LV= INSURANCE COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 12 Day 4: All the Match Scores, Reports and Scorecards July 14th 2021

LV= INSURANCE COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 12 Day 4: All the Match Scores, Reports and Scorecards July 14th 2021.

Live Scores and Stats - LV= INSURANCE COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 12 Day 4

 

July 11th , Sunday - July 14th , Wednesday 2021

Yorkshire vs Lancashire, Group 3 North Marine Road Ground, Scarborough 11:00 AM

No play was possible on the final day of the drawn Roses LV= Insurance County Championship fixture between Yorkshire and Lancashire at Emerald Headingley due to a wet outfield.

Umpires Ian Gould and Nigel Llong inspected the problematic Emerald Stand End of the ground, which also forced the abandonment of yesterday’s play 7.2 overs into the afternoon.

Gould, Llong and both coaches and captains were involved in lengthy early morning discussions, and play was called off just after 10am.

Both counties had already qualified for the late season top group in the Championship before this final round Group Three fixture, which has seen two days abandoned completely and only 23.2 overs bowled on day three. 

Lancashire were 411 for two from 119.2 overs. Keaton Jennings made 132 and Luke Wells was unbeaten on 97.

The carrying forward of points was the reason this fixture was of major importance.

Yorkshire finish this fixture with eight points to Group Three winners Lancashire’s 11

Having won the reverse fixture at Emirates Old Trafford in late May, Lancashire will carry forwards 16.5 points and Yorkshire 4.5 into the top group when four more games will be played to decide the county champions and the Bob Willis Trophy finalists.

Yesterday’s third day was abandoned due to unsafe conditions, though the decision was not a direct consequence of the leg injury suffered by Yorkshire’s young fast bowler Dom Leech whilst fielding on the boundary in front of the Western Terrace.

The White Rose county this morning released an update on his condition. They said: “Dom Leech has dislocated a joint at the side of his left knee. 

“An X-ray has shown no broken bones, and Leech will have an MRI scan today. The fast bowler is scheduled to see a specialist tomorrow.”

The abandonment means England’s Jimmy Anderson has not bowled a ball in two of his four Championship appearances for Lancashire this summer.

Their game against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road in May was also heavily weather-affected.

In all, ahead of the forthcoming Test series with India, Anderson has taken 11 wickets for the Red Rose in 2021.

Their statement on the abandonment read: “Unfortunately the final day’s play of the Roses clash at Emerald Headingley has been abandoned.

“Conditions at the Emerald Stand End of the ground have not sufficiently improved, and it has therefore been deemed unfit and unsafe to play. 

“The umpires inspected at 9am and made the decision to abandon the game. All parties agreed that player safety is paramount.”

Yorkshire captain Steve Patterson said: “We’re disappointed. We’d have loved to play some cricket today with points up for grabs to take through to the next round. 

“But the way I look at it is that you have two of the most experienced umpires in the country who are very, very good at their job.

“They thought the safety of the players couldn’t be guaranteed and made the tough decision to call it off.

“As frustrating as it is from a cricket perspective, we accept their decision. I believe they made the right call, and I back them.

“Dom’s (Leech) up there today (in the dressing room) on crutches. He’s got an MRI this afternoon and will see the specialist tomorrow. We’ll know from there.

“If you look at the two games against Lancs, we’ve been way below par this season. But our primary goal to was to qualify for the top group. We’ve done that.”

 

Lancashire coach Glen Chapple said: “We knew yesterday the outfield was struggling to deal with the water that had fallen on the previous days. Unfortunately, things haven’t changed a great deal this morning. The outfield is still soft. It’s obvious that won’t repair in one day.  

“The umpires view is the ground isn’t fit and there is too big a risk of injury. I think they’ve made the right call.  

“From both teams’ perspective, I think everyone has dealt with it fairly and with a level head.

“I’m delighted with the points we are carrying forward. If you go back to April, I’d have snatched your hand off for what we’ve got and what we’ve achieved so far.”  

Glamorgan vs Northamptonshire, Group 3 Sophia Gardens, Cardiff 11:00 AM

Glamorgan were frustrated by Northamptonshire’s middle order as the two teams shared a LV= Insurance County Championship draw in Cardiff.

The home side declared on their overnight score of 462 for four for a first-innings lead of 247 runs and with Northamptonshire two men down, they were firm favourites for victory.

Such a win would have been remarkable given the length of time lost to rain over the first two days and a Glamorgan success looked even more likely when Michael Neser took three quick wickets.

But an unbeaten 71 from Rob Keogh – whose innings came in two parts after he retired on 50 to attend his late grandmother’s funeral service online – steadied Northamptonshire’s innings and Harry Gouldstone’s 67 not out made the game safe.

