Sussex romp to top of table

Shane Warne claimed a five-wicket haul as Hampshire moved briefly into second place with a 294-run win against Worcestershire at Kidderminster . The result was wrapped up before lunch as Warne made short work of the remaining batsmen. Abdul Razzaq was bowled and Moeen Ali battling innings was ended on 77. Roger Sillence and Nadeem Malik offered some lusty blows, but Warne closed out the match with his fifth wicket and Ben Smith was unable to bat.

Sussex moved top of the Championship as they hammered Yorkshire by an-innings-and-261-runs at Hove. Yorkshire crumbled for 89 after being asked to follow-on and, with just one game remaining, watched their title hopes virtually come to an end. The second innings was a rout as they subsided in 44 overs against Jason Lewry, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Saqlain Mushtaq. Lewry ripped out three key middle-order scalps while Naved-ul-Hasan and Saqlain mopped up the tail. Mushtaq Ahmed earlier claimed a five-wicket haul to finish Yorkshire's first innings, only Adil Rashid offering much resistance with an unbeaten 54.

Lancashire kept their Championship challenge alive with a seven-wicket in a low-scoring encounter against Durham at Blackpool. And they later received the news that no action would be taken over pitch, meaning Lancashire take 17 points from the victory. It was another mad-cap day of action, as Lancashire edged ahead on first innings through Luke Sutton and Sajid Mahmood before reducing Durham to 47 for 5 in their second innings. But Dale Benkenstein played a fine innings and his 77, along with Phil Mustard's 36 and Ottis Gibson's 33, lifted Durham to a lead of 168. Wickets continued to tumble, with Lancashire wobbling on 7 for 2 in the chase. Then Stuart Law took control with an unbeaten 82 - the highest score of the match - and alongside VVS Laxman (55 not out) guided Lancashire home.

Mark Ramprakash dominated at Edgbaston with his 95th first-class century as Surrey built a useful lead against Warwickshire. His 175 was more than half Surrey's total as the home side's attack battled hard throughout the day. But Ramprakash was a different class, striking 24 fours and two sixes before falling to Ant Botha.

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	Draw	Aban	Pts
Sussex	14	6	2	0	5	1	175
Yorkshire	15	4	4	0	7	0	170
Hampshire	14	5	2	0	7	0	166
Lancashire	14	4	1	0	8	1	166
Durham	14	5	5	0	4	0	158.5
Surrey	15*	3	4	0	6	1	138
Warwickshire	15*	2	3	0	9	0	133
Kent	14	2	4	0	7	1	127
Worcestershire	15	1	7	0	5	2	91

Somerset wasted little time in securing the Division Two title as they romped to a six-wicket win against Essex at Chelmsford James Hildreth and Neil McKenzie added a quick fire 54 after threatened to cause a few alarms with two quick wickets.

Andy Caddick told Cricinfo: "We've had a very good in leader in Justin Langer and we've also had the benefit of Marcus Trescothick so we've been able to put the runs on the board and we've been able to bowl the opposition out with the bowling attack we've got. So, all in all, a throughly deserved season and a very cut-and-dried one. We knew what we wanted to do and we've achieved it very easily.

"We haven't played the strongest of teams in county cricket. They are in the first division but we played a very good side in Notts who are a very good unit and we beat them very well so we know that's the sort of benchmark. It's going to be a tough season next season but hopefully from what've done and the processes we went through to get where we are we will kick on for next year."

Murali Kartik and Stephen Finn shared eight wickets as Middlesex wrapped up an-innings-and-89-run win against Gloucestershire at Bristol . Kartik made early inroads on the third morning as he removed Hamish Marshall and Alex Gidman for 0 and 1. Tim Murtagh trapped Grant Hodnett lbw for 55 and, despite some resistance from the lower order, the end came swiftly. Finn, who impressed for England Under-19s earlier this summer, claimed the last four wickets.

David Sales and Niall O'Brien set Northamptonshire up for victory against Leicestershire at Grace Road. Sales hit an unbeaten 187, adding 175 with O'Brien who dominated their stand with 109. After setting the home side a huge 534, Nicky Boje then grabbed two wickets as Northants pushed towards the win.

Andre Adams and Paul Franks impressed with the ball as Nottinghamshire made Derbyshire follow-on at Chesterfield . Adams claimed four wickets as Derbyshire folded for 205, with only Hassan Adnan (50) reaching a half century. Franks claimed three and added another in the second innings when he trapped Michael Dighton lbw for 8.

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	Draw	Aban	Pts
Somerset	15	9	1	0	5	0	244
Nottinghamshire	15*	5	2	0	7	0	197.5
Middlesex	14	5	1	0	8	0	172.5
Essex	15	5	4	0	6	0	162.5
Derbyshire	15*	3	4	0	7	0	137
Gloucestershire	15	3	5	0	7	0	133.5
Northamptonshire	14*	3	5	0	5	0	133
Leicestershire	15*	2	6	0	5	1	112
Glamorgan	14	1	8	0	4	1	83.5