Stumps, Day Two: Sussex 345 and 8/0 trail Worcestershire 389 (Oliver 101, Kervezee 93) by 36 runs, at Hove
Richard Oliver recorded just the second century of his first-class career to help Worcestershire pass the first-innings score of hosts Sussex on the second day of their match at Hove.
Oliver started the day on 21, and lost his captain Daryl Mitchell early when he was bowled by young seamer Matthew Hobden. The Worcestershire middle-order then failed to keep Oliver company, and they found themselves 1534 after Steve Magoffin removed Tom Kohler-Cadmore.
It was an innings of uncharacteristic circumspection from Oliver, who has a first-class career strike-rate of 85. In this match, however, his 101 runs came at a strike-rate of just 48. He was hit on the head by a bouncer from the celebrated young pace bowler Tymal Mills and he was dropped by Craig Cachopa on 58, but his contribution was vital to bringing Worcestershire to Sussex’s 345.
Alexei Kervezee, recalled to the Worcestershire side after the departure of Moeen Ali to England duty in the Caribbean made 93, and Gareth Andrew continued his solid early-season form with the bat to record his second fifty of the season.
The partnership between Andrew and Sri Lankan off-spinner Sachithra Senanayake was extremely valuable in giving Worcestershire a first-innings lead in this match. They came together on 332/8 after Jack Shantry was removed by Steve Magoffin, and put on 57 for the ninth wicket.
They lost their own wickets in consecutive overs, Andrew to Hobden for 70 and Senanayake to Ashar Zaidi for a 33-ball 32. The lead stood at 45, but Sussex openers Joyce and Wells had reduced that to 36 in the three overs they faced before play ended for the day.
Stumps, Day Two: Hampshire 319 and 38/1 lead Warwickshire 280 (Ambrose 113) by 77 runs, at Edgbaston
A century from Tim Ambrose helped Warwickshire recover at Edgbaston, although Hampshire were still able to eke out a first-innings lead after the second day’s play.
Wicketkeeper Ambrose came to the crease at 72/4, with his team in all sorts of bother after James Tomlinson had taken the wickets of Ian Westwood (11) and Will Porterfield (3), whilst the rest of the Bears’ top order had fallen cheaply.
In fact, Ambrose aside, Keith Barker (31) and Jeetan Patel (30) were the top-scorers for the hosts, with the pair both putting on 65 with their ‘keeper for the seventh and eighth wickets respectively to give Warwickshire a fighting chance in this match.
Ambrose’s ton came from just 159 balls, with 17 boundaries, before he became Tomlinson’s third wicket of the day when he edged to Jimmy Adams at slip.
The Warwickshire man was far from done there, however, returning the favour to Adams by having the Hampshire caught behind from the very first ball of the innings, bowled by Keith Barker.
Liam Dawson and Michael Carberry managed to survive until stumps thereafter, as Hampshire look to add to the 77-run advantage they have obtained thus far.
Stumps, Day Two: Glamorgan 124/2 trail Surrey 563/7d (Davies 200*, Sangakkara 149) by 439 runs
Steven Davies and Kumar Sangakkara piled on the runs on a miserable day for hosts Glamorgan at the SWALEC Stadium to give Surrey a colossal total from which to push for victory in their first match of the season.
Glamorgan needed an early breakthrough disturb the stand between Davies and Sangakkara which had stood at 213 overnight, but the pair simply continued where they left off with a fine array of attacking shots. The partnership was just six short of 300 when Sangakkara was caught at cover off David Lloyd for 149, at which point Steven Davies looked well-set to improve on his highest first-class score of 192.
Roy, Wilson and Batty all lost their wickets as they looked to help Davies to his maiden double-century. Roy nicked off to Andy Carter who then trapped Gary Wilson lbw after lunch, and then bowled Batty for a duck. An unbeaten 23 from 20 year-old Tom Curran, his highest first-class score to date, was all the support Davies needed.
Surrey declared when Davies reached his 200, the second of the LVCC season so far after Hales hit the landmark yesterday. They ended their innings on 563-7, and gave themselves a session and a half to make inroads into the Glamorgan batting line-up.
Surrey were able to remove both openers before stumps, with James Kettleborough bowled by Dunn and captain Jacques Rudolph was caught by Jason Roy off the bowling of his opposite number Gareth Batty. In spite of a promising start to their reply, Glamorgan ended the day still 440 runs adrift of Surrey’s score on 124/2, with the follow-on target of 413 still looking a fair way off for now.
