Essex vs Somerset.
Somerset beat Essex by 10 wickets inside three days at Chelmsford.
Essex began day 3 on 131/3, but they collapsed to 245 all out. Matt Critchley moved his score to 59 before he edged Overton to Archie Vaughn at slip. Overton finished with figures of 2/46 from 19 overs.
Somerset were set 47 to win, which they chased down inside 6 overs. Archie Vaughn came in as an injury replacement for Goldsworthy, opened the batting and crashed an unbeaten 41* from 25 balls, including six 4s and two 6s.
Gloucestershire vs Durham.
Durham bowled Gloucestershire out for 175 early on day 3; they only added 7 more runs to their overnight score.
Gloucestershire were asked to follow on, and things were going well until they reached 101/0. Colin Parkinson then removed Ben Chatsworth, and the wheels well and truly fell off. They were bowled out for 205 with Matt Potts taking 3/49 from 15 overs to secure a very comfortable win for Durham by an innings and 225 runs in what could be one of the most one-sided matches you’re likely to see.
Notts vs Glamorgan.
Notts moved onto 311/9 before declaring on the 3rd morning to set Glamorgan 477 for victory.
Asa Tribe finally found some form as he crashed a 47 ball 50 in Glamorgan’s reply. Constant rain breaks curtailed the third day, and Glamorgan closed on 132/2. That was as good as it got for Tribe and Glamorgan, though Asa Tribe was removed for 85 early on the 4th morning, and Glamorgan were eventually dismissed for 285, losing by 192 runs.
This was an important innings for Tribe as he has really struggled in his first three innings of the summer, and this should settle him down. His innings was aggressive to start with, then, as conditions grew difficult on the 3rd evening, he was watchful and showed good defence. He’ll have been disappointed not to reach three figures, but should be happy with his efforts.
England seamer Josh Tongue claimed figures of 1/62 for 17 overs, and Dillon Pennington returned 1/53 off 21 overs in what was a comfortable victory for Notts in the end.
Surrey vs Leicestershire.
The runs continued to flow at the Oval. Rishi Patel took his score from 133 to 164 before he was dismissed. There were centuries from fellow batters Steve Eskinazi (100) and Ben Cox (162) as Leicestershire piled up a mammoth 691 in their first innings. Tom Lawes claimed 4/141 from 31 hard overs as the Surrey attack toiled on what was a very flat pitch.
Surrey replied with 263/4 declared on day 4 as the game petered out into an inevitable draw.
Dom Sibley made 32 off 91 balls, grinding the Leicestershire bowlers down and blunting the new ball.
Jamie Smith narrowly missed out on a third consecutive century when he fell for 89 from 109 balls. He again showed control, striking thirteen 4s and two 6s. Smith’s form has been nothing short of fantastic since his first innings dismissal for 9 against Warwickshire.
Ollie Pope’s fine match continued as he made 83* before the declaration came, and the match ended. He struck twelve 4s in another confidence-boosting knock to go with his first innings century.
Ben Foakes also made 28* before time was called.
It will be interesting to see what the ECB make of the Oval pitch. It yielded 1,479 runs and only 24 wickets across four days of play; this is not a suitable cricket wicket in my opinion. There was nothing for the seamers and very little for the spinners throughout the match.
Sussex vs Warwickshire.
Warwickshire moved from 154/5 to 264 all-out to set Sussex 328 to win at Hove.
Ollie Robinson took 3/48 from 20 overs to help bowl Warwickshire out, James Coles contributed 1/34 off 6.
Sussex chased the target down with James Coles again falling cheaply for 9 this time, as he was pinned on the boot by a yorker from Michael Booth.
Jack Leaning made 120* and Tom Price 70* as they added an unbeaten 144 for the 6th wicket. Sussex now has two wins from two this summer.
In other games, Zak Crawley’s miserable run of form continues as he was caught at cover off a leading edge for 5 at Canterbury in Kent’s second innings as they followed on against Northants. Kent did secure a draw, batting 91 overs to end on 253/5 in their second innings.
Sir James Anderson was at it again as his 4/18 helped to bowl Derbyshire out for 108 in their second innings, securing his side a 29 run victory at Old Trafford.
Sonny Baker took 1/57, and Liam Dawson 2/37 as Hampshire beat Yorkshire by 214 runs at Headingly.
