At
Trent Bridge it was not so much a game of two halves as one of three thirds. After
inserting Nottinghamshire on the opening morning, Somerset let the seamers do
some damage, with Lewis Gregory (6-68) in particular maintaining his April
form. The visitors could have suffered the same fate were it not for a
double-century partnership between Tom Abell and George Bartlett before Broad polished
off the tail. On the third day, new signing Jack Brooks chipped in with 4-22
but it was spinner Jack Leach whose six-for wrapped up a maximum-point victory,
hoisting Somerset to the summit of Division One., just as the month break for
the One-Day Cup kicks in. Ho-hum…
Last
week’s leaders Hampshire returned to Earth with a brutal bump. They were beaten
by an innings on home turf by Yorkshire, for whom Gary Ballance and Joe Root were
again in the runs. Leaning and Tattersall extended the total to an impressive 554-7
declared. In reply, Sam Northeast fell one short of a second successive century
and Liam Dawson followed his 60-over bowling stint with two fifties but
Patterson and Coad wrecked Hampshire’s attempt at rescuing the match.
Kent
also racked up 500+ and enforced the follow-on against Warwickshire at Edgbaston.
Zak Crawley and 20 year-old stand-in ‘keeper Ollie Robinson each reached three
figures, as did the home side’s opener Dominic Sibley whose 132 was his fifth
hundred in consecutive first-class fixtures. The second innings was heading for
a disaster until Tim Ambrose and teenager Henry Brookes put on 141 for the
eighth wicket and forced Kent to bat again to clinch the win.
The
last two champions, Surrey and Essex, played out an evenly-matched draw at The
Oval. The Londoners’ big guns all garnered some runs but Essex relied heavily
on Dan Lawrence and skipper Ryan Ten Doeschate to compete in the first innings.
In
Division Two, Worcestershire opened their account with a handsome victory at
Leicester. Mitchell, Rutherford and Cox all scored centuries in a total of
553-6 but Leicestershire found it tough to emulate them. Charlie Morris claimed
a career-best 7-45 and applied the coup-de-grace on the final morning with Paul
Horton’s men still eighteen adrift.
Meanwhile,
Sussex consigned Durham to a second successive defeat in a low-scoring contest
at Chester-le-Street. All was fairly even-Stevens until Stiaan van Zyl held his
nerve in the second innings, just managing to make a century as Sussex won by
six wickets. Two of the favourites for promotion met at Lord’s and it was Lancashire
who prevailed easily. After two miserable seasons, Haseeb Hameed finally struck
a first-class hundred, but it was Glenn Maxwell’s off-breaks which proved decisive
on day four.
The
Cardiff pitch came in for justified criticism as it was a terribly one-sided
affair. Batsmen filled their boots – six striking tons – and Northamptonshire
piled on 750, the highest score ever seen at Sophia Gardens, spanning 227
tedious overs. Northants opener Ricardo Vasconcelos top-scored with 184 while
for Glamorgan Billy Root achieved his maiden hundred for his new county, out-performing
his brother Joe for a change. Mind you my dear departed grandmother could
probably have driven a few boundaries on such a batting track!
To
be honest, there weren’t many more wickets falling at Bristol although there
were no records broken. The final day saw Derbyshire aggregate almost 300 runs
for the loss of just one wicket, as Wayne Madsen cruised to a double, and Alex
Hughes 109 not out. The result with Gloucestershire may have been a tame draw
but it does place Derbyshire top of the table as we head into one-day
territory. Enjoy it while it lasts, lads!
Team of the
Week: Vasconcelos (Nor), Hameed (Lan), Ballance (Yor), Madsen (Der), Van Zyl
(Sus), Robinson (Ken +), Gregory (Som), Wiese (Sus), Morris (Wor), Murtagh
(Mid), Leach (Som)
