Here are all the LV= Insurance County Championship 2023 Round 15 Day 2 - Live Cricket Streaming, Scores, Match Reports, Stats and Reactions.

Division One

Top Tournament Stats: LV= County Championship 2023 Division 1

Most Runs

Most Wickets

Fixtures

Points Table

Division One

Surrey vs Northamptonshire

Title favourites Surrey were held up by Karun Nair’s brilliant unbeaten 144 and an 114-run eighth wicket stand with Tom Taylor at the Kia Oval, before bad light and heavy rain arrived to further frustrate the LV= Insurance County Championship leaders.

Nair’s memorable hundred and Taylor’s punchy 66 from 77 balls took Northamptonshire to 351 for nine in the 41.1 overs possible on the second day of a match both teams are desperate to win – the home side as they seek to hold off Essex’s challenge and complete back-to-back championship triumphs and Northants as they try to pull off a miracle escape from relegation to Division Two.

Jamie Overton took two wickets in successive balls in the second over after lunch to dismiss Taylor and Ben Sanderson, leaving Northants on 307 for nine.

But with last man Jack White hanging on, and even managing one on-driven four off Tom Lawes, the 31-year-old Nair produced some remarkable strokes to bring Northants a precious third batting bonus point, clinched when he slashed Lawes for a six and four from consecutive balls to square third man just moments before play was halted at 2pm.

Nair had also swung the suffering Lawes for an earlier six to wide mid wicket and there were also 22 fours in all in his magnificent 238-ball innings. The gallant White remained five not out, and Surrey have much to do over the last two days of this game if, somehow, they are to manufacture a ninth win of the season.

Former India Test batsman Nair resumed on 51 in Northamptonshire’s overnight 171 for six and initially batting remained a tricky proposition under grey clouds and with the Oval floodlights shining down as they had done throughout day one.

Justin Broad cover drove Lawes for four to start brightly, but on 17 he fell to a remarkable reflex catch by wicketkeeper Ben Foakes.

Broad edged Lawes into the slip cordon and Overton, diving across in front of first slip from his position at second, could only knock up the ball low to the turf as he tried to scoop up the chance, but Foakes athletically completed the catch by grabbing it with his right glove.

It gave 20-year-old seamer Lawes his fourth wicket of the innings but, in the rest of the morning session and despite the second new ball being immediately taken with Northants on 234 for seven, there was no further joy for Surrey’s five-strong fast bowling attack.

Their best opportunity to split the superb eighth wicket partnership, in fact, came early on when Taylor had made just a single. Edging Lawes, the No 9 saw Cameron Steel fail to hold on to a waist-high catch at third slip. It was to prove extremely costly.

Overton, attempting to bounce out Taylor with the old ball, went for 17 in an over as the Northants paceman pulled him twice for four and, in between, also hooked him imperiously for six.

And, with Nair twice extra cover driving Lawes for four, runs were suddenly starting to come quickly despite the bowler-friendly conditions.

Nor did the second new ball slow down the scoring rate. Both Kemar Roach and Dan Worrall were unable to stop the flow of boundaries, with Taylor on-driving and clipping Roach for fours and Nair going into the 80s with a lovely square driven four off the West Indies fast bowler.

Taylor reached his half-century from a sparkling 55 balls and Nair on drove Worrall for four with the shot of the morning before, on 99, clinching his 16^th first-class hundred by upper-cutting the same bowler over the slips for his 17^th four.

Northants lunched on 306 for seven and, after Overton’s double strike with Taylor leg-before and Sanderson bowled off stump, the stage was left for Nair – capped six times at Test level by India in 2016 and 2017 – to take on Surrey’s attack with startling results, although on 131 he was dropped low down by Ryan Patel diving forward at deep mid wicket off Overton.

Northamptonshire head coach John Sadler said: “Huge credit to Karun (Nair) today because that was a magnificent hundred.

“He’s a wonderful player and he batted beautifully. He’s got a great temperament and there is a real calmness about him. 

“That has fed into the rest of the group and you can already feel his influence in the dressing room.

“Tom Taylor also played a fine innings and both he and Karun made the most of a bit of good fortune early on and their partnership really gathered momentum and put pressure back on Surrey.”

