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Warne bags 11, Bichel makes 102

Shane Warne helped Hampshire resurrect their title ambitions with an 11-wicket match haul that earned them a 50-run victory over Durham

Cricinfo staff
20-Jun-2007


Shane Warne was on fire for Hampshire, taking 11 for 133 against Durham © Getty Images
Shane Warne helped Hampshire resurrect their title ambitions with an 11-wicket match haul that earned them a 50-run victory over Durham. Despite the efforts of Michael Di Venuto, who top-scored for Durham in each innings, Warne and Chris Tremlett, the England fast bowler, stopped the visitors short in their chase of 254 at Southampton.
Warne followed his first-innings 6 for 83 with 5 for 50 in the second, including four that were lbw, and chipped in with two catches as Tremlett ran through the tail. Di Venuto made 124 and 50 but his side could only manage 203 and missed the opportunity to jump to the top of the Division One table. Hampshire are sixth but only one win separates the top seven sides.
Andy Bichel's seventh first-class century gave him a memorable start to his county season. In his first appearance for the year, Bichel made a brisk 102 as Essex turned around their wobbly opening to reach 376 and take the lion's share of the points in a draw with Middlesex at Lord's.
In ideal bowling conditions, Essex struggled to 6 for 97 before Bichel and James Middlebrook consolidated with a 161-run partnership. Bichel cleared the boundary three times in his 138-ball innings against an attack that boasted the international players Chaminda Vaas and Murali Kartik. Middlesex crumbled for 177 in reply - although Bichel grabbed only one wicket - and ploughed along to 6 for 360 in the second innings to force a draw.
Brad Hodge finally transferred his one-day form to the first-class arena, scoring an unbeaten 156 in Lancashire's win over Kent at Old Trafford. It was Hodge's first time past fifty in his five games so far, but he was one of the leading run-scorers in the Friends Provident Trophy with 428 at 142.66. Stuart Law's 58 helped as the home team pile on 5 for 451 declared, before they dismissed Kent for 272 and 190. Lancashire are fifth on the Division One table, meaning their season remains alive.
In a draw between Warwickshire and Worcestershire at Edgbaston, Doug Bollinger finally got some reward with 4 for 102 and Phil Jaques made 34, but the star was Graeme Hick. Although his international career ended six years ago, Hick, 41, is still turning out for Worcestershire and his 49 took him to exactly 40,000 first-class runs, making him the 16th player to reach the milestone and the first since his old team-mate Graham Gooch.
It took only three days for Somerset to beat Gloucestershire by an innings and 151 runs at Bristol, where the hero was another England old-timer, Andy Caddick, 38. Caddick took seven wickets in the first innings and five in the second to finish with match figures of 12 for 71 as the home side was routed for 121 and 138. Somerset's impressive season continued and Cameron White (65) and Justin Langer (32) were among the contributors in their 7 for 410 declared, which kept them on top of the Division Two table.
While it was Warne who dominated the four-day game for Hampshire it was his Australian team-mate Stuart Clark who earned them a limited-overs semi-final berth. Clark's wonderful spell of 6 for 27 from ten overs - the best figures in the competition this season - restricted Surrey to 181 at Southampton. Hampshire made hard work of the win - Matthew Nicholson claimed 2 for 27 as they reached 7 for 182 with ten balls to spare - but will now face Warwickshire for a place in the decider.
Langer finished his tournament strongly with 82 but it was a lone hand and Somerset went down to Essex at Chelmsford. At Trent Bridge, David Hussey made 51 and took 2 for 18 in Nottinghamshire's win over Lancashire, while Jaques ended with a solid 69 for Worcestershire against Scotland at Worcester.