Northamptonshire – who were already a man light after Gareth Berg suffered an ankle injury in the day two warm-up – were dealt a further cruel blow.

A club statement on Wednesday morning read: “Luke Procter will miss the final day of the ongoing County Championship fixture against Glamorgan.

“Procter left the squad on Tuesday evening following news of a family bereavement. The thoughts of everyone at Northamptonshire County Cricket Club are with Luke and his family.”

It meant Glamorgan needed only eight wickets on the final day to win the match and they grabbed their first with just the second ball of the morning.

Northamptonshire captain Ricardo Vasconcelos was strangled down the leg side by Neser who had received his Glamorgan cap just minutes earlier.

Charlie Thurston edged Neser through the vacant third slip area, but Emilio Gay was the next to go in the same fashion as Vasconcelos. Thurston again had a reprieve when another edge – this time from Timm van der Gugten’s delivery – went through the slip corden once more.

Thurston’s luck finally ran out when he edged a good Neser delivery to Chris Cooke for 29 and what was the Glamorgan wicketkeeper’s third catch of the morning.

With Glamorgan’s seam attack on top, it was perhaps a surprise to see captain Cooke turn to spin.

Andrew Salter, Marnus Labuschagne and even Billy Root didn’t look too dangerous as they all had a twirl.
Northamptonshire’s first session went from bad to worse when Saif Zaib was needlessly run out with the last action before lunch. Keogh hit Salter to Labuschagne at cover and the Australian’s throw was too fast for Zaib and Cooke whipped off the bails.

Neser and Labuschagne settled into the attack after lunch but found Keogh and Gouldstone in obdurate mood.
Keogh went to 50 from 112 balls but then immediately retired with family matters on his mind.

Bowler Simon Kerrigan arrived at the crease and Glamorgan sensed an opportunity, but he and Gouldstone put on a fifty partnership.

Salter thought he had got Kerrigan caught at silly point by Labuschagne in the final session and although he was caught behind by Cooke off Michael Hogan for 36 when the second new ball came, Glamorgan couldn’t do enough to force victory.

Northamptonshire finished on 250 for five with Keogh back at the crease and wearing a black armband.

Glamorgan head coach Matthew Maynard said: “The boys were awesome. They left it all out there on the pitch and there are a lot of tired bodies in the changing room. Credit to Rob Keogh, he showed terrific resilience. It was a difficult day for them with a lot going on and I think in the end they did it for Luke Procter. They made it very tough for us. We thought the wicket would spin but if we’re honest we probably didn’t get enough balls in the right area. We lost nearly a day of cricket to rain so it would have been interesting to see how the wicket would have played with another two-and-a-half sessions on it. Everyone tried their guts out and that’s all you can ask for.” 

Northamptonshire bowling coach Chris Liddle said: “It’s been a tough trip for all the lads. It’s not gone to plan at all and we’ve had some stuff come up which we couldn’t have foreseen.
“But today showed the fight we have in this team and I’m proud of the efforts to bat out the day and bring home the draw. The lads showed great fight to get us over the line. We had a couple of solid partnerships which was enough in the end.
“You never want to give an opposition an opening with easy wickets like the run out but credit to Harry Gouldstone. He batted for over four hours in only his second County Championship clash.”  

Surrey vs Somerset, Group 2 Kennington Oval, London 11:00 AM

Ravi Ashwin stepped up his preparations for India’s Test series against England by taking six for 27 as Surrey’s LV= Insurance County Championship match against Somerset ended in a draw.

The 34-year-old off-spinner, who was making a one-off appearance for Surrey, helped rattle Somerset out for 69 in their second innings with left-arm spinner Dan Moriarty picking up four for 20 on a Kia Oval pitch offering plenty of help to the slow bowlers.

It left Surrey needing 259 to win in 57 overs and England slow left-armer Jack Leach followed up his six for 43 in Surrey’s first innings with another wicket but the hosts had reached 106 for four when the teams shook hands at 5pm with Jamie Smith 46 not out.

A day during which all but seven overs were bowled by the spinners started with Leach sealing his best figures against Surrey when he picked up last man Amar Virdi. Roelof van der Merwe had Moriarty lbw with the third ball of the day to finish with four for 54 as Surrey were bowled out for 240 and conceded a first innings deficit of 189.

Somerset did not enforce the follow on and Ashwin, who took just one wicket in 43 overs in the first innings, took the new ball at the pavilion end and quickly settled into a high-class spell. Although the pitch was slow, the ball turned sharply out of the footholds and Somerset’s batsmen found it hard going against a world-class operator.  

