Only five fixtures in the County Championship this week, but most actually produced a result. Oddly, it was the bowlers in charge in Division One while in Division Two, the batsmen stole the show.
With Surrey resting, this was Essex’s chance to re-establish a formidable lead at the top. However, on a seaming wicket at Taunton, they surprisingly cane off second best in a match which was done and dusted within two days. Nobody reached fifty and Somerset’s pace quintet shared the wickets, whilst Essex achieved a slight first-innings advantage when Jamie Porter (5-37) and Sam Cook (5-38) swept through the home side with ease. When Somerset batted again on Saturday afternoon, they must have feared the worst. However, openers Renshaw and Dickson made a solid start, and Craig Overton struck the winning boundary with only three wickets left. That meant Somerset leapt above Surrey, and Essex’s margin over the champions is a mere three points.
It shouldn’t last long, given that the winner of Warwickshire’s trip to The Oval later this week will go top, and the weather is set fair/
At the other end of the table, Kent despatched Lancashire at Old Trafford by seven wickets. The home county’s run of dreadful starts continued, bowled out for a paltry 92. Harare-born Nathan Gilchrist produced a career-best 6-24, supported by Wes Agar’s 4-35. At least Bell and Hurst dug in to set Kent some kind of target on the last two days, but Daniel Bell-Drummond’s unbeaten 79 ensured the win bonus went Kent’s way. They now meet Worcestershire while Lancashire travel to Nottinghamshire who are also winless.
Runs flowed more freely in the second tier, and eight players reached three figures. Sussex needed only one innings to defeat Derbyshire. Chteshwar Pujara top-scored with 113, before young West Indian Jaydon Seales sealed the victory with 5-29. At Lord’s, both the first and fourth days were washed out, ruining the contest and the chances of Middlesex and Leicestershire of keeping Sussex in check. Peter Handscomb (109), Sam Robson (162) and Leus du Plooy (139) enjoyed some decent batting practice.
Up at Headingley, Joe Root struck his second ton in succession as Yorkshire racked up a huge first-innings lead over Glamorgan. Both he and Finlay Bean (173) set a cracking pace, too, in the hope of providing ample time to bowl the opposition out a second time. However, the visitors were no pushover. A 210-run stand involving Sam Northeast and Colin Ingram was the centrepiece of an excellent fightback. Ingram struck twenty boundaries in his 113 but it was his skipper Northeast who remained at the crease on 142 not out when a draw was agreed, thwarting Yorkshire’s bid for an opening victory of 2024. They now have a fortnight to put that right, against leaders Sussex who could be running away with the division should they beat Glamorgan in their game in hand.
Team of the Week:- Robson (Mid), Bean (Yor), Northeast (Gla), Root
(Yor), Pujara (Sus), Ingram (Gla), Hurst (Lan +), S Cook (Ess), Porter (Ess), Seales
(Sus), Gilchrist (Ken)
