Neither
Nottinghamshire nor Somerset could keep up with the leaders. At Trent Bridge,
the Notts openers were in fine form. Chris Nash and Jake Libby each made
centuries then, with Stuart Broad leading the attack, declared with the
expectation of bowling Worcestershire out in just over a day. They failed. The
England seamer had an ankle niggle and Joe Clarke had a point to prove. He was
still there on 177 at the very end as the bottom side avoided defeat.
When
Essex roared to 517-5, Somerset’s chance of winning shrank to almost zero. Ravi
Bopara and the returning Ryan Ten Doeschate shared a 284-run partnership but in
reply Somerset managed to accumulate more than 400. On the final afternoon,
Essex set an ambitious target of 319 and credit to the visitors for seeming intent
on accepting the challenge. However, when the top four fell cheaply, the
shutters came down and Abell and Gregory dug in for the draw.
There were neither winners nor losers at Old Trafford either. Batsmen were in charge, and no fewer than five reached three figures. Lancashire’s current ‘keeper Dane Vilas top-scored with 134 but Hampshire opener Joe Weatherley showed admirable patience to survive the whole of day four to attain his maiden hundred.
Both
Warwickshire and Kent each achieved their fifth victories of the season in
Division Two. Ian Bell’s run of form was halted but his ex-England colleague
Jonathan Trott racked up more than 200 in the leaders’ visit to Durham. Jeetan
Patel’s nine wickets and Tim Ambrose’s ten catches did the rest. Meanwhile at
Canterbury Kent flattened Middlesex by 342 runs. Grant Stewart’s 6-22 helped
bowl out Malan’s men for 56 first time out, with Eskinazi the only one reaching
double figures. Batting at ten, Stewart proceeded to crash a 74-ball century
before Middlesex struggled again. When Tim Murtagh top-scores you know you have
big problems!
Leicestershire
advanced to third, defeating Derbyshire with thanks to Mohammad Abbas’ decisive
6-54, and Northamptonshire leapt from the bottom by putting Glamorgan to the
sword. The Welsh, despite the best efforts of Usman Khawaja, are having a
nightmare summer so far, so must hope Colin Ingram can resurrect some pride in
the T20 Blast which starts next week. If not, 2018 will be a long, agonising
road.
Team of the
Week:
Nash (Not),
Libby (Not), Clarke (Wor), Trott (War), Bopara (Ess), Ten Doeschate (Ess),
Ambrose (War +), Patel (War), Podmore (Ken), Stewart (Ken), Mohammad Abbas
(Lei)
