Roundup: Surrey grab late win, Northants end long wait
Surrey’s team of magicians pulled a rabbit from a hat in a dramatic game at Scarborough, beating Yorkshire with three balls to spare, moments before the rain started to fall.
After a day, a game, that had ebbed and flowed it was Aaron Hardie, who hit the winning runs on his Championship debut. The Bournemouth-born Australian all-rounder sealed victory with a timely waft towards the tea room.
Yorkshire had been bowled out mid-afternoon – Jamie Overton with a season-best six for 61 – to set Surrey 227 in 44 overs. They sit 15 points clear of Essex at the top of Division One, despite Hampshire defeating Warwickshire by eight wickets before lunch.
Events at the other end of the table were just as dramatic as Northamptonshire, eight men crouched round the bat, brought home their first Division One win since 2004, defeating relegation rivals Kent at Canterbury.
Spin twins Simon Kerrigan and Rob Keogh did the damage with five wickets each, after Northants had declared on 396 for eight. Kent started calmly but 64 for none somehow became 161 all out as panic set in and last man Matt Quinn was swallowed up by short-leg low down, before Northants reeled haphazardly in delight.
Despite Keaton Jennings’s triple century and Jack Morley’s best first-class figures of five for 69, Lancashire could not force a win at Trafalgar Road – Somerset’s Lewis Goldsworthy, with 73, holding the trapdoor shut.
In Division Two, Leicestershire drew with Sussex after setting their highest first-class total of 756 for four, with maiden double-centuries for Colin Ackermann and Wiaan Mulder. Nottinghamshire held out for a draw against Glamorgan, as did Durham against Derbyshire despite an afternoon wobble.
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Thanks all, a tummy-tickler to finish off a great round. We’ll be back on Tuesday, heat permitting. Good night!
