Report
Middlesex make it two wins in a row
Middlesex wrapped up their second Championship win in a row by an innings and 38 runs against Essex at Lord's
Jamie Alter at Lord's
09-Jun-2008
Middlesex 584 (Shah 144, Morgan 96, Kaneria 7-157) beat Essex 161 (Murtagh 6-44) and 383 (ten Doeschate 78, Pettini 75, Bopara 54, Nannes 4-75, Murtagh 4-83) by an innings and 38 runs
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It's a telling statement that Middlesex's last victory over Essex at Lord's came during the latter end of the Thatcher era, but there's enough evidence to suggest it won't be as long a wait next time around.
Their second Championship win on the trot, by an innings-and-38-runs, lifting Middlesex to third in the second division, was finished convincingly between lunch and tea on the fourth day. Essex went out to bat needing something massive to salvage a draw but lost wickets at irregular intervals to end on 384 with Tim Murtagh claiming 4 for 83, to complete ten in the match, and Dirk Nannes' complimenting him with 4 for 75.
Full postYorkshire leapfrog Somerset to go top
A round-up of the final day in the latest County Championship matches
Cricinfo staff
09-Jun-2008
First Division
Yorkshire overcame a fine century from Zander de Bruyn to record a 40-run win against Somerset at Taunton and leapfrog them to the top of the Championship. When Somerset fell to 54 for 4 early on the final day there appeared little chance of them approaching the target of 323. But Justin Langer has instilled resilience into the team, and de Bruyn set about a recovery alongside Ian Blackwell, who dominated a stand of 88 with a 72-ball 64. Matthew Hoggard made the breakthrough when Blackwell was caught behind, however Craig Kieswetter continued his productive match by adding 100 with de Bruyn. When Kieswetter was trapped lbw, Somerset needed 81. It was in the hands of de Bruyn and he reached his first Championship century off 214 balls. Partners came and went, heaping more pressure on his shoulders, and when he was bowled by Adil Rashid, Yorkshire sensed it was their game again. Tim Bresnan, impressive throughout the match, claimed the final wicket when he bowled Andy Caddick, sending Yorkshire into the big-money Twenty20 with a spring in their step.
Durham fell agonisingly short of pulling off a remarkable victory as a final-wicket stand of 57, between Steve Harmison and Mark Davies, carried them to with five runs of their target against Hampshire at Chester-le-Street. "This was a massive win for us," Hampshire captain Dimitri Mascarenhas, told the Press Association. "It would have been really tough to come back from losing that one." The last pair came together when Paul Wiseman fell to James Tomlinson and, given their respective batting averages of nine and 11, Hampshire's first Championship win of the season appeared a formality. But slowly and surely they chipped off the runs, going to lunch with 27 required, and it came down to single figures against Chris Tremlett and Shane Bond. However, in his last game for Hampshire, Bond had the final say, having Davies caught behind chasing a wide ball, to end with nine wickets in the match as Nic Pothas claimed his tenth catch. The home side's hopes at the start of the day appeared to rest with Dale Benkenstein, but he fell to Bond after reaching his half-century. The contest, though, was far from over.
Full postThomas gives Somerset hope of victory
A round-up of the third day in the latest County Championship matches
Cricinfo staff
08-Jun-2008
First Division
Alfonso Thomas took a timely five-wicket haul to give the Championship pacemakers, Somerset, an outside chance of victory against Yorkshire at Taunton. Having been up against it since the first innings of the match, in which Yorkshire racked up 372, Somerset took complete control of the third day, first by extending their overnight 220 for 9 to a competitive 258, thanks largely to Craig Kieswetter's unbeaten 67, then by dismissing Yorkshire for 208 in their second innings. Charl Willoughby and Andrew Caddick gave Somerset a dream start by claiming both openers for ducks, then Thomas got stuck into the middle order. Andrew Gale was the lone survivor in the top-order with 58, while Rich Pyrah made 51 from No. 8 to rescue Yorkshire from 104 for 6, but Somerset's eventual target of 323 is by no means unobtainable - with ten wickets in hand and with Marcus Trescothick at the crease, unbeaten on 11 at the close.
Dimitri Mascarenhas produced a captain's innings of 74 to lift Hampshire into the ascendancy against Durham at Chester-le-Street. The game had been finely balanced on the third morning, not least when Sean Ervine fell for the addition of only three runs to his overnight 46, to leave Hampshire leading by 226 with three wickets standing. But then Mascarenhas got into his stride, striking 13 fours and a six in a 110-ball innings, to add 67 priceless runs. Durham, in reply, stuttered just as they had done in their first innings. Chasing a sizeable 294, they lost wickets at regular intervals, with Shane Bond and Chris Tremlett among the wickets, to close on 186 for 6. Neil McKenzie made 48 and Dale Benkenstein was still there on 46 not out, but with only the tail for company, defeat is looming on Monday.
