Somerset vs Hampshire.
Somerset beat Hampshire by 2 wickets in a pulsating game at Southampton
Nick Gubbins took his score to 83 before being caught by Overton off the bowling of Jack Leach. Jake Lehmann then made 50 before being bowled by Alfie Ogborne as Hampshire reached 265/4 at lunch on day 3. Hampshire wasted an opportunity to bat Somerset out of the game as their grip on proceedings slipped as they collapsed to 336 all out, with Lewis Gregory running through the lower order to finish with figures of 5/42 from 17 overs. Hampshire’s captain Ben Brown did compile 66 from 104 balls to at least limit the damage of the collapse. Hampshire’s collapse set Somerset 287 to win, the pitch offering turn and beginning to show signs of variable bounce.
Archie Vaughn began Somerset’s chase with aggression, striking six 4s before he pulled Sonny Baker to Nick Gubbins at deep square leg. Vaughn should be disappointed because he fell into an obvious trap. Baker then trapped Josh Thomas LBW, and Somerset were 47/2 as James Rew entered.
Rew struck a classy 58 to guide Somerset to the close of play at 139/3. Sonny Baker took his third wicket when he had Tom Lammonby caught on the hook for 9.
Rew again showed his class against a fired-up Baker, and the wily spin of Dawson as Hampshire searched for wickets in the final session. Though supported by Tom Abell, Somerset lost no further wickets by the close.
Rew was out early on the 4th morning, only adding a single to his overnight score when he edged through to keeper Ben Brown off the ever-nagging bowling of Kyle Abbott. Tom Abell then found a partner in Will Smeed, who added 22 valuable runs before he was brilliantly caught at backward point by Lehmann off the bowling of Eddie Jack. Overton was beaten in the flight by Dawson and was bowled for 4 to leave Somerset 197/6. Abell was then joined by skipper Lewis Gregory. The pair safely negotiated the remainder of the session to put Somerset in a strong position with 223/6. Abell was 65* at lunch, playing a very watchful and careful innings.
Their partnership was finally ended when the new ball arrived, and Sonny Baker was brought back into the attack. He produced a beauty to remove Gregory’s middle stump, the delivery nipped off the seam and went between Gregory’s bat and pad. Bowling with great pace and aggression once again, Baker has Alfie Ogborne caught behind playing a loose drive to leave Somerset 272/8, still requiring 15 for victory.
Any hopes of a Hampshire victory were thwarted by Jack Leach and Abell, though, as they inched their way to victory, chipping away at the total. Fittingly, it was Abell, who had batted so beautifully and patiently, who scored the win with a leg side flick to bring up his own century off 229 balls in the process.
This game was another fantastic advert for county cricket, and could have gone either way. Sonny Baker showed great maturity and was unlucky to be on the losing side. His 2nd innings figures of 5/62 almost got Hampshire over the line. Liam Dawson kept the pressure on too, bowling 31 overs for 76 runs and beating the bat numerous times throughout the final day. A truly tremendous game that didn’t deserve a loser.
Warwickshire vs Essex.
Warwickshire beat Essex by 41 runs at Edgbaston in a low-scoring game dominated by the bowlers.
Essex failed to take advantage after closing day 2 on 110/3. Charlie Allison added only 4 runs to his overnight score when Nathan Gilchrist trapped him LBW for 44.
Matt Critchley was caught at backward point by Zen Malik for 11 off the bowling of Ethan Bamber, leaving Essex 144/7 at that point. Simon Harmer added a late innings 48 to push Essex’s score up to 205 before he was last man out, giving Essex a 15 run lead after the first.
Nathan Gilchrist was the pick of the bowlers, taking 4/40. He was well supported by Ethan Bamber, who claimed 3/44 off 20 accurate and probing overs.
Warwickshire were quickly in trouble in their second innings, Sam Cook taking 3 wickets to reduce them to 14/3, including the wickets of Dan Mousley and Sam Hain, both for ducks.
