Notts vs Warwickshire.
Notts were bowled all out for 279 early on the third morning and were asked to follow on as Warwickshire pushed for a victory. Chris Woakes finished with figures of 3/44 off 16.1 overs.
Haseeb Hameed finally found some form with the bat; he made his first century of the season, sharing an opening partnership of 118 with Ben Slater, who made 48, and then 150 with England opener Ben Duckett, who made a classy 93 off 120 balls, which contained fourteen 4s and one 6. It was a good return for Duckett, who made 62 in the first innings.
Hameed was eventually dismissed for 115 after batting for 320 minutes, almost ensuring a draw for his side; his innings included fourteen 4s.
Joe Clarke’s fine match continued as he added 82 in the second innings. He shared a stand of 180 with Kyle Verreynne, who made 115 as the match petered out into a draw.
Notts eventually closed on537/7 declared in their second innings, the pitch being the eventual winner at Trent Bridge.
Surrey vs Essex.
Dom Sibley took his overnight 74* to 101 before his vigil was finally ended by Sam Cook when he gloved a ball through to Peer behind the stumps. Sibley batted for 398 minutes, and his innings contained eight 4s. This is Sibley’s first century this summer.
Ben Foakes was unlucky; he’d made 33 before a ball from Matt Critchley kept very low and bowled him. Foakes had looked in good touch and wasn’t troubled until he could do nothing about the Critchley delivery.
Dan Lawrence made a sublime 125 on the third day, full of eye-catching shots. He batted Surrey into the lead before he holed out off Thain on the deep square boundary, where Sam Cook took the catch.
Jordan Clarke added 43, Tom Lawes 36, and Gus Atkinson was 21* as Surrey were finally bowled out for 472, a lead of 63.
Matt Critchley took 2/95 off 28 overs as the Oval pitch continued to be unresponsive.
Essex easily batted out 8 overs on the third evening and reached 302/2 when the players shook hands on the fourth afternoon.
Gus Atkinson again bowled with good pace and control as his comeback from injury continues.
A footnote shall be given to Ben Foakes, who took the second new ball for Surrey, finishing with 0/7 off 2 overs. I can’t see him bulldozing his way towards England selection with those figures, but it was nice to see him have a bowl.
The Oval pitch was once again the winner. Tom Westley and Dean Elgar made fine match-saving centuries for Essex on the final day.
Yorkshire vs Sussex.
Yorkshire made 511 in their first innings at Headingly. Joe Root struck a very classy 96 before he edged Henry Crocombe through to John Simpson. Root batted with great ease, his innings containing twelve 4s as he begins his preparations for the international summer.
James Coles 3/138 off 30.2 overs as he toiled away on a flat and slow pitch at Headingly. He bowled with good control and should take confidence from this performance.
Ollie Robinson went wicketless in 20 overs, conceding 61 runs as he, too, struggled to get anything out of the pitch.
Sussex safely negotiated the final day, closing on 324/8. Coles made his first half-century of the summer. He was bowled by Jhye Richardson for 53, made off 60 balls, containing six 4s as he finally found some form with the bat.
Ollie Robinson made an unbeaten 41 before the handshakes came to signal another draw in Division 1. Joe Root claimed 3/61 off 20 as Yorkshire couldn’t break the resistance of the Sussex batters.
Durham vs Lancashire.
Keaton Jennings made only 4 in the second innings as Lancashire reached 53/5 at lunch on the third day. An early blitz from Matt Potts had set about the collapse. He first bowled Josh Bohannon, then had the dangerous Marcus Harris caught behind, and finally had Matty Hurst caught by Kasey Aldridge.
Lancashire declared on 260/9 when Paul Coughlin went to his century, setting Durham a testing 336 for victory.
Matt Potts finished with figures of 3/57.
The fourth day belonged to Emilio Gay. Compiling a wonderful 159, he guided Durham to a terrific victory. His innings contained twenty-four 4s, shots played all around the wicket and tremendous composure and concentration to lead Durham to their target. He shared an unbroken partnership of 290 with David Bedingham, who made 129.
Ben McKinney’s poor match ended when he was bowled for the second time, this time by George Balderson for 19.
James Anderson could produce no final day magic as he went wicketless in 12 overs, finishing with 0/33.
Any other players.
Zak Crawley made 31, his highest score of the summer, in Kent’s second innings against Worcestershire before he edged Beyers Swanepoel through to Gareth Roderick attempting a drive outside off stump.
Asa Tribe made 67* in Glamorgan’s second innings against Leicestershire as their match ended in a draw. Tribe’s innings included nine 4s and should give him some confidence after a difficult start to the season.
Jacob Bethall made 20 off 11 balls for RCB in the second match of his IPL campaign.
