da blaze casino： A round-up from the County Championship
da bwin： Cricinfo staff10-Jul-2005Division OneThe match at Southgate is still in the balance after Middlesex and Hampshire continued to fight for the points. With six wickets left Middlesex need 108 more but Shaun Udal’s double strike to remove Owais Shah and Ed Smith – both for 60 – has given Hampshire a chance. The pitch is certainly assisting the spinners, as Hampshire’s second innings testified with Jamie Dalrymple and Chris Peploe dismissing them for 192. Greg Lamb made 51 but no-one else passed 35 to set a target of 276. Crucially for Middlesex Ed Joyce is still at the crease with his match-winning exploits from Ireland still fresh in his mind. However, facing Shane Warne on a turning track is a very different proposition – and any side including Warne can never be discounted.Nottinghamshire cantered to a three-day, 10-wicket, win over Glamorgan to re-launch their Championship season in style. Glamorgan were in trouble overnight and the situation became steadily worse after Sourav Ganguly went early. The middle and lower-order chipped in, but not with anything significant enough to trouble Notts. Mark Footitt took 4 for 45 on his first-class debut and Notts were left to chase just 57. Darren Bicknell and Jason Gallian had few problems reaching the target, with Notts claiming a full hand of 22 points for their 10-wicket win.Gloucestershire put up a battling second-innings performance against Surrey but still face a huge fight to avoid defeat. Their first innings was wrapped up by Harbhajan Singh, who took 4 for 51, although Alex Gidman defied the Surrey attack with a season-best 93. Following-on, 315 behind, Gloucestershire were given a solid start by Phil Weston and Craig Spearman. But, at 156 for 4, a three-day defeat still loomed until Gidman came to the fore again with a determined 72. Stephen Adshead’s 36 helped him add 100 for the fifth wicket and Gloucestershire’s hopes rest firmly on Gidman’s shoulders.1st dayIan Ward made his first Championship century of the season for Sussex to keep Kent in the field all day at Canterbury. But, Chris Adams played an equally important innings with his unbeaten 79 stabilising Sussex’s innings after a middle-order wobble, following Ward’s dismissal to Andrew Hall after 173 balls. Sussex lost 6 for 88 until Adams found an able partner in James Kirtley who helped him add 59 for the ninth wicket. Earlier, Murray Goodwin made 63 – adding 131 with Ward – while the wickets were shared around Kent’s attack. Simon Cook proved very economical, his 20 overs costing 51 runs.Division TwoLancashire overwhelmed Durham by a massive innings and 228 runs. It took Lancashire barely half the day to wrap up the victory as their seam attack demolished Durham’s second innings. Glen Chapple was the main wicket-taker with 4 for 18, his best figures of the season, while Dominic Cork claimed three and James Anderson a couple. Durham were not helped by the absence of their captain, Jon Lewis, who fractured his collarbone in the field, but none of their batsmen showed much application. Cork had began the day by completing his seventh first-class century – and the day just got better for him and Lancashire.Following the record-breaking feats of Graeme Smith yesterday, Somerset eased to a 10-wicket win over a shell-shocked Leicestershire. Somerset extended their advantage to 236 before setting about dismantling Leicestershire’s batting. Andrew Caddick plunged them into early trouble at 38 for 3 by removing Chris Rogers first ball. John Maunders and HD Ackerman added 110 but Caddick and Charl Langeveldt struck again to leave an innings defeat the favourite result. Paul Nixon ensured Somerset would have to bat again – albeit briefly – with Ian Blackwell removing the tail with 3 for 59.Both Yorkshire and Worcestershire face a nervous night with just 46 runs and four wickets separating the teams. Yorkshire – chasing 268 to win – are 222 for 6 after losing two crucial, late wickets. Phil Jaques and Craig White had added 79 when Gareth Batty bowled Jaques for 67 and then White fell to Kabir Ali a short time later. Ali was the main threat to Yorkshire’s run-chase, taking 4 for 58. The result will depend on whether Yorkshire’s tail can hold their nerve on the final morning. Tim Bresnan had earlier taken a career-best 5 for 42 to prevent Worcestershire setting a more daunting target.1st dayEssex’s top-order all made useful contributions as they worked themselves into a commanding position against Northamptonshire. Ravindar Bopara led the way with an unbeaten 84, while Alastair Cook, Grant Flower and Andy Flower all contributed half-centuries. Northants quickly realised that the pitch did not offer much encouragement to the seamers and gave the bulk of the overs to Jason Brown and Monty Panesar. Both picked up a couple of scalps to prevent Essex getting out of sight, but Panesar went for over a hundred and Brown is approaching the mark.