Beau Webster was the only batsman to offer any resistance for Warwickshire, striking a composed 91 off 123 balls, and really showing his international quality.
Zen Malik added 50 with Webster before being caught by Allison on the mid-wicket boundary off Jamie Porter.
Sam Cook and Shane Snater finished off the Warwickshire innings after Webster was finally removed, Cook finishing with a well-deserved 5/58, possibly giving the national selectors a nudge once again. Snater picked up 3/15 off 9.2 overs, leaving Essex a target of 205. They survived the remainder of the last session to end the day 11/0.
Chaos reigned in the second over of the final day when Keith Barker removed Dean Elgar LBW with the first ball of an over, two balls later he removed night watchman Cook caught by Jordan Thompson, then from the final ball of the over he bowled Charlie Allison for a duck to leave the Essex innings in ruins at 16/3.
16/3 quickly became 21/4 when Matt Critchley’s disappointing match with the bat ended when he was caught by Mousley off the bowling of Bamber for 4.
Luc Benkenstein steadied the ship for Essex, making 39 before being bowled by the impressive Bamber to leave Essex 82/7.
Harmer and Zaman Akhter briefly threatened an unlikely Essex victory with some lusty late order hitting. Harmer adding 32, and Akhter 35 before they were both removed by Webster, leaving Essex 164 all out, and 41 runs short of victory. Barker returned figures of 4/29, and his early burst was surely instrumental in swinging the game in Warwickshire’s favour.
Lancashire vs Gloucestershire.
Lancashire beat Gloucestershire by 4 wickets at Bristol shortly after lunch on the 4th day.
Gloucestershire began the 3rd day on 58/3 and reached 176/3 by lunch. Miles Hammond fell shortly after the interval for a well-made 82 that contained nine 4s and a 6. James Bracey and Tommy Boorman took Gloucestershire through to tea, where they had reached 276/4 as Lancashire struggled to stem the flow of runs. Once Boorman departed for 42, Gloucestershire collapsed once again to 305 all out. Bracey’s innings was finally ended when he dragged a short ball from Anderson into his stumps.
Balderson and Anderson, once again bowling in partnership, instigated the Gloucestershire collapse. Balderson finished with 4/75 to add to his 5 wickets in the first innings, and Anderson claimed 4/51 to finish with 7 in the match.
The Gloucestershire collapse set Lancashire 202 for victory, and they were struggling at 46/3 when Marcus Harris was LBW to Matt Taylor, but the experienced Keaton Jennings saw Lancashire to victory with a composed 78* off 175 balls with eleven 4s. He was supported by Michael Jones, who added 30, and Arav Shetty, who made 31, as Lancashire took their second successive victory.
Northamptonshire vs Middlesex.
The game between Northants and Middlesex ended in a draw at Wantage Road, after there was only 1 over bowled after tea on the final day due to bad light.
Nathan McSweeney completed his century on the third morning before he was removed for 107, ending a stand of 164 with James Sales. Sales completed his own century just before lunch as Northants reached 296/7 at lunch on the third day, Sales unbeaten on 114.
The Northants innings would eventually end when Sales was caught by Leus du Plooy off the bowling of Ryan Higgins for a well-made 164. He shared a 9th wicket stand of 74 with Liam Guthrie, who made 51 at number 10. This gave Northants a first innings lead of 68, but by this time the wicket had flattened out, and a draw seemed the most likely result.
Middlesex made it through to the close of play at 109/1. Sam Robson unbeaten on 49, and Max Holden on 42.
Robson and Holden continued on into the fourth morning before Holden was bowled by Calvin Harrison for 86 just before lunch. Robson reached his hundred shortly after lunch and would make 162 before he was brilliantly caught one-handed down the leg side by Northants keeper Lewis McManus off the bowling of Liam Guthrie.
Leus du Plooy added his own half-century in support of Robson; he would eventually finish 66* when the players shook hands. After early movement on the first morning, the pitch was really the winner of this match once it flattened out; a draw was the only possible result.
