Surrey will go into the final week of the LV= Insurance County Championship title race in pole position after Essex fell to a three-wicket defeat against a Hampshire side inspired by Liam Dawson.
Continuing an outstanding season, Dawson made 119, contributing to a fifth-wicket stand of 184 alongside James Vince as they took the game away from second-placed Essex at Chelmsford.
Dawson had come to the crease with Hampshire, set 267 for victory, having been reduced to 32 for four but went on to make his third century of the season while Vince made 89.
It means Essex will go into their final fixture 20 points behind reigning champions Surrey, who held on to draw against winless Northamptonshire at the Kia Oval.
With relegation looking inevitable, Northamptonshire gambled against the leaders as they enforced the follow on with a first-innings lead of 172, but they could not make it pay.
Surrey openers Dom Sibley and Rory Burns batted diligently in the hour before lunch against some testing new-ball bowling from the visting seamers and throughout the final two sessions in some of the best batting conditions of a rain-affected four days.
By the time bad light brought about an early close, they had reached 142 without loss, with Burns on 71 and Sibley 67.
Relegation-battling Kent salvaged a draw from their rain-hit match against Somerset after being made to follow on at Taunton.
The visitors were bowled out for 235 in their first innings, 169 shy of Somerset’s total, after being reduced to 31 for four before Joe Denly pitched in with 73.
Somerset put them back in with the hope of some quick wickets with a possible 41 overs remaining, but Kent made it to 44 for two before the players shook hands early.
The draw was enough to put Kent one point above Middlesex, who dropped into the bottom two after an eight-wicket defeat to Warwickshire.
Opener Sam Robson carried his bat for an unbeaten century but it was not enough for the hosts, who were bowled out for 251 in their second innings.
Following afternoon rain, Warwickshire had only 10 overs in which to chase 58, but Rob Yates and Ed Barnard made it across the line with nine balls to spare.
There was an early end to play at Old Trafford where rain forced a draw between Lancashire and Nottinghamshire.
There were only 15 overs played on the final day, with Lancashire reaching 272 for seven in their first innings. But with Nottinghamshire yet to bat there was never any prospect of a result.
In Division Two, Worcestershire moved within touching distance of following Durham into Division One after their match with the newly-crowned champions ended in a draw.
With a result out of the question, Worcestershire were restricted to adding one bowling point as Durham captain Scott Borthwick made a chanceless century and Ollie Robinson contributed 84 to a first innings score of 371 for four at the close.
Worcestershire go into the final week as strong favourites to go up after closest challengers Leicestershire saw their match against Yorkshire ruined by the weather.
More rain on the final day robbed Leicestershire of the chance to chase the win they realistically needed to stay in the hunt.
It also finished as a draw between Derbyshire and Sussex after rain brought about an early finish at the County Ground.
Salt century gives England winning start to West Indies T20 series
Phil Salt hit a superb century as England drew first blood in their T20 series against West Indies, with a commanding eight-wicket victory at the Kensington Oval.
Salt's unbeaten 103 off 54 balls was the highlight for the tourists, who successfully chased down their target of 183 with 19 balls to spare.
The West Indies endured a difficult start and were reduced to 18-3 and later 117-8, with Saqib Mahmood (4-34) and Adil Rashid (3-32) doing the damage.
However, the hosts managed 65 runs in the last 5.2 overs to finish at 182-8, with Gukadesh Motie knocking 33 off 14 balls along the way.
Salt kick-started England's chase with 50 off just 25 deliveries taking them to 73-1 after six overs, with Will Jacks (17) dismissed with the final ball of the powerplay.
Jos Buttler's first match after four months out lasted just three minutes, as the skipper was caught by Motie for a golden duck.
However, it proved a false dawn for West Indies, with Salt and Jacob Bethall (58 from 36 balls) safely steering England to victory.
Data Debrief: Salt completes hat-trick of hundreds as Bethell makes historic half-century
England put their disappointing ODI series behind them, making history with the highest T20 chase at the Kensington Oval.
Salt was the hero with his third T20I century, all of which have come against West Indies in the past 12 months.
Bethell also made history on Saturday. Aged 21 years and 17 days, he become the youngest England player to score a 50 in a T20I.
Asalanka leads Sri Lanka to ODI series win over West Indies
Sri Lanka wrapped up the ODI series against the West Indies with a five-wicket victory in Pallekele.
The hosts successfully chased down their opponents' total of 189, giving them an unassailable 2-0 in the three-match series.
Sri Lanka controlled the early powerplay - Asitha Fernando (3-35) and Maheesh Theekshana (3-25) took two wickets apiece to leave the tourists at 31-4 in the ninth over.
Wanindu Hasaranga (4-40) then claimed three of his four wickets as Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh and Alzarri Joseph were all dismissed in the space of 14 balls.
However, Sherfane Rutherford (80 off 82 balls) and Gudakesh Motie (50 not out) steadied the ship to take the Windies from 58-8 to 189.
Although Joseph claimed Avishka Fernando (9) in the fourth over, Nishan Madushka and Sadeera Samarawickrama both chipped in with contributions of 38 to get the hosts to 112-4.
Skipper Charith Asalanka (62 not out) led the charge thereon, while Kamindu Mendis (11) comfortably got them over the line with 34 balls remaining.
Data Debrief: Rutherford-Motie historic stand proves academic for tourists
West Indies were looking to level the series, but their hopes were not aided by Sri Lanka's impressive bowling.
Rutherford and Motie did their best. Their partnership brought 119 runs, which is their nation's highest ninth-wicket stand in ODI history, breaking the previous record of 85 between Yannic Cariah and Alzarri Joseph.
However, it ultimately proved in vain as the hosts secured the series with a game to spare.
'I was a tired, grumpy old man' - Stokes apologised to England team-mates after Pakistan defeat
Ben Stokes says he apologised to his England team-mates after his frustrations were evident during the second-Test defeat by Pakistan.
The hosts levelled the three-Test series on Thursday after wrapping up a 152-run win in Multan.
However, it could have been a different story but for fielding errors at crucial stages for the visitors, Jamie Smith and Joe Root notably dropping catches to dismiss Salman Agha, whose subsequent knock of 63 helped Pakistan seal victory with a day to spare.
Stokes, who returned to action following a hamstring injury, could not hide his frustration during a difficult day for England, but insisted he would not let his emotions get the better of him again.
"No one means to drop catches, but it just proves how important catches are in these subcontinent conditions, they don't come along that often," he told Sky Sports.
"I actually apologised to the group last night. It's the first time in my captaincy that I've let my emotions and how I was feeling with the way the game was unfolding show in my body language.
"I owned up to that and was very annoyed at myself for letting that out. It's something that I don't want to do or be seen to be doing, so I apologised to the group about that.
"Poor old me, I was a tired, grumpy old man last night! You won't see that happen again."
However, England coach Brendon McCullum defended the actions of his skipper.
"We all know how passionate Ben is, how much it means for him to play for England," he said.
"We've seen that through his bloody-mindedness to get back from injury, which was significant, and to do so in a nine-week timeframe and to have his first TM [Test match] in extreme conditions, 40 degrees, and be able to give what he gave to the side.
"I think, maybe, that's where some of that frustration led to - certainly, it wasn't directed at any of the players. It was more about trying to assess the rhythm of the game, and to impact on it."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