Justin Kemp put to one side the frustrations of two rain-affected days at Canterbury, and struck his first first-class century of the season to boost Kent's morale against the champions, Sussex. Kemp made 102, having had to strap his pads on in a hurry following three wickets in seven balls for Ragheb Aga. Robert Key fell for 30, then Martin van Jaarsveld and Darren Stevens followed for ducks to reduce Kent to 76 for 4, but James Tredwell continued his allround form with 68, as the pair added 167 for the fifth wicket. They were eventually all out for a healthy 350, with Aga finishing with 4 for 63, and by the close Sussex were well placed for the draw on 57 for 1.
Full postCork bowls Lancashire to dominance
A forceful bowling performance from Dominic Cork helped to put Lancashire in a good position to press for victoryon the final day, although a draw is still a strong possibility
John Ward at Old Trafford
08-Jun-2008
Lancashire 384 and 146 for 4 (Horton 60) lead Nottinghamshire 304 (Wagh 94, Voges 55, Franks 40*) by 226 runs
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Scorecard
A forceful bowling performance from Dominic Cork helped to put Lancashire in a good position to press for victory on the final day, although a draw is still a strong possibility on a pitch doing little to assist bowlers.
Nottinghamshire began the day looking to build on their overnight score of 148 for 2 and the day started with some more stirring cricket than might have been expected from the rather leisurely course of this match so far. Cork and Sajid Mahmood in particular really bent their backs to flog whatever life they could out of a somnolent pitch, but were in turn met with confident and positive batting from Mark Wagh and Adam Voges.
Then came the crucial ball of the day. Cork suddenly made one fly at Voges out of nowhere, the ball lobbing off the back of his left hand out on the off side, only to fall short of the fielders running in. An inordinately long time was allowed for treatment, but two overs later he was forced to retire hurt and seek an X-ray on his hand. The score at this point was 172 for 2, with Voges on 42.
Full postMorgan and Nannes keep Middlesex ahead
Middlesex fortunes may be far from where their frustrated members want it to be, but a third straight day of domination over Essex at Lord's went a fair way to bringing some relief
Jamie Alter at Lord's
08-Jun-2008
Essex 161 and 200 for 4 (Pettini 63*, Bopara 54) trail Middlesex 583 (Shah 144, Morgan 96, Scott 60, Kaneria 7-157) by 222 runs
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Middlesex fortunes may be far from where their frustrated members want it to be, but a third straight day of domination over Essex at Lord's went a fair way to bringing some relief. The middle order pushed on patiently to cross 500 for the first time since a high-scoring draw last season at Taunton, a psychological 400-run-lead was achieved, and the day was capped with four wickets to leave Essex 222 runs behind. Apart from Danish Kaneria's seven-wicket bag, and fifties to Ravi Bopara and Mark Pettini, Essex found themselves playing catch-up against a side looking at their second consecutive Championship win.
Resuming at 442 for 4, Middlesex's overnight pair of Eoin Morgan and Ben Scott pottered along under lovely sun-soaked skies, aided by yawning spaces on the leg-side. The left-handed Morgan was keen to use his feet against Kaneria as early as his first over and skipped down to swat a boundary. Middlesex's 450 was up in the third over as David Masters belted out a hopeful appeal against Morgan, and the batsmen scampered two down the leg side, where a slow Alex Tudor spent much of the morning and was repeatedly picked on.
Full postSidebottom wraps up series victory
Given the fine line England have trodden between success and failure over the last few months, during their elongated head-to-head with New Zealand, they wrapped up the series with deceptive ease on the fourth day at Trent Bridge
The Bulletin by Andrew McGlashan
08-Jun-2008
England 364 (Pietersen 115, Ambrose 67, Broad 64) beat New Zealand 123 (Anderson 7-43) and 232 (McCullum 71, Oram 50*, Sidebottom 6-67) by an innings and nine runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
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Sidebottom has been a frustrated, and often angry, participant during this Test as he watched James Anderson and Stuart Broad claim the bowling honours. He hasn't quite been at full pace - the back spasm on the first day may have played a part - but, with conditions better for batting than at any stage during the game, Sidebottom showed why he has taken on the mantle of England's premier bowler.
