Nottinghamshire crowned County Champions

Nottinghamshire 486 (Gallian 199) and 170 for 3 dec (Gallian 74*, Read 63) beat Kent 237 for 5 dec (Dexter 79*) and 205 (van Jaarsveld 64, Harris 6-76) by 214 runs
Scorecard

Stephen Fleming celebrates success © Getty Images

Nottinghamshire completed a comprehensive 214-run victory over Kent at Canterbury and in doing so became the County Champions for 2005, their first title since 1987. Mark Ealham, formerly of Kent, aptly took the final catch at slip which won the match.

Stephen Fleming, Nottinghamshire's captain, managed to broker a very favourable deal with his opposite number, David Fulton; Kent declared overnight on 237 for 5, 249 runs in arrears, and then Nottinghamshire smashed 170 runs in just 24 overs as Kent' s bowlers served up a succession of full tosses and long hops . Both Chris Read and Jason Gallian, who was run out for 199 in the first innings, hit half-centuries; Read's 63 came from just 52 balls.

Superb bowling from Nottinghamshire and Andrew Harris brought them their first county title since 1987 © Getty Images

Set an improbable target of 420 to keep their own title hopes alive, Kent performed dismally in their second innings, which isn't to detract from the performance of Andrew Harris. He bowled wonderfully well, combining pace, swing and exceptional control to take six for 76. Pitching the ball up, he dismissed Rob Key for 6 , Matt Walker for 3 and Darren Stevens for 11, to leave Kent reeling on 52 for 4.

Martin van Jaarsveld provided some resistance in a solid knock of 64, but it was never enough to counter the excellence of Harris's bowling as Kent eventually folded for 205.

"The history of the competition is superb, and it's probably been one of the strongest competitions in the world for a long time," said Fleming. "To win so quickly after the Ashes, Nottinghamshire are going to get a great profile from it.''

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