The County Championship continued with a further five draws across the nine round two matches. Half of the 18 matches across the two divisions so far have ended in draws, with many sides struggling to force victories on batter friendly, early season wickets.
However, there were further outstanding individual performances across the round and a couple of huge victories for Yorkshire and Sussex. The most exciting game of the round though was at Durham though, as Warwickshire squeezed home to a one wicket win.
Sit back and relive all of this action, as well as everything else that occurred across the course of the past four days!
Division One
Warwickshire claimed their first victory of the season in a thrilling one wicket win at Durham’s Chester-le-Street. Ethan Bamber (30*) hammered Durham all-rounder Ben Raine down the ground for six to seal the victory, as his solid start to life at Warwickshire continued, with Vishwa Fernando (5*) more than playing his part at the other end. The Bears’ chase of 344 was anchored by a 147 run partnership between Ed Barnard (101) and Kai Smith (62), alongside valuable contributions from Alex Davies (50) and Michael Booth (40). Durham managed to post Warwickshire such a competitive target thanks to a first innings 153 from Ben McKinney and second innings 81 from Raine, however - even despite setting Warwickshire in excess of 300 and Raine’s 4 - 89, Durham fell to their second defeat of the season.
Having fallen to a disappointing five wicket defeat at Hampshire last week, Yorkshire claimed their first victory back in the premier division of English county cricket in style, thumping Worcestershire by 504 runs - a record runs victory in the 135 year history of the County Championship. After just managing to stave off defeat at Somerset in the first round, Worcestershire crumbled to 105 all out, with George Hill claiming 4 - 23 and no batter passing 30. Dom Bess’ second innings 107 as a nightwatchman and half centuries from Adam Lyth (67), Dawid Malan (98 and 76*), Hill (63) and Jordan Thompson (70) helped the white rose set up their record victory. The Pears’ batting continues to be concerned, with only Jake Libby (53) reaching a half century in their first innings 162 and their second innings crumble following a meek 121 in the first innings of their draw at Somerset.
Sussex joined Yorkshire in registering their first Division One triumph, although for John Simpson’s side it was their first for 10 years. After gaining a first innings lead of 93 runs, the hosts hammered home their advantage by piling up 501 - 7 declare, thanks to a 184 run first wicket stand between Tom Haines (141) and Daniel Hughes (91), as well as a second hundred of the season from captain Simpson (110*). Sean Hunt’s nine wickets in the match spearheaded the Sussex bowling effort, as they knocked over Somerset for 201 and 334 in the match, despite half centuries for James Rew (80*), Tom Abell (96), Lewis Gregory (56) and Migael Pretorius (59).
Nick Gubbins’ 117 and 78* from Tony Albert allowed Hampshire to amass 300 - 5 in their second innings and defy Surrey, despite twin tons from the reigning champions’ Dom Sibley. The former England man posted 105 second time around, after carrying his bat in Surrey’s first innings 253 (100*), with England vice-captain Ollie Pope (65) and Jamie Smith (84) also passing 50 as Surrey piled up 342 - 9 before declaring. Even though they were knocked over cheaply for 219 in their first innings and surrendered a first innings lead, Hampshire were able to stand stronger second time around and grind out a draw.
The final match in Division One ended in a rather dull draw, with Essex plodding along to 106 - 1 on the fourth day, after being set an unrealistic target of 366 by Nottinghamshire. Jack Haynes was the last man out for the hosts at Trent Bridge, after scoring 142, with his knock alongside other contributions from captain Haseeb Hameed (92) and Ben Slater (67) allowing Nottinghamshire to reach 385. By the time Haynes fell though, Essex needed to reach their steep target scoring at an unreasonable rate of seven runs per over, meaning that there was not enough time left in the game for either side to force a victory. The game may already have been headed for a draw, with Essex making 367 in reply to Nottinghamshire’s first innings 347, which was led by a superb 128* form South African wicket-keeper Kyle Verreynne.