Ashwin took his first wicket in his fourth over when Steven Davies was drawn forward and edged behind. Tom Lammonby fell to an ill-judged sweep, James Hildreth was pinned on his stumps when Ashwin went round the wicket, George Bartlett bowled offering no shot and van der Merwe fell leg before just before lunch which Somerset reached on 60 for seven.

Ashwin took his sixth wicket with a superb delivery which drifted in and spun sharply to defeat Ben Green’s defensive push. He was given excellent support by Moriarty, who bowled arguably the best delivery of the day to end Devon Conway’s determined resistance with a ball that spun sharply past his defensive push and knocked back off stump.

Surrey’s hopes of an unlikely victory chase effectively ended by the 13^th over when they lost their third wicket. Leach had Mark Stoneman held at short leg and van der Merwe picked up Rory Burns and Ryan Patel before ending a stand of 66 for the fourth wicket when he pinned Hashim Amla to finish with  match figures of seven for 115.

Middlesex vs Leicestershire, Group 2 Merchant Taylors' School Ground, Northwood 11:00 AM

Middlesex 324-9 & 196

Leicestershire 228 & 171

Middlesex 22pts beat Leicestershire 4pts by 121 runs

Acting Captain Tim Murtagh led the charge for wickets as Middlesex claimed just a second LV= Insurance County Championship win of the season against Leicestershire at Merchant Taylors’ School.

The old warhorse took four for 36 before limping  away from the action just prior to the 121-run win being secured, Leicestershire coming up well short in their pursuit of 293  despite 52 from British-born Australian Josh Inglis.

James Harris weighed in with three for 50 in the success, this after Stephen Eskinazi made 66 in the hosts’ second innings of 196, Callum Parkinson taking 4-35.

Both sides will play in Division Three when the Championship resumes on August Bank Holiday Monday.

Middlesex’s second innings folded quickly on the final morning thanks to three wickets in as many overs for Parkinson.

Nathan Sowter spooned the third ball of the day into the hands of mid-on before the slow left-armer struck twice in three balls to remove Ethan Bamber and Murtagh.

Leicestershire’s chase got off to the worst possible start when Murtagh bowled Sam Evans for nought, but Marcus Harris, who’d made 185 against the hosts during a successful run chase in the reverse fixture in May, hit  five boundaries to send the visitors into lunch 63-1.

Middlesex though wrestled back control after the resumption. Harris got one to lift from a length, take the shoulder of Lewis Hill’s bat and balloon to Josh De Caires at gully, while Sowter got the prize wicket of Harris for 46 with a peach of a leg-spinner which bowled him through the gate.

Skipper Colin Ackerman also didn’t last long, Murtagh finding the edge of the Foxes’ skipper’s bat  to give Robbie White a simple catch.

Dangers still lurked in the shape of Inglis and in-form wicketkeeper/batsman Harry Swindells. but the latter drove loosely at Bamber and was snaffled by Joe Cracknell at first slip.

Inglis though, dropped by Sam Robson at slip on 33, fought hard to reach a first Championship 50 in 79 balls with his seventh four, but Murtagh returned to end his resistance with an out-swinger edged to a diving White, and Parkinson followed next ball bowled by an in-swinger which plucked out middle stump.

Ed Barnes prevented the hat-trick and Murtagh limped off soon afterwards with what appeared to be a calf problem,  but Harris picked up the baton as Middlesex mopped up the tail.

Gloucestershire vs Hampshire, Group 2 College Ground, Cheltenham 11:00 AM

Hampshire qualified for Division One of the LV= Insurance Championship with a seven-wicket win over Gloucestershire on the final day at Cheltenham.

They were made to work hard as Tom Lace’s 118 led 126-overs of second-innings resistance but Gloucestershire were eventually bowled out for 310 and the target of only 54 was dealt with after tea.

It ended Gloucestershire’s dreams of a maiden Championship title as they missed out on a top two finish in Group Two despite winning five matches - only Yorkshire won as many

But three heavy defeats from their final four games - taking a total of just six points from those losses - have cost them.

They were well behind here after a weak first innings but, in a repeat of the return fixture back in May, made a good fist of trying to bat through the final day to save the game, with the draw good enough to stay above Hampshire. 

Hopes rose of another great escape as Lace made his first century for Gloucestershire but he became just the fifth first-class victim of Joe Weatherley’s career and no-one else could match his longevity.

The day began, like day two, with an immediate reward for Hampshire as Glenn Phillips was trapped lbw by Colin de Grandhomme fifth ball of the day. Phillips thought he’d hit it. Replays were inconclusive.

