Amidst the rain-wrecked draws, there were a number of dramatic finishes in the County Championship this week. In Division One, Somerset overturned a sizeable first innings deficit to squeak a one-wicket victory over leaders Warwickshire. Gemaal Hussein registered a rare five-for then Craig Kieswetter rediscovered form to smash 152 in 170 balls to set up what had seemed a very unlikely win despite Keith Barker's 6-40. Somerset advanced to third after second-placed Notts were thwarted by the weather against Surrey and could take only eight points.
Worcestershire enjoyed their first Championship success of the summer, easily beating Lancashire after the home side misjudged the new Old Trafford pitch and left out Gary Keedy. Moeen Ali starred, not with the bat but with his off-spin, taking six wickets in each innings! Four were caught behind and one stumped. Durham came close to achieving their debut win, but Sussex just held on to take a low-scoring contest by two wickets. Steve Magoffin's match figures of 9-50 made the difference.
Rain defeated Yorkshire and Derbyshire in their top-of-the-table Division Two clash at Chesterfield. The last three days were washed out, leaving both sides a mere six bonus points. New White Rose boy Steve Harmison did manage three fortunate wickets, though. Hampshire have leapt into second place after a couple of friendly declarations because of the weather eventually went their way against Essex. However, the home team fell agonisingly close when Adam Wheater, on 98 went for personal and team glory and was caught on the boundary two runs short. The slog deprived Essex of the sixteen bonus points which would have moved them up three places.
Four centuries were scored at Canterbury but again too many hours were lost to the wet weather. Kent are only a few points adrift in fourth place but with a game in hand but Glamorgan are looking glum in he penultimate position. Leicestershire could have made it worse for the Welsh side had they gathered another 13 runs at Cheltenham. However, with wickets starting to tumble in the chase, they could consider themselves lucky to avoid defeat. Ramnesh Sarwan seems to be scoring all of the Foxes' runs this season and needs partners if they are to avoid coming last by the end of September. They meet Yorkshire next week.
As Olympic fever hots up, Division One's Lancashire can put their feet up and watch the swimming, cycling and gymnastics before resuming their first-class season. Neither Somerset and Worcestershire have a Championship game either but they do both face T20 quarter-finals. Come one, Somerset! With Trescothick back in action, just three more victories to actually win a trophy...!