Division Two
The action in Division Two was considerably less enthralling than that in Division One, with the only match that did not end in a draw happening at Canterbury. An unbeaten 225 run partnership between opener Ben Compton (124*) and Tawanda Muyeye (125*) allowed Kent to stroll to their target of 316 - 2 and an eight wicket victory in a match that had largely belonged to the bowlers up until that point. The hosts recovered from 79 - 6 in their first innings to reach 218 and only trail Middlesex by four runs, after their 222 when Kent asked them to bat first. Half centuries from Stephen Eskinazi (57), Ben Geddes (75) and Zafar Gohar (57) appeared to have seen them post a challenging target, but the Kent top order chased it with ease, as a welcome return to form for England’s Zak Crawley (58) accompanied the mammoth partnership between Compton and Muyeye.
The only other Division Two game that saw an attempted run chase was at Leicestershire’s Uptonsteel County Ground, where Derbyshire ended up on 305 - 4 before a draw was declared, chasing an unlikely target of 449. 96 for Wayne Madsen, 68* for Brooke Guest and a fourth Derbyshire half century in his first four innings for Caleb Jewell (73) saw Derbyshire prevent Leicestershire from claiming victory, despite them ending up well short of their required target. Similar to the game at Trent Bridge, this was another where both sides piled on the runs in their respective first innings to make a result unlikely. A maiden first class hundred for Martin Andersson (101) and 83 from Jewell first time around saw Derbyshire post 393 in reply to Leicestershire’s 484, which feature half centuries from Sol Budinger (81), Ian Holland (74), Peter Handscomb (63) and Logan van Beek (82*). Despite England’s Rehan Ahmed making his first half century as an opener (77) in Leicestershire’s second innings 357 - 9 declared, a victory for either side was always unlikely and a sturdy batting performance from Derbyshire meant that is proved to be so.
Glamorgan denied Gloucestershire their first victory of the season, despite being asked to follow on by the hosts. Despite 103 from Colin Ingram and half centuries for Sam Northeast (50) and Chris Cooke (56) helping the visitors to rack up 385 in their first innings, they were still 161 runs adrift of Gloucestershire’s mightily impressive 546. Australian overseas Cameron Bancroft (163) shared a 230 run partnership with Ollie Price (101), as Gloucestershire looked to go big and bat once, with Miles Hammond also adding 54. However, Glamorgan were able to calmy reach 288 - 4 second time around, with Ingram remaining unbeaten on 77* and opener Zain ul Hassan adding 55, as Gloucestershire were unable to force the victory that they were so desperate for, after a poor showing in their nine wicket defeat to Derbyshire in the first round of fixtures.
Finally, Lancashire survived a second consecutive scare, before once again managing to bat out for a draw, as their interesting start to life back in Division Two continued. After surrendering a first innings deficit of 268, they were indebted to Josh Bohannon’s 155 and Marcus Harris’ 50 in their second innings, which steered them to 351 - 9 and calmer waters, before the captains shook hands. Northamptonshire will be frustrated not to have come away with the victory though, as their first innings 496 put them well and truly in the driving seat. Saif Zaib was the only one of their batters to reach three figures (116), as James Sales (92) and Lewis McManus (95) both succumbed to the nervous 90s. However, boosted also by contributions from captain Luke Proctor (64) and Calvin Harrison (56), they still posted an intimidating total and were the only side with realistic hopes of winning the game after bowling Lancashire out for 228 the first time around, as Harrison (4 - 34) and Justin Broad (3 - 58) shared seven wickets between them. As at Lord’s last week though, batters stood up for Lancashire when they needed them most and they were able to bat out for the draw in considerably less nervy circumstances than last week.
Round Three Fixtures - Division One
Durham vs Yorkshire - Banks Home Riverside, Chester-le-Street
Essex vs Worcestershire - Ambassador Cruise Line Ground, Chelmsford
Hampshire vs Somerset - Utilita Bowl, Southampton
Sussex vs Surrey - The 1st Central County Ground, Hove
Warwickshire vs Nottinghamshire - Edgbaston, Birmingham
Round Three Fixtures - Division Two
Derbyshire vs Northamptonshire - County Ground, Derby
Kent vs Gloucestershire - The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, Canterbury
Lancashire vs Leicestershire - Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester
Middlesex vs Glamorgan - Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood
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