Hampshire make hay against Surrey amid washouts
Hampshire, so the story going round the Oval went, refused Pep Guardiola the penthouse suite when Manchester City stayed at Rose Bowl’s Hilton hotel.
The reason? Nobody moves Mohammad Abbas out of his rooms. And Abbas rewarded such due reverence by sliding in like running water from the Vauxhall End, weaving the ball with complete mastery.
The wind that rattled the flags on the pavilion was both tenacious and bloody cold, with Hampshire’s fielders looking pained by their time on the field. Abbas dismissed both Rory Burns and Dom Sibley, with Kyle Abbott, a quad bike of a man, proving equally difficult to play. Ollie Pope, in particular, was lucky to escape multiple lbw shouts, as well as surviving a chance flying between the slips when he had only four. Ryan Patel was athletically swallowed by James Vince, but Pope survived till stumps and with him Surrey’s hopes of parity and beyond.
It was an on-off day at Chelmsford, where two early wickets for a short-sleeved Jimmy Anderson kept Lancashire in good heart. But a third successive 50 from Matthew Critchley alongside some admirable glue by the tail inched Essex to a lead of 12. The pendulum swung when, after the early dismissal of Luke Wells, Keaton Jennings and Josh Bohannon picked their way carefully through till stumps.
Ben Raine and Paul Coughlin collected 101 for the eighth wicket, collecting a third batting point, before Durham declared at The Riverside. Matthew Potts grabbed a couple of wickets in Worcestershire’s reply, including the galloping Ed Pollock.
Elsewhere, rain won the day, with no play at all at Bristol, Grace Road, Edgbaston, Trent Bridge or Northampton. While at Eden Gardens, Harry Brook juggernauted the first century of the 2023 IPL, 100 not out, off 55 balls, for Sunrisers Hyderabad in their victory.
Updated
Close of play scores
DIVISION ONE
Chelmsford: Essex 219 v Lancashire 207 and 82-1 rain stopped play
The County Ground: Northants 111-3 v Middlesex 149 play abandoned for the day without a ball bowled
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 256 v Somerset 28-2 play abandoned for the day without a ball bowled
The Oval: Surrey 153-4 v Hampshire 254 bad light stopped play
Edgbaston: Warwickshire 367-3 v Kent play abandoned for the day without a ball bowled
DIVISION TWO
Chester-le-Street: Durham 425-9dec v Worcestershire 96-2 rain stopped play
Bristol: Gloucestershire v Yorkshire – play abandoned for the day without a ball bowled
Grace Road: Leicestershire 243-2 v Derbyshire play abandoned for the day without a ball bowled
