Roundup: Somerset safe, Glamorgan boost promotion hopes
Somerset delightedly boxed off Division One survival after bowling out Northamptonshire for 109 at Taunton. It was a triumph for captain Tom Abell, whose two centuries built the foundations, and who polished off the Northants innings by having Jack White caught by Craig Overton.
And it was Overton who had started Northants’ origami, running out Emilio Gay with a flash piece of fielding to a rash bit of running. Overton finished with seven for 74 in the match. Abell, who has made five Championship centuries and over a thousand runs this summer, has been the driving force in Somerset’s near-constant battle to avoid the drop.
It is more important than ever this year because if the Strauss reforms do go ahead, 2024’s Division One will be drawn purely from the top six in 2023’s top tier; there will be no promotion from Division Two. “Historically, we like to keep Somerset followers on the edge of their seats all the way through a season,” said the county’s director of cricket, Andy Hurry. “We have been true to that again.”
In Division Two, Glamorgan kept their promotion hopes alive on the day that the Australian Michael Hogan waved goodbye to Sophia Gardens for the last time after ten years with the club. James Harris made the crucial breakthrough against Derbyshire, dismissing Wayne Madsen for 77 as the hosts won by an innings.
At the Riverside, Sussex’s Tom Haines and James Coles put on 70 to fluff up the visitors’ six for four, but a post-lunch collapse gave Ben Raine five wickets – four of them lbw – as Durham won by an innings and 140 runs.
Leicestershire’s second innings was the last to fold after Colin Ackermann, batting nearly three hours for his 80, was undone by Sam Robson. The last wicket pair of Callum Parkinson and Mike Finan then put on an unlikely 59, but Middlesex got their win to keep Division One in touching distance as Toby Roland Jones gathered four for 50.
Updated
Tanya’s full roundup will follow later on; here are some quick reports from PA Media.
Somerset v Northants
Craig Overton finished with match figures of seven for 74 as Somerset guaranteed their Division One survival with a thumping 352-run win over Northamptonshire at Taunton.
The hosts began the final day by quickly extending their second innings total from 277 for one to 337 for four declared, centurions Tom Abell and Tom Lammonby falling for 115 and 110 respectively. That set Northamptonshire a massive 462 to win, and they lost their first four wickets for 15 before being bowled out for 109.
Overton began the rout with a brilliant piece of fielding off his own bowling to run out Emilio Gay, and then claimed two for 36 to add to his first innings figures of five for 38. Josh Davey finished with three for 25. Somerset took 22 points from the game to move into sixth place in the table, 25 clear of second-bottom Warwickshire.
Middlesex v Leicestershire
Middlesex finally ended Leicestershire’s stubborn resistance on the final afternoon at the County Ground to claim an 80-run victory that sees them close the gap on Division Two leaders Nottinghamshire.
Having reduced Leicestershire to 13 for four at Thursday’s close, chasing 275, Middlesex looked set to wrap up victory relatively easily on Friday as the hosts slumped to 70 for seven. But Colin Ackermann, who batted almost four hours for his 80, and the Leicestershire tail refused to fold and they had progressed the score to 194 before Middlesex were able to wrap up the win.
Tailenders Chris Wright and Michael Finan had some fun at the end, thrashing 61 runs in just over 11 overs for the final wicket before Sam Robson (two for 28) had the latter caught at deep midwicket to end proceedings. Toby Roland-Jones finished with four for 34 and seven wickets in the match.