Somerset vs Kent

No play was possible on the second day of the LV= Insurance County Championship match between Somerset and Kent at Taunton.

Heavy rain during the night and morning left the outfield at the Cooper Associates County Ground saturated and there was never much prospect of the game resuming.

Umpires Martin Saggers and Tom Lungley took the decision to abandon play for the day at shortly after 2pm.

Somerset were due to resume their first innings on 214 for two, with Lewis Goldsworthy unbeaten on 70.

But it was Kent who were more frustrated by the weather as they desperately need points to escape the threat of relegation from the Championship First Division.

 

Essex vs Hampshire

Matt Critchley fell one run short of his third LV= Insurance County Championship of the season before title-contenders Essex declared on a hefty 447 against Hampshire.

Critchley had been strolling towards three figures and 1,000 runs for the season but stuttered on 99 before he slapped to short extra cover.

Simon Harmer and Umesh Yadav, the latter in electrifying style, struck half-centuries as Essex continued to tot up the runs before a lunchtime declaration, before Hampshire scored 10 without loss in seven overs.

Essex accrued three batting points in their quest to challenge Surrey for the title – which cancelled out the three bowling points Surrey picked up against Northamptonshire. The points difference since 18.

Having resumed on 310 for six, and just eight overs into the second new ball, Essex had the 350-run bonus point in their sights.

Critchley was more watchful than he had been during his exciting 177-run partnership with centurion Adam Rossington.

He went from 83 in 123 balls to 99 in 162 balls before getting stuck. He batted out a maiden from Liam Dawson – which included him getting dropped off a caught and bowled.

Three more dots off Kyle Abbott followed as he struggled to find a gap in the field, before attempted to hit Dawson over the covers and was caught by Nick Gubbins at short extra cover.

Critchley had never had the misfortune of falling for 99 before, while he now has 969 runs for the season.

His departure sparked an up-turn in the tempo, as Harmer sparked into life and Yadav took a fancy to Dawson and fellow spinner Felix Organ.

They scored 77 runs in seven and a half overs before the declaration came – their 70 stand coming in 69 balls.

Harmer dominated his boundary hitting by rocking onto the backfoot and cutting behind point, although also pinged Dawson over long on after coming down the track.

The South African’s half-century came in 76 balls as he moved past 500 runs in a profitable season from the lower-middle order.

Yadav’s 51 off 45 was breathtaking. The Indian swung hard and far in his four sixes, with his three fours not coming from precision play.

Harmer and Yadav were both caught at long on going for a big shot, with the latter’s bringing the end of the innings and lunch.

Sam Cook sent down three maidens in response, with Harmer’s sole over also runless.

Toby Albert and Fletcha Middleton’s 10 runs all came off Jamie Porter before bad light took the two teams off.

The forecast rain then battered the Cloud County Ground, Chelmsford and saw play called off just before 16:30.

Hampshire head coach Adi Birrell

“The early wickets didn’t come today and they batted well again.

“We did quite well to get Critchley out for 99. We put a bit of pressure on him and he got out. Harmer played well and they’ve put on a very good first innings total – 447 is substantial – and we’re going to have to bat well to get something from the game.

“There are about 200 overs left. We’ve just said the first target is the follow-on but I’m pretty sure they would push to win it by giving us something to go for in the last innings if we get past it. So, all three results could come into play still – hopefully it isn’t the loss.

“We’ve got 20 wickets and 200 overs so we’re looking at our batters to bat a long period of time.

“The pitch is playing well, although obviously it has been made for Harmer. Unfortunately our spinners had a massive wind and the wind is now going to die down.

“It isn’t spinning as much as the one we played on last year. It hasn’t ragged but Harmer is a good bowler and going to be a factor, plus they have three good seasons who can switch around.

“Losing two sessions has helped us. We will draw on the experience of last year. We played exceptionally well and played better than any other team here against Essex.”

Lancashire vs Nottinghamshire

Rain throughout the morning led to play on the second day of Lancashire’s LV= Insurance County Championship match against Nottinghamshire being abandoned at 12.30pm.

A saturated outfield at Emirates Old Trafford meant it was a fairly straightforward decision for umpires Ian Blackwell and Hassan Adnan to halt proceedings at the scheduled lunch interval.

