Nottinghamshire make quick work of Essex on day four

Nottinghamshire required just an hour and three quarters on the fourth morning of the Specsavers County Championship game at Chelmsford to beat Essex by 301 runs.

The 23 points gained from their fourth success at the halfway point of the
season lifted Notts above Essex and Somerset into second place in Division One, 13 points behind leaders Surrey.

Matt Milnes, in only his third first-class match, claimed best figures of four
for 44 and two of the six wickets in the morning’s play as Essex added just 51 runs to their overnight score to fall well short of their target of 441.

Worcestershire celebrated their first County Championship win of the season after they overcame Lancashire by 202 runs despite a superb century from Keaton Jennings at Blackfinch New Road.

Jennings made 177 and defied the Worcestershire attack for nearly seven hours in pursuit of a 602 target before he was beaten for pace and bowled by Pat Brown in the penultimate over before lunch.

The England opener struck 27 boundaries in his 295-ball knock in what was his third championship century of the campaign. But Worcestershire’s pace attack persevered on a flat track and Ed Barnard picked up four more wickets to help them secure victory in mid-afternoon.

At the Ageas Bowl, Harry Brook and Jack Leaning’s half centuries could not prevent Hampshire and Yorkshire from a dour draw during the day-night match.

The pair made sure Yorkshire avoided any chance of losing with a 108-run stand, which stretched over 38 overs, as they both chalked up milestones.

Hampshire took 11 points from the match and Yorkshire 10 to leave the sides level on 62 points in the table.

In Division Two, Kent skipper Joe Denly bagged three wickets in six balls to wrap up his side’s thrilling 73-run win over leaders Warwickshire.

In their pursuit of a championship record fourth-innings target of 519,
Warwickshire eventually succumbed soon after tea despite posting a county record fourth innings score of 445.

Warwickshire suffered their first defeat of the campaign, which cut their lead at the top to eight points.

At Grace Road, an unbeaten 58 from James Harris saw visitors Middlesex complete an outstanding recovery to beat Leicestershire by one wicket.

Harris, who had been dropped twice by the Foxes, clipped the winning runs off the bowling of Mohammad Abbas with 6.3 overs remaining.

It was a fitting end to an intense day’s cricket, during which Hilton Cartwright hit 80 after being ‘bowled’ by Gavin Griffiths before he had scored. The delivery clipped off stump hard, but the bail did not come off, and the Australian went on to play a vital innings for his new county.

Elsewhere, Glamorgan were denied their second win of the season by Derbyshire’s tail-enders as the match was drawn at Swansea.

Tony Palladino, who faced 108 balls for his unbeaten 30, and Duanne Olivier
defended for the final 14.3 overs to salvage a stalemate.

When Derbyshire lost their eighth wicket Glamorgan were favourites to win, but with stubborn resistance and some good fortune, the visitors held out.