The top two Championship contenders both won, but Surrey’s decisive nine-wicket victory at Lord’s earned them a 3 bonus-point advantage over Warwickshire, who picked up a 4-wicket triumph in three days against Essex.
Ben Foakes claimed six second-innings catches and all the Surrey bowlers chipped in, although the best partnership of the match was the 152 by Middlesex batsmen Robson and Malan, out of a first-innings total of 209. At Edgbaston, it was a low-scoring, rain-affected affair. The home team’s seam trio of Rushworth, Hannon-Dalby and Hasan Ali claimed all but one of the twenty Essex wickets to fall.
At Trent Bridge, Nottinghamshire crushed Northamptonshire by an innings in a match of just 169 overs. They certainly didn’t miss Stuart Broad as Brett Hutton and Dane Paterson each achieved ‘five-fors’ against a mediocre Northants line-up. In contrast, there were plenty of runs – too many, you could argue – at Old Trafford where Tom Abell came under fire for not declaring Somerset’s second innings to give Lancashire a chance of a rapid run chase. That would have been suicidal given the lack of time available and Lancashire’s T20 credentials. Somerset’s teenager, James Rew, won’t complain as he completed his second ton of the game and is now the competition’s leading run scorer. Lancashire have now drawn all five fixtures while Middlesex have drawn none.
Kent and Hampshire also drew this week. James Fuller’s 5-21 was instrumental in Kent’s first day collapse, but Leaning and Cox in particular dug in to avoid defeat on the final day. Kent now travel up the A2 to face Surrey, leaving Warwickshire out of action until after the four-day tournament takes a month’s break for some one-day action.
In Division Two, Durham maintained their position at the top, but it was desperately tight. Indeed, there was barely a bail’s breadth between them and Yorkshire throughout, but it was all-rounder Ben Raine’s cool half-century which saw Durham to a nail-biting one-wicket success. Glamorgan’s defeat of Worcestershire at Cardiff was relatively cut and dried. Timm van der Gugten was the pick of the bowlers in the ten-wicket demolition.
Eyes were once again on Steve Smith in the Sussex shirt and, as last week, he was easily eclipsed by a team-mate. His batting practice lasted a mere fourteen deliveries, in which he scored three. Around him, Pujara and Coles each reached 70 but Tom Alsop achieved a career-best 182 not out. Leicestershire were forced to follow on, but Rishi Patel and Wiaan Mulder hundreds occupied the last day and a stalemate by stumps.
Next week, Durham go to Gloucestershire, Sussex host Glamorgan and Leicestershire will hope to notch victory number two at Worcester.
Team of the Week:- Came (Der), Patel (Lei), Alsop (Sus), Mulder
(Lei), Foakes (Not +), Rew (Som), Mitchell (Lan), Raine (Dur), Van der Gugten
(Gla), Hutton (Not), Rushworth (War)