It means no play has been possible on either of the two days so far with a draw looking a highly likely outcome even if the two teams manage to take to the field in the next two days.

George Balderson, Lancashire said: “It’s been a frustrating season. We set out wanting to win all three trophies at the start and aren’t going to win one so that’s disappointing.

“We’ve put in some good performances, especially in four-day cricket at times, but we’ve not been helped by weather.

“You can’t completely blame the playing conditions. There have been elements of our performances too.

“This week we’ve been hampered by the weather. It’s happened at other times but I think we’ve put in performances that have deserved a little bit more reward.

“Hopefully we can continue to put in those performances next year, get a little bit more luck with the weather, and try and improve a bit and see if we can be up there challenging.

“I think if you look at our record against Surrey in four-day cricket over the last couple of years, it’s very good.

“So, we know we can compete and play as good as, if not better, cricket than them. But it’s about putting it together over a fourteen-game season and finding ways to win games – especially here on tough four-day pitches.

“If you lose a day to weather it’s hard work to find a result. That’s up to us as a group of players, to find ways to do that and go further than we have done over the last few years.”

 

Middlesex vs Warwickshire

Will Rhodes and Danny Briggs shared a century stand as Warwickshire threatened to spoil Tim Murtagh’s fairytale ending on a severely truncated day two of their clash with relegation-threatened Middlesex at Lord’s.

Murtagh who retires at the end of the season, took two early wickets to complete a five-wicket haul (5-55) on his last appearance for the county at the home of cricket to reduce the visitors to 95-6 in the first hour of play.

However, with the veteran seamer’s support cast lacking any direction or rhythm, Rhodes (95) and Briggs (71) added an unbroken 133 for the seventh wicket to steer the men of England’s second city to 228-6, a lead of 107 before rain washed out any further play less than an hour after lunch.

To add to Middlesex’s woes, all-rounder Ryan Higgins left the field just prior to lunch with what appeared to be a rib or side injury and it remains to be seen whether he will be able to return to the attack in the match.

Rhodes, unbeaten on 36 overnight got the scoreboard moving with a drive which deflected off the stumps, wrongfooting opposing skipper Mark Stoneman fielding at mid-off and speeding away for four.

However, it wasn’t long before Murtagh was producing another seam masterclass from his beloved Nursey End. A superb inswinger trapped Ed Barnard on the crease to end his skittish innings of 10. The former Ireland international topped that effort in his next over with one which deviated a fraction off the surface to beat the inside edge of Michael Burgess and crash into the stumps. When he bowls like this it seems inconceivable his ‘innings’ at Lord’s is coming to an end after 17 summers.

Sadly, from a Middlesex perspective he couldn’t bowl forever and once he retreated from the attack, Rhodes and Briggs wrestled back control of the game against far friendlier offerings.

Rhodes despatched a Tom Helm long hop to the square leg fence to reach 50 from 110 balls and when Jayant Yadav, troubled by no-ball issues, changed ends, Briggs contemptuously reversed swept his fellow spinner for four to move Warwickshire into the lead.  Another four to third man raised the 50 stand and by lunch the visitors were 59 ahead.

Briggs survived a big shout for caught behind off Yadav from the first ball after lunch before launching an assault on some ordinary bowling, his ninth four taking him past 50 for only the seventh time in his first-class career.

The 100-stand was raised, and the assured Rhodes was within sight of his ninth first-class hundred when the weather closed in.

Middlesex coach Rory Coutts said: “The day escaped from us a bit. We came in today with the game in the balance at 72-4 and two early wickets set us up nicely.

“It was obviously a very good partnership (between Rhodes and Briggs) and showed what Division One cricket is about. You have got to be able to sustain and continue doing your skill for long periods. They hung in at the start and were able to build a partnership and put the pressure back on us.

“You are always trying to take wickets and in low scoring games every run is crucial. Yesterday the ball moved and did things a bit quicker than it did today when it was a bit a slower to respond off the surface.

“The key is to hold and to be patient because when there is a little bit in your favour as a bowler, the more patient you are and the more balls you stack in the right area the more pressure you ultimately build on the batter.

