Yorkshire v Essex was one of four games abandoned without play due to rain as the 2018 county season got off to a miserable start 6.42pm BST Anthony McGrath knows all about miserable starts to a county season in Leeds having spent his entire playing ca…
• Yorkshire 145 & 286 v Somerset 390 & 44-0
• Somerset’s 10-wicket win keeps them in hunt for title
Over to you Middlesex. Somerset have certainly done all they can to keep themselves in the hunt for a maiden County Championship title, but now they and Yorkshire, uncharacteristically off colour in all departments this week, shift their attentions across the Pennines to see if Lancashire can do them a favour against the league leaders.
This 10-wicket win inside three days was a very impressive performance from Chris Rogers and his merry men, who are now one point behind Yorkshire, the defending champions, ahead of their final game with already-relegated Nottinghamshire at Taunton. Somerset were exceptional with ball and bat, always finding that bit of something extra whenever it was needed.
• Yorkshire 145 & 57-3 v Somerset 390
• Four visiting batsmen pass 50 and bowlers take second innings wickets
If the first day of this fixture was the one which made Somerset’s maiden title possible, day two proved to be the one when they displayed genuine title quality as they gained a lead of 245 and then powered towards victory with the ball late on.
Somerset began the day 38 runs behind with nine wickets in hand, but the reigning champions were always expected to hit back with the ball after their nightmare start to this penultimate fixture of the summer. With this in mind, Somerset were going to have to show their mettle. And they did.
• Yorkshire 145; Somerset 107-1
• Craig Overton and Jim Allenby take three wickets apiece
Last week spin did the trick and this week seam. Somerset’s bowlers are keeping the dream alive. For some time now, the final-round showdown between Yorkshire and Middlesex at Lord’s has been heralded as a winner-takes-all battle. Now that might not be the case as the Somerset chase an unexpected maiden Championship title.
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• Yorkshire 185-8; Lancashire 186-6 (Lancashire win by four wickets)
• Buttler hits winning run on last ball of innings
Lancashire were not supposed to win this match. The majority of a 16,199 sellout crowd had come to watch Yorkshire’s seven internationals sparkle, including their blue-eyed boy Joe Root, and from the first ball, it looked as if they would get their wish as Glenn Maxwell reverse-swept Steven Croft’s off-spin over cover for six. Unfortunately for them, they were treated to a Jos Buttler masterclass in a last-ball thriller.
It was clear that, with so much depth in Yorkshire’s batting order, Jason Gillespie had given his overseas player licence to thrill with a shot a ball, and the coach did not have to ask twice. A further three boundaries, including another reverse sweep, gained 18 off the first over and the Vikings were on their way to a total which they will defend more than not.
Yorkshire 426; Durham 231 & 323-8 (f/o) Match drawnYorkshire missed the opportunity to go 16 points clear at the top of the championship as Durham, the team they are aiming to wrest the title away from, produced an impressive rearguard display with…
