County cricket – as it happened
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Version 0 of 1. 4.55pm BST16:55 Richard Gibson on Nottinghamshire v Yorkshire It’s a high-scoring draw at Trent Bridge. Sounds exciting, eh? Well, it wasn’t. Not today at least. Nottinghamshire’s repelling of Yorkshire this morning provided an inevitable course for the following two sessions to follow and hands were shaken immediately after Alex Lees sent down his third over of part-time twirl. Both teams take 11 points. 4.08pm BST16:08 Richard Gibson reports from Trent Bridge This contest between Yorkshire and a team that tailed them for three-quarters of last season is meandering towards a draw. Nottinghamshire have lost just two wickets in each session today to take tea on 292-7. The door was just ajar on the eve of the second new ball when Riki Wessels nicked Jack Leaning’s part-time spin with the hosts 232 runs ahead at that stage. However, Chris Read and Vernon Philander have negotiated things with a similar level of ease to that displayed by Samit Patel in hitting 76. 3.47pm BST15:47 Ali Martin reports from Cardiff at tea Tea time on day four at Cardiff and this game has gone as flat as the pitch. Glamorgan go into the interval 57 for no loss and the draw is now very much on I’m afraid to report. The session started with a bit of fun as Kevin Pietersen brought up his half-century from 66 balls. It wasn’t the most fluent of knocks but the situation called for quick runs rather than an innings built and so the bat was being thrown, if not always timed. Surrey’s attack has been neutralised in the fourth innings however, with just the odd half-hearted lbw shout. Openers Jacques Rudolph and James Kettleborough have 30 and 18 respectively. Handshakes an hour after tea and Welsh cakes expected. 3.02pm BST15:02 Paul Weaver checks in from the south coast For a moment, just a moment, Worcestershire glimpsed the chance of a very unlikely victory – then they got a nosebleed and returned to earth. A last wicket stand of 51 between Cox and Charles Morris brought Worcestershire’s victory target down to 62. But then Luke Wells had Morris caught by Ed Joyce at slip. Sussex have won by 61 runs with almost half a day to spare. And they have gone top of the first division championship table – at least until the other results come in. That’s two wins out of two for Sussex, and ditto in the other column for Worcestershire, who have now lost seven of their last eight matches away to Sussex. They have started their customary fight against relegation before the end of April. 2.29pm BST14:29 Ali Martin reports from Cardiff A somewhat streaky half-century for Kevin Pietersen from 66 balls and a declaration from Surrey on 207 for four, setting Glamorgan 352 to win in 57 overs. There were 31 runs in the seven overs after lunch, with Gary Wilson unbeaten on 47. Prediction: Glamorgan four down by 5pm. Pietersen, who was 53 not out, now needs two more runs in his next innings to become the fastest Surrey player to 1,000 first class runs (previous holder: M Ramprakash/Z du Bruyne 18 inns). 2.28pm BST14:28 Richard Gibson reports from Trent Bridge Survive that tricky quarter of an hour, they did - gone all Yoda there, sorry - thanks to Samit Patel, who has just reached 50, and Riki Wessels. This despite some grey cloud gathering overhead and Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale rotating his raft of seamers to mix things up. Nottinghamshire are not quite out of range yet but that time is not far off given their current standing of a 167-run advantage with half their wickets and 57 overs remaining. 1.26pm BST13:26 Paul Weaver reports from Hove Worcestershire have arrived at lunch in some disarray at 127 for seven, and at one point the match looked likely to finish before the interval. Alexei Kervezee was fifth out at 91, lbw to one that moved back into the batsman off the pitch, and it was 99 for six when Tom Fell was also lbw, this time to an arm ball from Ashar Zaidi. The catering staff at Hove must have been worried when Shahzad then bowled Gareth Andrew for seven, plucking the off and middle stumps out of the ground. That made it 116 for seven in the 39th, but Ben Cox and Jack Shantry survived until the break. 