Week 5 Rothesay County Championship Review

There was a full program of matches in Division Two this week, while only six teams were in action in Division One. With none of the top three playing, it was an opportunity for the chasing pack to close the gap. However, of these it was only Warwickshire that took full advantage, with a win against Yorkshire.

There were exciting finishes in two of the Division Two games, as Middlesex chased down 365 to beat fellow promotion hopefuls Kent, while at Cardiff, any result was possible as the game entered the final hour.

Warwickshire moved to within four points of Championship leaders Notts, having defeated Yorkshire by five wickets. Presented with a distinctly green pitch at Headingley, they won the toss and asked Yorkshire to bat first. The home side had Joe Root and Harry Brook in their ranks, and having left out Finlay Bean, pressed Dom Bess into service as an opener. However, they were undone by Ethan Bamber, who has made an excellent start with the Bears, and his 5/47, supported by three wickets from Ed Barnard, meant Yorkshire were dismissed for 205. Warwickshire have signed Australian all rounder Beau Webster for the next three months, and he immediately showed his worth, making 85 out of a total of 253, Kiwi, Ben Sears taking 4/45. Adam Lyth (40) and Root (90) were then the only significant contributors to Yorkshire’s second innings total of 232, Bamber and Barnard again the main wicket takers, with four and three respectively. The Bears were left needing 185, their second innings starting just before the end of play on day two, and it was all over halfway through the afternoon session of day three, 49 not out from Zen Malik seeing Warwickshire home.

In Taunton, a magnificent century from James Rew saw Somerset mount a successful rearguard action against Essex, having looked down and out at 78/5, chasing a target of 321 from 164 overs. Tom Westley was visibly unhappy as Essex were put in to bat at Taunton, on a pitch that was almost impossible to distinguish from the outfield. Craig Overton was back in a Somerset side badly in need of a win, after a disappointing start to the season. He was the first to strike as Paul Walter (22) lobbed a catch to Josh Davey at mid on. New father Dean Elgar was playing his first match of the season and was trapped lbw by Migael Pretorius for 30. However, the pitch did not appear to be the seamers paradise expected and Essex reached 115/2, before Jack Leach’s introduction to the attack. He extracted plenty of turn and his 3/35 reduced the visitors to 206 all out, Noah Thain top scoring with 41. Simon Harmer then opened the bowling for Essex, taking 4/43 as Somerset were dismissed for just 145. Essex then built on their 61 run lead, with Jordan Cox reached a second century of the season before retiring hurt with a problem with his side. However, his departure led to a batting collapse, as the last five Essex wickets fell for just 13 runs, Leach picking up another three wickets. Essex finished with 259, leaving Somerset needing an improbable 321 from 164 overs. The Essex bowlers started well, as three wickets from Harmer, and one each from Sam Cook and Jamie Porter reduced Somerset to 78/5. However, Somerset supporters were given hope by a 101 run stand between James Rew and Lewis Gregory, before Gregory was dismissed for 57 just before the end of day three. It was then a question of whether the tail could hang around with Rew long enough to get the remaining 142 runs, and Overton duly obliged. By the end of day three they had reached 216/6, and another wicket did not fall until just nine runs were required, Rew out for 116, having put on 133 with Overton. Overton finished the chase with a straight six off Harmer to go to a well deserved half century and Somerset can breathe more easily as they move clear of the relegation places.

At Southampton, Hampshire hosted Durham and skipper Alex Lees might have been regretting his decision to bat first as three wickets from Kyle Abbott had reduced them to 80/3 at lunch on day one. Brad Wheal then removed Colin Ackermann in the second over after the restart, but runs from Ollie Robinson (76), Graham Clark (160) and George Drissell (69) took Durham to 511. Liam Dawson took 5/185 off 48 overs. The game reached a point of stalemate as Hampshire were still batting in their first innings at the start of day four. Ben Brown’s 162 was the mainstay of the innings, with seventies from Nick Gubbins and Felix Organ as Hampshire reached 470 all out. Rain kept interrrupting play during the final day and the umpires called things off at tea, with Durham on 61/0.

Leicestershire extended their lead at the top of Division Two with a 132 run win over Northamptonshire. Having been asked to bat first at Grace Road, Rishi Patel’s 105 was the only significant score of the innings, which finished on 304, the Steelbacks’ new overseas signing Harry Conway, taking 5/68. They will also have been pleased to see Ben Sanderson playing his first match of the season, taking 3/62. The Leicestershire seam attack has been the dominant force in Division Two and delivered again, dismissing the visitors for 191, Logan van Beek taking 4/47. Six wickets from Sanderson and three from Conway then restricted the Foxes to 175, the home side grateful for 100 runs from the last four wickets. Northants were left needing 289 to win, starting their chase at the beginning of the afternoon session of day three. Josh Hull is another excellent product of the Leicestershire Academy, the 20-year-old having made his England Lions debut against Sri Lanka last September, and he reduced Northants to 31/3. The visitors never recovered and they were dismissed for 156 before the end of play on day three.

