Abbas ends with another six wickets after cutting short Pope
On the Oval’s first Saturday of the County Championship summer the sweet murmur of relaxed conversation drifted around the ground. A tight, high-stakes game swung from one clenched dressing-room glove to the other.
It was the new ball, taken just after half past 12 that jolted the crowd awake. Ollie Pope, on his way to what seemed an inevitable hundred, having played with immaculate judgment, leaned back extravagantly and played Mohammad Abbas on to the stumps. Lawes was lbw to the very next ball and, though Kemar Roach played out the hat-trick ball, he fell in Abbas’s next over.
With one wicket left, Sean Abbott exploded into life – caterwauling Keith Barker for 16 runs including one huge one-kneed six that took Surrey to a first-innings lead. Abbas had the last word, though, plucking out Dan Worrall’s middle stump to finish with six for 64. At 58 for four, Hampshire’s second innings threatened to end in ignominy. But Nick Gubbins and Ben Brown pressed on and slowly the shoulders of the pitch relaxed. Gubbins, who survived a tricky chance in the slips, collected his 50 late in the afternoon and Ian Holland stayed with him in an unbeaten partnership of 79. The lead of 182 set the scene for a thrilling last day.
The chance of a result at The Riverside drifted into the far distance, as Worcestershire stacked the cakes carefully on a tray against Durham. The 22-year-old Jack Haynes made 134, his highest first-class score, before the declaration came. There were three wickets for Matthew Potts who chugged his way through 27 overs.
At Edgbaston Zak Crawley was out twice in the day as Kent’s first innings limped to 158, Chris Woakes taking his first first-class wickets for more than a year. Following on, Crawley was lbw to an optimistic shout from Chris Rushworth before bad light stopped play. Warwickshire had declared on 453 for four, thanks to run-a-ball mayhem from Dan Mousley and an unbeaten 165 from Sam Hain.
Northamptonshire were on top in a low-scoring nerve-tingler at the County Ground, set 119 to win after Middlesex were dismissed for 167.
Peter Siddle struck with his first ball in Nottinghamshire’s second innings as Ben Duckett clipped his first Australian test of the summer to midwicket for 15. Haseeb Hameed and Ben Slater got starts but failed to flourish and the Somerset bowlers did their best to keep things tight as the lead built. Somerset had earlier lost six wickets for 40, blushes saved by 60 from Josh Davey and a stoical tail. Brett Hutton finished with six for 45.
The tightly spooled game at Chelmsford unwound a little, with rain permitting 36 overs of play. Keaton Jennings carefully moved to 80, propped up by George Bell in an unbeaten stand of 56 after Lancashire lost Josh Bohannon, Steven Croft and Dane Vilas in quick succession. They go into the final day with a lead of 155. Sam Cook left the field early with a hamstring twinge after bowling on heavy ground.
There was no action at Grace Road and they called it a day at Bristol – match abandoned at 10am on the third day without a ball being bowled because of a persistently damp outfield. “The water table is incredibly high and it doesn’t take much to take us over the line,” said Will Brown, the Gloucestershire chief executive. “This was the wettest March for 40 years and it is a sign of things potentially to come. They are talking about significant areas of the county facing drought this summer, but we are still facing extreme wet conditions now.
“We are going to have to think smarter about when and how we play our cricket and how we protect our grounds. We think of seamers in April, spinners at the end of the summer, but it will be interesting to see if that holds true. The rule book of the season has been ripped up because of climate change.”
Updated
Dusk falls over The Oval after a thrilling day – Ollie Pope, Mohammad Abbas and more. All to play for tomorrow, in fact some fascinating equations round the grounds. We’ll be back tomorrow, thanks for all your messages – good night!
