Championship Div 1 - May 24

County Championship 24 May - Division 1

The whole of England celebrated today as the clouds rolled away, the sun came out and, for about 15 minutes, it actually looked like summer

Essex v Surrey, Chelmsford

Day 3 close Surrey 376 (Bicknell 141, Azhar Mahmood 77, Thorpe 52, Napier 4-82, Brant 3-94) and 381-7 (Batty 168*, Brown 64, Hollioake 51, Napier 4-124), Essex 252 (Dakin 59, Flower 51, Bicknell 4-67, Ormond 3-68)

Set an improbable 506 to win in a day, there was never any likelihood that Essex would be enticed into a run chase. Instead, with the versatile James Ormond whirling away from one end and with early wickets tumbling, it fast became a battle for survival.

Darren Robiinson hung around valiantly for 41, and with Aftab Habib (61) and James Foster (42) putting on 119 for the fifth wicket the visitors still held hopes of holding out for a draw. Ormond grabbed five of the first six wickets to fall, and the spin twins Saqlain Mushtaq and Ian Salisbury duly wrapped up the tail with almost two hours of the day's play remaining to give championship leaders Surrey a comprehensive victory.

Surrey 376 (Bicknell 141, Azhar Mahmood 77, Thorpe 52, Napier 4-82, Brant 3-94)
and 381-7 (Batty 168*, Brown 64, Hollioake 51, Napier 4-124)
beat
Essex 252 (Dakin 59, Flower 51, Bicknell 4-67, Ormond 3-68)
and 247 (Habib 61, Ormond 5-82)
by 258 runs
Surrey 21 points, Essex 5


Leicestershire v Middlesex, Leicester

Day 3 close Middlesex 201 (Noffke 40, Maddy 5-49, Masters 3-33), Leicestershire 167-8 (Snape 40*, Cook 4-33, Keegan 3-40)

The weather had killed any prospect of a positive result in this game a long time before the commencement of the final day. Jeremy Snape duly completed his half-century but David Brignull was dismissed just four short of his as Leicestershire were finally dismissed for 198.

The umpires mercifully called time when Middlesex had reached 142-5 in their second innings with Ben Hutton undefeated on 41.

Middlesex 201 (Noffke 40, Maddy 5-49, Masters 3-33)
and 142-5 (Hutton 41*)
drew with
Leicestershire 198 (Snape 54, Keegan 5-61, Cook 4-42)
Middlesex 8 points, Leicestershire 7


Sussex v Nottinghamshire, Horsham

Day 3 close Sussex 619-7 (Prior 133, Montgomerie 105, Innes 103*, Elworthy 3-107, MacGill 3-172), Nottinghamshire 421 (Pietersen 166, Shafayat 71, Welton 50, Mushtaq Ahmed 6-163) and 103-0 (Bicknell 61*, Gallian 38*)

When Nottinghamshire started the final day just 95 in arrears with all ten second innings wickets standing, they could have been excused for contemplating the possibility of an unlikely victory. Instead, two quite dramatic collapses sealed the game in favour of the south coast side. Second day substitute James Kirtley started the ball rolling by dismissing Darren Bicknell in the first over of the day, and for the next hour the wickets continued to tumble.
Mushtaq Ahmed did much of the damage as six wickets fell for just 40 runs before lunch, then a dogged partnership of 94 between Chris Read (42) and Steve Elworthy (45) took the Nottinghamshire total into credit.
Suddenly, it became the Mushtaq and Kirtley show again as they shared the last four wickets for just ten runs. Mushtaq Ahmed grabbed six wickets in an innings for the second time in the game, leaving Sussex with just 50 runs required for victory.
The home side made light work of the target, requiring just ten overs to clinch a thoroughly-deserved win.

Sussex 619-7 (Prior 133, Montgomerie 105, Innes 103*, Elworthy 3-107, MacGill 3-172)
and 52-0
beat
Nottinghamshire 421 (Pietersen 166, Shafayat 71, Welton 50, Mushtaq Ahmed 6-163)
and 247 (Bicknell 61, Mushtaq Ahmed 6-81, Kirtley 4-74)
by 10 wickets
Sussex 22 points, Nottinghamshire 7


Warwickshire v Kent, Edgbaston

Day 3 close Warwickshire 311 (Troughton 120, N Smith 57, Saggers 5-62), Kent 196-3 (Carberry 58, Sheikh 2-64)

There was little chance of a positive result in this game when Kent resumed their first innings. Overnight batsmen Greg Blewett and Matthew Walker took their fourth wicket partnership on to 144 before Blewett was trapped in front by Dougie Brown for 71. Walker continued his fine start to the season and completed a fine innings of 106. Kent were finally dismissed for 376, effectively setting Warwickshire a target of 66 to save the game. Brown was the pick of the home bowlers, finishing with five wickets. A bright and breezy half century by Mark Wagh at better than a run a ball was the highlight of the afternoon's play as the game eventually petered out into the inevitable draw.

Warwickshire 311 (Troughton 120, N Smith 57, Saggers 5-62)
and 124-2 (M Wagh 50*)
drew with
Kent 376 (Walker 106, Blewett 71, Carberry 58, Brown 5-72)
Kent 11 points, Warwickshire 10


Posted by Eddie