Middlesex draw with Lancashire, move closer to title

Division 1

Lancashire vs Middlesex

Middlesex inched closer to their first County Championship title in 23 years after a draw with Lancashire in their Division 1 encounter at Old Trafford on Thursday (September 15). With five points from the game, Middlesex consolidated their position at top of the table, nine clear of second-placed Yorkshire.

Resuming the day from 72 for 4, the unbeaten batsmen overnight - Dawid Malan (87) and John Simpson (74) stitched a 151-run partnership for the fifth wicket that helped Middlesex stretch their lead to 308 before declaring their second innings on 240 for 8. Simon Kerrigan, who ran through the Middlesex lower order, including the prized scalp of Malan, finished with figures of 6 for 86.

Set to chase 309 from the remaining 44 overs of the day, the home team promoted Jos Buttler to the opener's slot who hammered a quickfire 26 off just 14 deliveries before falling to his England teammate Steven Finn. Rob Jones and Haseeb Hameed, however, played out the rest of the day without any flamboyance as the two teams shared five points each.

Brief scores: Middlesex 327 and 240-8 dec (Sam Robson 77, Nic Gubbins 69; Simon Kerrigan 4-80 and Dawid Malan 87, John Simpson 74; Simon Kerrigan 6-86) drew against Lancashire 259 and 80/1 (Rob Jones 106, Liam Livingstone 53, Tom Bailey 53; Toby Roland-Jones 4-54, Steven Finn 4-77 and Jos Buttler 26).

Durham vs Surrey

Ben Stokes and Mark Wood ran through the Surrey batting order to hand Durham a 21-run victory in their Division 1 County Championship encounter at Chester-le-Street on Thursday.

Durham tail-enders could add only 33 to their overnight score of 213 for 8 but helped the hosts to a 280-run lead. Wood (2-45) then gave his team the perfect start by getting rid of Dominic Sibley and Kumar Sangakkara in successive overs - both getting dismissed for a duck.

Jason Roy, who hit a century in the first innings, crafted a valuable 143-run stand for the fourth wicket with Zafar Ansari (51) to revive Surrey's hopes. Ansari fell soon after his fifty but Roy couldn't get to his consecutive hundred as Stokes opened his account with the wicket of his England teammate.

Even as Sam Curran hit a gutsy half-century, he couldn't save his team from a narrow defeat. Stokes added three more to his tally to reduce the visitors to 252 for 8. The game was still evenly poised, with Curran out in the middle but Graham Onions wrapped up the tail cheaply to deny them any chance of a come-from-behind win.

Brief scores: Durham 401 and 246 (Keaton Jennings 201; Mark Footitt 5-90 and Mark Stoneman 92, Graham Clark 54; Sam Curran 7-58) beat Surrey 367 and 259 (Jason Roy 120; Graham Onions 5-90 and Jason Roy 96, Zafar Ansari 51, Sam curran 50*; Ben Stokes 4-54 and Graham Onions 3-62 ) by 21 runs.

Division 2

Derbyshire vs Leicestershire

Mark Cosgrove led from the front to help Leicestershire draw their Division Two county Championship encounter against hosts Derbyshire on Thursday.

Overcoming an injury on his left hand, Cosgrove played a patient knock of 110 after his team were set a target of 347 on the final day. Opener Paul Horton's 61 and the skipper's century had Leicestershire comfortably placed on 232 for 4 before a lower-order collapse saw them losing their next four men for an addition of mere 10 runs to their total.

Rob Sayer (32 not out) and Richard Jones (19 not out), however, carefully negotiated the remaining 23 overs of the day before the teams split points.

Brief scores: Derbyshire 307 and 286/8 dec (Harvey Hosein 83, Alex Huges 55; Charlie Shreck 4-78 and Wayne Madsen 134*, Harvey Hosein 58; Clint McKay 2-16, Charlie Shreck 2-61) drew against Leicestershire 247 and 301/8 (Mark Cosgrove 95*, Mark Pettini 44; Will Davis 4-68 and Mark Cosgrove 110, Paul Hoton 61; Tony Palladino 4-64).

Essex vs Glamorgan

Michael Hogan's five-wicket haul, well aided by Timm van der Gugten's four-for helped Glamorgan stun Division Two champions Essex by 11 runs in their County Championship clash at Chelmsford on Thursday.

The visitors added just three runs to their overnight score of 293 for 9 and set Essex a 264-run target.

Varun Copra, who top scored with 79, and Nick Browne added 92 runs for the opening stand before the latter fell at the stroke of lunch. Hogan and van der Gugten, however, did not give Essex any chance of a comeback. Reeling at 147 for 5, skipper Ryan ten Doeschate momentarily revived Essex's hopes but saw his team eventually crumbling to a narrow 11-run defeat.

Brief scores: Glamorgan 286 and 296 (Kiran Carlson 119, Owen Morgan 55; Graham Napier 4-46 and Mark Wallace 78, Jacques Rudolph 56, William Bragg 54; James Porter 2-51) beat Essex 319 and 252 (Ryan ten Doeschate 117, James Foster 64; Craig Meschede 5-84 and Varun Chopra 79; Michael Hogan 5-45, Timm van der Gugten 4-56) by 11 runs.

Northamptonshire vs Gloucestershire

George Hankins's defiant century went in vain as Ben Sanderson's eight-wicket haul inspired Northamptonshire to a commanding 114-run victory over Gloucestershire in their County Championship Division Two encounter on Thursday.

Chasing an improbable 442 for victory, the visitors resumed the day from their overnight score of 35 for 2. Liam Norwell departed early on the final morning but Hankins and unbeaten opener Chris Dent crafted a 103-run partnership for the fourth wicket to put their chase back on track.

Sanderson picked up the next five wickets that fell, including Dent and Hamish Marshall in a space of three deliveries. Hankins carried on to notch up his century, and in the process, also added 131 runs for the sixth wicket partnership with Phil Mustard.

Mustard (79) carried on to raise his half-century but saw wickets tumbling at the other end at regular intervals. He was the last man to fall, with Essex still 114 away from victory.

Brief scores: Northamptonshire 326 and 376 (Rob Newton 130, Alex Wakely 104; David Payne 4-57 and Richard Levi 95, Ben Duckett 70; David Payne 4-75) beat Gloucestershire 261 and 327 (David Payne 56, Hamish Marshall 38; Rob Keogh 4-67 and George Hankins 116, Phil Mustard 79; Ben Sanderson 8-73) by 114 runs.