Kaneria seals Essex victory

Kent closed the third day against Sussex at Canterbury needing another 89 runs to climb to the summit of Division One of the County Championship. But they will have their work cut out, after slumping to 97 for 6 on a day in which 20 wickets tumbled. Kent had begun the day on 323 for 6 in their first innings and handily placed to claim a first-innings lead. But the Pakistani pairing of Mushtaq Ahmed and Naved-ul-Hasan cut them down for 348, a deficit of 30. Sussex in reply stumbled to 155 all out, with Amjad Khan taking 4 for 39, but they were back on top by the close. James Kirtley whipped out two early wickets before Mushtaq and Naved struck twice each.

Danish Kaneria took 6 for 74 in Northamptonshire's second innings at Chelmsford, to set Essex up for a ten-wicket win. Northants were always up against it after conceding 506 in Essex's first innings, and though Ben Phillips and Damien Wright delayed the inevitable for a while with a pair of half-centuries, as soon as the follow-on had been enforced the end was nigh. At 202 for 2, Northants were looking decent prospects for a draw, but Usman Afzaal and Bilal Shafayat fell in quick succession and the rest came meekly. Essex needed just two deliveries in the fourth innings to wrap up their win.