“We are going to miss Tim (Murtagh). In conditions like today where the ball is doing a bit, he is up there with the very best and his record proves that. It was testament to him and his performance over a number of years that the Warwickshire lads set up a guard of honour for him when he walked out to bat yesterday. He will obviously be missed and people will have fond memories of watching him bound in from the Nursery End.”

 

 

Warwickshire spinner Danny Briggs said: “It was a good day’s work in the end. It was nice to accumulate a score and a partnership with ‘Rhodesy’ and get us ahead really. From an iffy place we are in quite a good position now and hopefully we will kick on tomorrow.

“It is still nipping around, but it has probably slowed up a little bit. So it probably just shows the value of getting in. The longer you do that the bowlers get into spells and the ball gets softer and it becomes a little bit easier potentially. To have Rhodesy in already was great. He’s batted the whole time and looked comfortable.

“I like coming in getting some runs when it is backs to the wall. I suppose it’s a good trait to have. If I could do it more consistently it would be nice.

“The sweep and reverse sweep are something I practise heaps indoors and outdoors really. It’s about trying to play my game and stick to a game-plan.

“There was a little bit of spin for Jayant when the ball was wider. Hopefully it keeps deteriorating a little bit and there’s more spin towards the end of the game.

“It is going to be important we extend this lead because batting last may be more of a challenge come the back end of the game.”  

Division Two

Top Tournament Stats: LV= County Championship 2023 Division 2

Most Runs

Most Wickets

Fixtures

Points Table

Division Two

Derbyshire vs Sussex

Sussex’s fading promotion hopes were dealt a further blow when no play was possible for the second day running in the LV=Insurance County Championship match against Derbyshire at Derby.

Heavy rain and strong winds throughout the morning left pools of surface water on the outfield and the umpires made the decision to abandon play for the day after an inspection shortly before noon

It is the first time in the history of county championship matches between Derbyshire and Sussex at Derby that the opening two days have been completely washed out.

Sussex came into the match knowing their chances of overtaking Worcestershire for the second promotion spot were slim after they were docked 12 points on Monday for a fourth fixed penalty this season.

Those hopes now look to have gone completely although there is at least better news with the weather set to improve which means the game should begin at some stage on Thursday depending on how quickly the Incora County Ground dries out.

Derbyshire will hope they can get as much play as possible as they try to end a winless run in first-class cricket at their headquarters that stretches back to September 2019 when they beat Sussex.

Leicestershire vs Yorkshire

Leicestershire’s hopes of keeping their promotion chances alive going into the final round of the 2023 LV= Insurance County Championship were dealt a blow when day two of their must-win Division Two clash with Yorkshire was abandoned without a ball bowled.

Recurrent showers throughout the morning made it impossible for ground staff at Grace Road to remove the covers from the square and the heavy rain forecast for the afternoon duly arrived, forcing umpires Neil Bainton and Neil Pratt to call off play for the day at around 2.15pm.

Happily, the forecast for day three is much better and having reduced Yorkshire to 155 for nine to secure three bowling bonus points in the three hours’ play possible on Tuesday, Leicestershire will feel there is time to force a positive outcome.

With two matches remaining, Leicestershire started the week 21 points behind second-placed Worcestershire in the race to join already-promoted Durham in Division One next season.

Worcestershire, whose match against Durham at New Road this week has been similarly affected by the weather, conclude their campaign with a trip to Yorkshire next week. Leicestershire, meanwhile, take on Durham at Chester-le-Street.

Umpire Bainton, 52, is standing in his 250th first-class match, having made his debut alongside Nigel Cowley in a match between Cambridge University and Middlesex at Fenner’s in May, 2000.

Worcestershire vs Durham

Worcestershire and Durham endured frustration as rain washed out the second day of their LV=Insurance County Championship match at Worcester.

Both sides have plenty to play for with the already-promoted visitors needing five points to clinch the Division Two title while Worcestershire chase a win which would take them to the brink of promotion.

But relentless rain from a sky as grey as a welder's flannel meant there was no chance of play on the second day. The home side will resume on the third morning on 104 for one and only some brilliant cricket from either side or cooperation between the two about setting up a contest can save the game from stalemate.

© Cricket World 2023