Ryan Higgins and Jack Taylor formed useful stands with Lace but Higgins drove loosely at Keith Barker and edged to slip three overs before lunch and Taylor played around Kyle Abbott and lost his off stump.

Lace remained. He pulled de Grandhomme to reach a 114-ball fifty before Barker was flicked through square leg and then steered to third man to raise a century in 214 balls with 12 fours and two sixes - a pair of top-edged pulls off Abbott and Wheal.

But his fine effort ended in agonising fashion as he shouldered arms to Weatherley’s very part-time off-spin and was plumb lbw. He and the rest of the county hung their heads.

Ollie and Tom Price hung around for 22 overs before another groaning dismissal as Ollie pulled a Mason Crane long-hop into short leg’s back and the rebound popped up for leg slip. Matt Taylor was then lbw to Wheal shouldering arms before Dan Worrall drove to point.

Worcestershire vs Warwickshire, Group 1 New Road, Worcester 11:00 AM

Warwickshire are celebrating clinching a place in Division One of the LV=Insurance County Championship – and the chance to fight for the outright title – after securing the draw they needed from the final Group 1 encounter with Worcestershire at New Road.

Half centuries from Rob Yates and first innings century-maker, Pieter Malan, enabled the Bears to comfortably overturn a first innings deficit of 52 and reach 215-2 before the two sides shook hands at ten to five.

Only 21 wickets fell in four days on the flattest of pitches and Worcestershire’s hope that the wicket would turn – they played three spinners in ish Sodhi, Josh Baker and Brett D’Oliveira – proved to be unfounded.

Warwickshire have enjoyed a dramatic turnaround in fortunes under new Head Coach Mark Robinson after his appointment by Director Of Cricket, Paul Farbrace, during the winter.

They failed to register a single victory in the shortened 2020 competition, the Bob Willis Trophy, in addition to being eliminated from the Vitality Blast in the group stages.

But Robinson, who led Sussex to two Championship titles and England Women to World Cup glory, has quickly made an impact at Edgbaston as Jim Troughton’s replacement.

Warwickshire have proved difficult to beat, losing just once – to Durham – and produced two key last day run chases against Nottinghamshire and Essex which yielded crucial victories.

Yates scored three centuries, and at 21 looks an exciting prospect, while captain Will Rhodes weighed in with 450 runs and 21 wickets.

Spinner and new signing Danny Briggs has made valuable contributions with bat and ball to compliment a pace attack in which Liam Norwell, Craig Miles and Oliver Hannon-Dalby have all played a key role.

In contrast, Worcestershire will have to contend with a place in Division Three after drawing their opening five games and winning only one.

They have enjoyed considerable success in white ball cricket in recent years but the longer format has proved challenging and they are a side in transition in that area of the game.

One of their most prized assets in Ed Barnard duly added the two runs he needed to complete his second century of the season after being promoted to number six for this game.

He went onto make an unbeaten 112 and added 101 for the ninth wicket with Adam Finch (31) before the latter was caught behind off Liam Norwell.

Worcestershire declared with a lead of 52 on a still flat wicket and any hopes of a home victory soon evaporated.

The deficit had been wiped out when Sibley (41) was caught down the leg side off Adam Finch.

Yates and Malan firmly shut the door on any hopes of further breakthroughs with a century stand off 168 balls.

The pair reached half centuries off 115 and 73 balls respectively.

Yates moved onto 88 from 173 balls before he tried to slog sweep Baker and was caught by keeper Ben Cox at mid wicket to leave Malan unbeaten on 77 from 110 deliveries.

Durham vs Nottinghamshire, Group 1 Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street 11:00 AM

Nottinghamshire confirmed their place in Division One of the next stage of the LV= Insurance County Championship after playing out a draw against Durham on day four of their clash at Emirates Riverside.

Peter Moores' men already guaranteed their spot in the top tier courtesy of bonus points gained in the contest, but the result against the North East outfit allowed the visitors to advance in first place in Group One.

Durham were set a chase of 381 on the final day after bowling Notts out for 217 in their second innings as Scott Borthwick claimed four wickets. The hosts' hopes of forcing a victory were slim to say the least, and they opted to bat out the day for the draw. As a result, James Franklin's side will be participating in Division Two in the next phase of the competition.

Notts attempted to move the game forward in the morning session, losing Steven Mullaney and Joey Evison as Matthew Potts and Matt Salisbury claimed their third wickets of the innings. Brett Hutton and Liam Patterson-White pushed the accelerator, capitalising on the short boundaries to find the rope with ease. Borthwick cleaned up the visitors' tail, taking the remaining four wickets to bowl out Notts for 217, although they finished with an overwhelming lead of 380.

