County Championship: Reports on five Division One games and four in Division Two
Northants v Somerset
The home side stumbled to 151-6 second time around before bad light brought play to a halt, still needing 20 more to prevent what would be their fifth innings defeat this season. The left-hander looked far more comfortable against Somerset's change bowlers, drilling a series of crisp boundaries through the off side - and the 10th of those, sweetly struck off Overton, brought up his half-century from 76 balls.
Running out of partners, Saif Zaib did his best to propel the home side past the follow-on target with a lively knock of 38, including two colossal sixes off Kasey Aldridge, but fell short when he skied Overton and was taken by Shoaib Bashir, running back on the leg side. The all-rounder clubbed Overton for successive boundaries to reach a brisk 24 not out from 17 balls before darkening skies prompted the umpires to halt proceedings with 8.4 overs still remaining.Matt Critchley's second century of the season put Essex in the driving seat for a fourth successive County Championship victory on a strange day of substitutes and concussion repercussions at Chelmsford.
Sir Alastair Cook had laid the foundations with a 176-ball 87, but some lusty late six-hitting by Critchley, Harmer and Doug Bracewell gilded the lily as Essex declared on 458-8. The left-handed opener was hit on the head by a short ball from Arshdeep Singh in the evening session but batted on for a further two and a half overs before being visibly ill after the penultimate delivery of the day. He then passed an on-field check and saw out the over.
Cook had looked in sparkling form the night before, stroking a dozen boundaries in his 64. But he batted for a further hour-and-a-half in the morning session, adding just 23 runs from 70 balls before looking a little disconsolate at being judged lbw to former Essex seamer Matt Quinn. Once Harmer had got off the mark to his 28th ball, he cut loose and needed just another 51 balls for his half-century, reached with a huge six off Qadri. But it was Critchley who caught the eye with some breathtaking, but orthodox hitting, and reach three-figures from 161 balls by pulling Quinn through midwicket for his 14th boundary that included two maximums.
From their overnight 295-7, Balderson went on to finish unbeaten on 116 when the Lancashire innings ended - but his 30-run last-wicket stand with spinner Jack Morley also at least took them to a second batting bonus point. Rhodes was joined by Sam Hain, in a third-wicket stand of 68. But, after returning from a post-lunch rain break, the in-form Balderson had Bears top run scorer Hain trapped in front on 15.
Holden fell shortly before the close, but a defiant Simpson will take guard on day three 55 not out with Middlesex 179-5, Sean Abbot taking two of the wickets. Perhaps that explains the rash cross-bat swish by South African Malan to an innocuous ball from Jamie Overton which took the under-edge, giving Foakes a second comfortable catch.
The bell summoning the players back after tea sounded like a death knell for the beleaguered home side, but to their credit Holden and Simpson showed some intestinal fortitude. Earlier, Surrey resumed on 312-5, and save for a six over square leg by Clark off Ryan Higgins, made steady, unspectacular progress before first day century maker Smith was castled by Helm from one which came back through the gate.
Following his four late Nottinghamshire wickets on Wednesday, Holland's application in an invaluable, un-Bazball like 138 not out from 251 balls was complemented by Dawson's 82 from 111 during a fifth-wicket alliance of 150 that grasped this County Championship game for Hampshire. There are some niche distinctions in the game but Holland is undoubtedly the sole player in cricket history to be born in Wisconsin, raised in Australia, carry a British passport via his father and yet boast a fourth nation as his surname.
Fuller arrived to take up the punishment before a shower intervened just before 18:00 BST and just after Holland's landmark from 224 balls. With four more overs lost, Nottinghamshire took the new ball on resumption but Fuller charged to his fifty from 41 balls in a withering late assault, now merrily joined by Holland, that passed 100 for the sixth wicket in only 83 balls before the surprise Stokes-like closure.
The pair added 305 from 333 balls for the third wicket, a new Durham record, and at stumps on day two the visitors were 364-4, 79 behind Derbyshire's first-innings 443. Guest reached his 150 by turning Ben Raine behind square for his 23rd four before the Durham seamer got one to straighten and knock out Alex Thomson's off stump.
Guest had a double century in his sights but when he took on Borthwick, he failed to clear Raine at long on. Lees drove Anuj Dal back over his head for another six and his only anxious moment came on 79 when he almost edged Chappell behind. Lees went to his 150 with successive fours off Nic Potts but the stand was finally broken when Bedingham clipped Dal to substitute fielder Mitch Wagstaff at short midwicket.
Dillon Pennington finished with 4-36 as Leicestershire were dismissed for 110 in 39.1 overs first time around before Jake Libby defied the seam-friendly surface with 67 off 87 balls as Worcestershire posted 169 in 40.4 overs to leave Leicestershire chasing 238 to win. There were casualties at the other end, though. Gareth Roderick was caught at third slip off Chris Wright, who found that the pitch, though drier than it had been at the start of day one, still had something in it for him as he uprooted Azhar Ali's middle stump. Jack Haynes, attempting to pull, gloved a catch behind.
A catch by Mulder at first slip off Tom Scriven saw off Brett D'Oliveira, although the South African spilled one in the same over to let Pennington off the hook. In the context of a low-scoring match, it was potentially an expensive error, with Worcestershire able to eke out another 24 runs before Scriven found the edge of Pennington's bat again to wrap up the innings.
With questionable light now making batting still more difficult, Pennington - like Tongue bound for Nottinghamshire at the end of the season - returned to take two in an over himself as Hill was given out caught down the leg side and Tom Scriven edged behind as Roderick held two more chances before the umpires called time with nine overs of the day's schedule left.
All-rounder Fynn Hudson-Prentice and Australian overseas seamer Nathan McAndrew gave their total respectability by completing a 94-run partnership for the seventh wicket. Impressive Hudson-Prentice top-scored with 73 and McAndrew added 47. It earned him an almost immediate rookie deal with the county, and only last week that was turned into a maiden two-year full professional deal following three Championship centuries in 2023.
But Lyth found another partner in Rickelton, who is playing his second of four Championship matches as a short-term replacement for captain Shan Masood. He is away on Test duty with Pakistan. Zafar Gohar and Tom Price claimed a wicket apiece for the hosts but rain limited play to to just 20 minutes in the afternoon and evening sessions.
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