Second placed Derbyshire travelled to Cardiff and did not hesitate to ask Glamorgan to bat first on another pitch with a good grass covering. However, while there was some help to the bowlers, Glamorgan batters scored runs all down the order, led by Colin Ingram (81), Timm van der Gugten (62) and Asa Tribe (58) in his first game of the season, replacing Eddie Byrom at the top of the order. They reached 431, the wickets shared among the Derbyshire bowlers. In reply, the visitors were in trouble at 162/7, before Alex Thomson (60) joined Luis Reece, who was batting with a runner, having pulled a hamstring while bowling. The pair put on 105 for the eighth wicket, with the final two wickets adding a further 83 as the innings finished on 350, Reece 73 not out. Andy Gorvin finished with 5/85 having been left out of the side by Glamorgan for their last two matches. A lead of 81 was less than Glamorgan would have expected and then Blair Tickner took two quick wickets, with one for Anuj Dal, to reduce Glamorgan to 15/3. Zain ul Hassan (48) and Colin Ingram (64) put on 109 for the fourth wicket, but both batters were dismissed before the end of play on day three. Some hostile bowling from Blair Tickner removed nightwatchman Gorvin early on the final day, but Ben Kellaway and Chris Cooke guided Glamorgan to apparent safety. Initial caution was followed by some lusty blows in the half hour before the interval, Kellaway dismissed on the stroke of lunch for 74, Cooke finishing undefeated on 49. Glamorgan then declared on 256/7, leaving Derbyshire to score 338 from a minimum of 65 overs. In the era of T20 a required rate of 5.2 runs per over is not one to cause too many worries and Derbyshire were well in touch with the required rate, particularly when Brook Guest and Martin Andersson were together. They shared a 97-run fifth wicket partnership off 134 balls and if they had kept going Derbyshire were favourites. However, Asitha Fernando trapped Guest lbw for 48 and it was left to Andersson to get the remaining 120 runs with the tail. He put on 60 with Anuj Dal, but Kellaway backed up his career best with the bat with a career best 5/101 with the ball. Andersson went for 78, top edging a reverse sweep and Derbyshire found themselves nine down wth 28 balls left to face. Reece and Tickner survived and the points were shared.

Kent have a game in hand on the top two, and contested a thriller against fellow promotion hopefuls Middlesex at Lord’s. Put in on a wicket that assisted pace and spin, Zak Crawley’s difficult start to the season continued as he was trapped lbw by Dane Paterson for six. However, it was the evergreen Toby Roland-Jones who was the main tormenter of the Kent batters as he took 5/33, Kent dismissed for 129. 54 from Ryan Higgins and 42 by Luke Holman were the main contributions to Middlesex’s first innings score of 238, giving them a lead of 109. Kent’s second innings was a significant improvement on their first, as a double century from captain, Daniel Bell-Drummond and 68 by Crawley took them to 473, leaving Middlesex needing 365 from 125 overs. Kent looked favourites, having reduced Middlesex to 81/3 at the end of day three, but a maiden first class century from Luke Hollman was the mainstay of a fight back by the home side. After a slight rain delay to the start of the final day, Steve Eskinazi and Hollman took the score to 138, at which point Eskinazi had to leave the field because of a back spasm. Hollman led the fight as partners came and went, before 59 from Jack Davies helped him break the back of the chase. However, they both fell within three runs of each other, both victims of Matt Parkinson, and the equation was 53 runs with three wickets in hand. Eskinazi returned briefly, but Zafar Gohar and Roland-Jones were upto the task as they put on an undefeated 52 run ninth wicket partnership to take Middlesex home. The win moves Middlesex up into third place, nine points behind Derbyshire.

Lancashire remain winless as runs flowed at Old Trafford. They chose to bat first against Gloucestershire and 167 from Marcus Harris was the mainstay of their first innings of 450. It was then Ollie Price who dominated the Gloucestershire innings with a career best 253. He shared a 203 run stand with Miles Hammond, who fell three short of his century and they declared on 589/8, leaving Lancashire to bat out the final day. This they did, ending on 255/8.

The main mover in Division One this week has been Warwickshire, who sit just four points behind leaders Nottinghamshire. However, with just 20 points between the top eight sides it looks like being the most open Championship for a number of years. Warwickshire and Surrey meet next week, while Notts take on fifth placed Hampshire.

There is far more of a spread in Divison Two as Leicestershire, with their third win of the season, move 21 points clear of second placed Derbyshire. Middlesex’s win over Kent means they have moved into third, although Kent have a game in hand over the teams above them, none of whom play next week.

Standings

Division One

Division Two