Four lots of last-gasp ditch-digging brought the first round of County Championship games to a tense finish.
Northamptonshire’s last pair defied Lancashire for an hour to earn a draw at Wantage Road, strung together by an unbeaten 197-ball 95 from George Bartlett. The game looked done when James Anderson and the new ball reduced Northants to 181 for nine, but Ben Sanderson gave brave support and Bartlett straight-batted the final over from Tom Hartley despite a warren of close fielders.
Derbyshire gnashed their teeth at the County Ground, as Matthew Waite and Ethan Brookes masterminded a Worcestershire rearguard action, brushing off an attack including Mohammad Abbas and Shoaib Bashir.
Tawanda Muyeye’s unbeaten 109 off just 121 balls for Kent kept out Durham at Chester-le-Street and a rollercoaster match at Sophia Gardens was enlivened by a brave declaration from Glamorgan’s captain, Kiran Carlson. Yorkshire’s pursuit of 295 was on course thanks to 97 from Adam Lyth, but when he fell to Ben Kellaway, attack turned to desperate wall-building.
There was Easter cheer for Sussex, who started the season on minus 12 points, but find themselves on the scoreboard thanks to a thumping win at Grace Road. Leicestershire put up stiff defence in the first 90 minutes thanks to Ben Cox and Stevie Eskinazi but both fell to Fynn Hudson-Prentice and the innings trickled to a close. Henry Crocombe finished with career-best match figures of nine for 69.
The 18-year-old Seb Morgan was the star of the show at Lord’s, where Middlesex cooked up a win by an innings and 14 runs. Morgan’s two wickets in two balls opened up Gloucestershire’s middle order.
Surrey fired up the juggernaut at Edgbaston to deny Warwickshire, who took only one wicket all day on a dream batting pitch. Dan Lawrence and Jamie Smith added 217 until Smith was caught for 132. Lawrence was unbeaten on 161. Somerset drew with Nottinghamshire at Taunton.
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Four thrilling draws to close the curtains on Easter Monday. Glad to be back? Thanks for your company, we’ll be here on Friday for round two. Have a lovely evening, bye!
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