Surrey went 21 points clear at the top of the Vitality County Championship Division One with an impressive nine-wicket win over Warwickshire at Kia Oval in just 39 minutes on the morning of the fourth day.
Dom Sibley was unbeaten on 46 and Ollie Pope made 13 after Surrey captain Rory Burns skipped down the field on 30 and lofted the same bowler for a six before immediately hitting Jacob Bethell to deep mid-on. .
Surrey started the final day needing 58 more runs to win after resuming a scoreless run of 31, chasing a modest four-innings target of 89 runs for a third successive win and up to 24 runs.
Felix Organ and James Vince struck 53 balls to pull Hampshire out of a mini-collapse to complete a draw with Durham that had been inevitable since Friday.
Matthew Potts – 2 for 19 – reminded England of his skills by removing Hampshire’s openers and adding some danger to the match.
But Organ and Vince made it safe with a risk-free cutoff before bad light and rain made the inevitable result at 3.40pm.
Wicketkeeper Matthew Hurst’s maiden first-class century restored some pride for Lancashire but could not prevent Nottinghamshire completing a nine-wicket victory at Trent Bridge.
Nottinghamshire started the day with an innings win, taking a 72-run advantage as Lancashire were bowled out for six, but 20-year-old Hurst dismissed them with an impressive 104, which included 10 fours and four sixes.
Lancashire were dismissed for 252 and the result was never in doubt as the home side needed just 81 to win.
Kent survived an occasional alarm to draw with Worcestershire on the final day of the clash at Canterbury.
The captains shook hands shortly after 5pm, with Kent on 146 for 4 in their second innings, still 65 runs behind Worcestershire’s mammoth first innings score of 618 for 7.
Ben Gibbon took 2 for 38 but the visitors used nine different bowlers in Kent’s second innings and were unable to break down strong middle-order resistance led by Harry Finch, who was unbeaten on 48.
In Division Two, pace bowler Marchant de Lange took three wickets to set up Gloucestershire’s first Championship win since September 2022 on the final day of their clash with Northamptonshire at Wantage Road.
Northamptonshire were back on 144 for two, needing 414 more to win and, more realistically, going out to bat all day to secure a draw. For a moment there looked promise as India internationals Karun Nair (61) and George Bartlett (42) were put on 83 in 24 overs.
But the second new ball proved crucial and Josh Shaw (2 for 56) and De Lange (3 for 58) did the damage and Northamptonshire ended up suffering a heavy defeat of 256.
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