Durham's openers Cameron Bancroft and Michael Jones made a resolute start in their response, putting on a stand worth 55 for the first wicket. Broad broke the partnership removing Bancroft for the second time of the game lbw with a delivery that kept low. Jones and Borthwick combined in another display of resilience from the hosts. The duo recorded a 57-run stand before Borthwick nicked off to Lyndon James for 25 when seemingly well set at the crease.

Jones spurned his opportunity to notch his second half-century of the season as he fell before tea playing back to Pattinson-White and was bowled for four runs shy of the milestone. The home side looked to grind their way out towards a draw as Notts opted to work with Mullaney in tandem with Patterson-White. Mullaney still accounted for the wicket of the Championship's top run-scorer, bowling Bedingham with a grubber for 36.

However, with the fate of both sides sealed, the two captains opted to shake hands to forego the final hour and end the contest in a draw.

Kent vs Sussex, Group 3 Kent County Cricket Ground, Beckenham 11:00 AM

Kent clung on for a draw in their LV= Insurance County Championship match with Sussex, after an engrossing final day at Canterbury. 

Jack Carson took three for 87 and Sean Hunt two for 48, but despite a cluster of wickets in the final hour, Sussex were unable to polish off Kent’s tail. 

Hastings-born Harry Finch made 115 from 212 balls against his home county as Kent closed on 257 for seven, after Sussex had declared on 332 for four, 40 minutes into the morning session. 

The visitors began day four on 277 for three, and Matt Quinn, who finished with three for 118, took the only wicket to fall when he had Oliver Carter caught by Marcus O’Riordan for 18. 

Travis Head reached 49 not out when the visitors declared, setting Kent a target of 349 to win. The hosts' reply got off to a desperate start when Ollie Robinson had Joe Gordon caught behind for a duck in the first over, but O’Riordan and Finch batted through to lunch, with Kent on 52 for one.  

O’Riordan was dropped thrice before he was finally run out in bizarre circumstances for 47. Chasing a single, he nearly ran into his batting partner Finch. As he veered sideways to avoid a collision, the ball was gathered by Tom Haines, who ran him out with a direct hit. 

Henio Kuhn faced 27 balls before he was bowled by Carson for four, leaving Kent on 139 for three at tea. Finch reached three figures with a glance off Carson that just eluded leg slip before nestling against the rope, but Kent’s outside hopes of a win dimmed when Dan Lincoln was out for 41, caught by Robinson off Carson. 

Conversely, Sussex’s hopes surged when Carson then had Harry Houillon caught by Danial Ibrahim for nine. 

Hunt had Finch caught behind and when he subsequently trapped Hamid Qadri lbw for 4 there were still five overs remaining, but Harry Podmore and debutant Bailey Whiteman survived a taught final spell to finish not out on 36 and nought respectively.  

The result means Sussex finish bottom of Group C while Kent are fifth, leaving both sides in the third tier when the championship resumes in late August.  

Kent’s Harry Finch said: “I’ve played in quite a few games like this and if you go from the first ball trying to chase it you can end up losing the game, so for us it was taking it each session at a time. I think once we got to tea the wicket started to go up and down, started to spin a bit more. We were just going to play for that first hour and then we did lose a couple of wickets, so that put it (the chase) on hold. Obviously you’d love to try and chase that down and win in front of the crowd, but I think we made it a more interesting than we should have done at the end there. I was pretty gutted when I got out because if I think if we’d gotten through those three overs with me and Podders we probably would have just shaken hands. 

“I certainly wasn’t expecting (a call-up) when I was playing club cricket (for Hastings Priory) on Saturday. I just played an awful shot, had come off and was quite angry with myself. Then I got a bit of good news. I wasn’t expecting it at all so it was a nice bonus. It’s just nice to take my chance in this game. I wasn’t really thinking about the game (on Saturday night), it was more about getting the paperwork done. I had to rush back to Mum’s get my clothes and sort everything out." 

Sussex’s Ollie Robinson said: “I thought it was a good four days for us really, we put out a side, I think the average age was 20, so to do that and almost get the win I thought was a really good effort from everyone involved. (Ali Orr) has really impressed me, he looks like a good all-round player, very solid and he reminds me a little bit of Alastair Cook, he’s very different when he bats and sort of in his own world, his own bubble and nothing really fazes him.  

“Jamie Atkins charged in for me this week, he’s got that natural ability to take wickets. He got three in the first spell which got us back in the game really.  

“I never felt like they would get over 300 on that pitch against our attack so we just went with 86, 87 overs really regardless of runs. We got an early one, but it’s a shame we couldn’t have got another

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