1.08pm BST13:08 Ali Martin reports from Cardiff at lunch A fun old morning in Cardiff, with 176 runs and four wickets in the session that sees Surrey, rather neatly, go into lunch on 176 for four. Their lead is now up to 320 but this pitch is a belter to bat. No word on a declaration just yet. 321 to win off 66 if they do so during the interval. Kevin Pietersen was 41 not out, with Gary Wilson on 29, and has been having a slog to varying degrees of success. Two pulls behind square have been the pick so far in his 52-ball effort. Surrey started the day with Rory Burns and Steven Davies opening, with both men removed by the fiery Graham Wagg. Burns presented a return catch on three, with Davie, double-centurion in the first innings, bowled off an inside edge for 21. Kumar Sangakkara was inevitably the easiest on the eye, with 40 from 27-balls that saw him stick Wagg back over his head for six. But the introduction of Craig Meschede, century hero on day three, saw the Sri Lankan master slice to gully off his third balls. His replacement Jason Roy enjoyed three finely-swept fours in his 29 from 31 balls but fell to a stunning catch by Graham Wagg at short extra cover, who flew through the air to catch a sweetly struck drive. 12.53pm BST12:53 Richard Gibson reports from Nottinghamshire v Yorkshire James Taylor was snared in Yorkshire’s trap at long leg, picking out Moin Ashraf from a Will Rhodes bumper, to create a tense quarter-of-an-hour period before lunch at Trent Bridge. Nottinghamshire are not out of the woods at 136-5 and 70 overs remaining of the final day. It has been a fairly impressive rearguard so far, though, the only other casualty being nightwatchman Will Gidman, who was undone by a delivery that bounced and left him from around the wicket from Steven Patterson. 12.12pm BST12:12 Ali Martin reports as Kevin Pietersen enters proceedings Kumar Sangakkara is no more here in Cardiff with a slice to gully off the third ball of Craig Meschede’s spell seeing a 40 go into the scorebook. There were some racking shots among his 27-ball knock. Trying to decide whether a brutal charged six over the head of Graham Wagg or a luxuriant drive all along the ground for four through extra was the pick. Will opt for the former given Wagg’s eye-balling of him on day two. It means we have Kevin Pietersen and Jason Roy together at the crease, with Surrey on the charge at 90 for three and a lead of 234 for seven after just 14 overs. 12.10pm BST12:10 Paul Weaver reports from the seaside Shahzad has put Sussex on top with two wickets in three balls. First he had Alex Gidman lbw with a full delivery and then he had Tom Kohler-Cadmore caught behind for a duck. Worcestershire were wobbling at 69 for four in the25th over. Shahzad came off after bowling seven overs, with figures of three for 19, and has been replaced by Matt Hobden. 11.45am BST11:45 Ali Martin reports from Cardiff Two early wickets for Glamorgan’s Graham Wagg has brought Kevin Pietersen to the crease, joining Sri Lankan master Kumar Sangakkara. Wagg teased a return catch from Rory Burns on three before removing the middle stump of Steven Davies, who had replaced Zafar Ansari, with 21 to his name. Sanga has already been busy, with 16 to his name from 13 ball sincluding one glorious dace down the track to seamer Andy Carter for a neatly bunted four. Surrey 42-2 lead by 186. 11.44am BST11:44 Paul Weaver reports from Hove Sussex are back in their match against Worcestershire after taking two wickets in as many overs this morning. Worcestershire were favourites for victory when they resumed on 47 without loss, requiring another 200 for victory. Sussex switched their bowlers around, with Ajmal Shahzad bowling from the Cromwell Road end and Steve Magoffin from the sea end. In the fourth over of the morning, at 57, Magoffin had Daryl Mitchell lbw with one that nipped back. And in the next over Shahzad produced a Yorker to remove Richard Oliver’s off stump; 59 for two. Tymal Mills has also been warming up this morning so Sussex hope he will be bowling a little later. It’s another glorious day beside the sea but the cricket out there is very competitive. 