Gareth Hopkins fought hard on his debut in both innings, showing a better technique than many of the top order against the moving ball. But he was the first to depart when Sidebottom found his outside edge with one pushed across the batsman. In his next over, Sidebottom removed the last major obstacle to a swift finish for England, when Daniel Vettori lofted a skewed drive to Kevin Pietersen at point. From then on it was only a matter of time.
Full postPakistan crush hapless Bangladesh
Pakistan opened the Kitply Cup with a comprehensive 70-run victory: their 12th straight win equalled the joint second-longest ODI streak
The Bulletin by Siddarth Ravindran
08-Jun-2008
Pakistan 233 (Butt 70, Yousuf 59, Razzak 3-35, Kapali 3-49) beat Bangladesh 163 for 8 (Ashraful 56*, Afridi 3-19, Riaz 3-22) by 70 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
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Pakistan opened the Kitply Cup with a comprehensive 70-run victory: their 12th straight win equalled the joint second-longest ODI streak. They had won all five in an ODI series against Bangladesh in Pakistan recently, and home advantage didn't make a difference as hosts Bangladesh once again could not match up against a tougher opponent.
After a series of short, sharp showers curtailed the match to a 40-over affair, half-centuries from Salman Butt and Mohammad Yousuf took Pakistan to a commanding 233. In reply, Bangladesh were rarely in the hunt - Wahab Riaz and Shahid Afridi took three wickets each as the hosts crawled to 163 for 8 in their allotted overs. Mohammad Ashraful made a fighting, unbeaten 56 but it came at too pedestrian a pace to be a serious threat.
Full postYorkshire put the leaders on the rack
A round-up of the second day in the latest County Championship matches
Cricinfo staff
07-Jun-2008
First Division
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Fourteen wickets fell at Chester-le-Street where Hampshire closed on 186 for 6 in their second innings, just about in charge with a lead of 223 over Durham. Hampshire had moved comfortably to 91 without loss when Ben Harmison produced a great throw from deep square-leg to run out Brown. Stephen Harmison then bowled Durham back into contention with a four-wicket burst in six overs after tea, having struggled with the new ball earlier on. It was a tale of two international fast bowlers, out of their teams for different reasons, as Shane Bond earlier ripped out Durham for 202, with 5 for 57 in his last match for Hampshire. Nic Pothas bagged six catches as the ball regularly found the edge in helpful conditions.
After a complete washout yesterday as the ground recovered from Tuesday's storms, today it was bad light that allowed only 23 overs in Kent's tussle with Sussex at Canterbury. What play there was was hardly enthralling as Kent lumbered to 50 for 1, Joe Denly the one man out to Luke Wright. Sussex, coming off the back of their defeat against Durham, are without Mushtaq Ahmed after a recurrance of his knee injury, but Kent brought back Martin van Jaarsveld following the birth of his daughter.
Full postCroft century drives Lancashire
John Ward reports on the second day's play in the game between Lancashire and Nottinghamshire at Old Trafford
John Ward at Old Trafford
07-Jun-2008
Nottinghamshire 148 for 2 (Wagh 67*) trail Lancashire 384 (Croft 122, Horton 64, du Plessis 55, Sutcliffe 50) by 236 runs
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Resuming on 260 for 5, Lancashire's priority was clearly to keep on amassing runs, which they did without too much concern about how long it took. This tied in well with Croft's aim of reaching his maiden first-class century. He settled in firmly with Luke Sutton, his overnight partner, who started the day with a superb cover drive to the boundary off Charlie Shreck.
Croft was working away with dedication, and finally an on-drive for four off Shreck brought him the three figures he had narrowly missed at Headingley last week. It came off 197 balls and contained few memorable strokes, but a great deal of hard work and dedication.
Full postShah inflicts more pain on Essex
Owais Shah continued Middlesex's total dominance of Essex at Lord's, where he posted his second century of the season to set up a huge 281-run lead after two days
Brydon Coverdale at Lord's
07-Jun-2008
Middlesex 442 for 4 (Shah 144, Joyce 63, Morgan 62* Godleman 56) lead Essex 161 by 281 runs
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Middlesex built around Shah's 144 but just as impressive was the long list of contributors: including Shah, four men passed fifty just a day after none of their Essex opponents managed the same feat. Billy Godleman, Ed Joyce and Morgan were Shah's primary assistants and it was hard to believe they were using the same pitch on which Essex were bundled out for 161.
Nothing went right for Essex, whose bowlers rarely looked threatening. Barely a day and a half into the match they already looked like men defeated, and Mark Pettini had a huge job to keep his charges on task, at one stage throwing his hands in the air in exasperation when one of his troops failed to shift from deep point to fine leg when the right- and left-handers turned over the strike.
Full post