his 10 overs.
It was then the turn of the Leewards spin twins to take over proceedings as captain Rakheem Cornwall and Hayden Walsh Jr combined to take all ten wickets as the Windwards were bundled out for 96 in just 21 overs.
Cornwall led the way with 6-26 off nine overs while Walsh Jr took 4-20 off six overs as the Hurricanes moved to 38 points from five matches to sit at the top of the points table, one point ahead of the Trinidad & Tobago Red Force and six ahead of the Barbados Pride who were doing battle with the Combined Campuses and Colleges at the time of publishing.
Alick Athanaze was the only Volcanoes batting to pass 30 with his 34.
Full Scores:
Leeward Islands Volcanoes 180 off 48.4 overs (Jahmar Hamilton 96*, Kavem Hodge 4-26, Darel Cyrus 2-33)
Windward Islands Volcanoes 96 off 21 overs (Alick Athanaze 33, Rakheem Cornwall 6-26, Hayden Walsh Jr 4-20).
Samson century sets India on way to comfortable T20I win over South Africa
Sanju Samson's century and a strong bowling display set India on their way to a 61-run victory over South Africa at Kingsmead on Friday.
The teams met for the first time since the T20 World Cup final, with India once again coming out on top to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match T20I series.
Samson started strongly, plundering 107 in a knock which included 10 sixes, and held firm to get his second consecutive T20I century, even as Abhishek Sharma (7) and Suryakumar Yadav (21) were both taken early.
Tilak Yarma added 33, but Gerald Coetzee (3-37) helped to ensure India's momentum faltered, though the tourists still set a tough target, finishing on 202-8.
Any hopes of a quick start for South Africa crumbled though as Aiden Markram (8) fell inside the first over.
Varun Chakaravarthy (3-25) and Ravi Bishnoi (3-28) impressively stopped any rhythm from building, with the latter stopping South Africa's top-scorer Heinrich Klaasen on 25 as the hosts stumbled to all out for 141 in the 18th over.
Data Debrief: No home comforts
South Africa will have been looking to avenge their World Cup final loss, but their struggles on home soil continued in Durban.
They have lost their last five men's T20Is at Kingsmead, including their last four. Meanwhile, India are undefeated in their five matches at Kingsmead (W4 T1).
In fact, South Africa have lost 17 of their last 20 men's T20Is in South Africa, with India responsible for their last two such losses. They had only lost once in nine matches prior to this span (W7 T1).
The damage was done early on by Samson, whose hundred is the fastest by an Indian in T20Is against South Africa.
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