10.49am BST10:49 Richard Gibson checks in from Trent Bridge Yorkshire should have an answer today to their request for Adil Rashid to be released from England’s Test tour of the Caribbean. When reporting this yesterday I refrained from writing ‘in an unprecedented move’ but I still cannot recall a county asking for a return of one of their players from international duty. The club’s argument is that it is in all parties’ interests for the leg-spinner to be bowling in a competitive environment rather than in daily net sessions with the other England squad players including team-mates Adam Lyth, Jonny Bairstow and Liam Plunkett. However, of the Bibbed Four, Rashid is the focus of Yorkshire’s attention as spin is the one area they have been unable to cover in the recent blight on their resources. Those resources have been hit further overnight by the news that Ryan Sidebottom is out for six weeks with his calf tear and that Aaron Finch’s hamstring surgery means he will be sidelined for three months. Australian Finch was due to arrive at the end of next month and be the club’s primary overseas player in 2015. Cheteshwar Pujara is currently deputising and the likelihood is that Glenn Maxwell will play all formats when he arrives at the end of his Indian Premier League commitments - he was due to play NatWest Blast and Second XI Championship cricket. Meanwhile, both Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire were positive about their chances of forcing a result on the final day at Trent Bridge. With Notts effectively 61-3 in their second innings their bid looks less plausible but their assistant coach Wayne Noon spoke of the home team getting into a position where they could get their foot down. But the draw remains the heavy favourite here. 10.35am BST10:35 Good morning all, from Cardiff, on this very fourth of days in the County Championship. And what a day we have in prospect. Nottinghamshire v Yorkshire It looks like Richard Gibson has a tense one on his hands at Trent Bridge, where Nottinghamshire resume 74 for three - a lead of just 61 runs - after Jack Leaning’s maiden first-class hundred on day three: Jack Leaning’s ton helps Yorkshire turn screw on NottinghamshireYorkshire have requested the release of Adil Rashid from the Test tour of West Indies and are awaiting a decision from the England coach Peter Moores. Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of cricket, talked with Moores during the first day of the second Test against West Indies to officially ask for the leg-spinner to be made available for the county champions’ home fixture against last year’s runners-up Warwickshire, which starts on Sunday. Sussex v Worcestershire Down at Hove, Paul Weaver is on hand to bring news from Worcestershire’s run chase, with the newly-promoted side 47 for no loss needing a further 200 runs after Dutchman Alexei Kervezee’s heroics with the ball. Worcestershire well placed after Alexei Kervezee excelsA resilient Worcestershire side need 200 runs to beat a stronger looking Sussex after a rare and heroic bowling performance by the batsman Alexei Kervezee. Worcestershire, chasing 247 for their first win of the season, ended on 47 without loss and will go into the last day as favourites. Tymal Mills, Sussex’s left-arm quick, did not bowl when Worcestershire batted again and is doubtful to appear in the match again because of his back injury. Glamorgan v Surrey And here at the Swalec Stadium, another youngster to pop his three-figure cherry was Craig Meschede, who saved the follow-on for Glamorgan. But Surrey wrapped things up three balls later and will begin their second innings with 144 runs already in the bank. Kevin Pietersen to open, anyone? Craig Meschede’s century avoids follow-on against SurreySurrey’s bowlers found Craig Meschede’s batting as maddening as the pronunciation of his surname as the all-rounder’s maiden first-class century from No9 squeaked Glamorgan past the follow-on mark late on day three in Cardiff. Meschede – “Mesh-der”, phonetically – had already picked up the prized wicket of Kevin Pietersen on day one but arrived at the crease before tea with 121 runs required to prevent his side batting again. What followed was a stunning unbeaten 101 from 130 balls as he and Dean Cosker added 119 for the ninth wicket. Elsewhere, Lancashire are in pursuit of eight wickets to start their campaign with a win at Derbyshire, while Warwickshire are 47 for no loss chasing a monster 379 runs to topple Hampshire at Edgbaston. Have a great day, everyone. |