Simon Harmer (5-57) leads the way as Essex complete remarkable comeback to beat Durham by 44 runs; James Bracey (83 no) shows impressive temperament as Gloucestershire wrap up eight-wicket win over Somerset
Monday 19 April 2021 14:53, UK
Simon Harmer took 5-57 as Essex completed a remarkable comeback to beat Durham by 44 runs in Group One of the LV= Insurance County Championship.
Defending County Championship and Bob Willis Trophy champions Essex had been bowled out for 96 in the first innings and gave up a 163-run deficit before turning the game on its head, racking up 330 the second time around and dismissing the visitors for 123.
Coming into the last day, Durham required 108 runs and Essex needed seven wickets, and it was Harmer who took the game away from the visitors, claiming his 22nd five-wicket haul and sixth 10-wickets-in-a-match haul since joining the county in 2017.
The victory, which gave the hosts 19 points to Durham's five, was Essex's 12th in 13 at home.
Former England all-rounder Tim Bresnan clinched a thrilling three-wicket win for Warwickshire at Trent Bridge - and ensured that Nottinghamshire remain without a red-ball victory in almost three years.
Chasing 333, the Bears appeared to be in trouble when Dane Paterson (3-77) reduced them to 184-6, despite half-centuries for Sam Hain (57) and Matt Lamb (50).
However, Olly Stone (43) helped Bresnan to add 113 for the seventh wicket and, although Stuart Broad (2-54) eventually had his England team-mate caught behind, Danny Briggs (16 not out) joined Bresnan at the wicket to see Warwickshire across the line.
Ben Cox guided Worcestershire to safety against Derbyshire on a gripping final day.
Cox scored an unbeaten 60 off 148 balls, batting for 31 overs with Ed Barnard and 14 alongside Joe Leach to steer Worcestershire to 193-8 at the close at Derby.
Derbyshire appeared to be heading for victory when Matt Critchley struck twice in two overs to leave Worcestershire on 176-8 but Cox and Leach stood firm.
Ben Aitchison took 3-8 in 23 balls but in the end, Derbyshire were left to rue their decision to bat on for nearly 40 minutes in the morning before declaring on 312-5.
James Bracey displayed the temperament and talent of a future England player as Gloucestershire wrapped up an eight-wicket win over Somerset at Taunton.
The 23-year-old left-hander added an ice-cool 83 not out to his first innings century and shared a match-clinching second-wicket stand of 79 with Kraigg Brathwaite to help his side to a comprehensive Group Two victory.
Brathwaite marked his Gloucestershire debut with a solid 36 and together the pair stifled the much-vaunted home seam attack.
The visitors reached their target of 153 off 41.1 overs just before lunch, with Tom Lace (20) left unbeaten, and took 22 points to Somerset's six.
Also in Group Two, in-form Hampshire wrapped up their second emphatic victory of the season before lunch, triumphing by 249 runs as Middlesex lost their last six wickets for 82.
Ian Holland (3-19) removed the overnight not-out batsmen Robbie White (73) and Martin Andersson (26), while Muhammad Abbas and Kyle Abbott also finished with three wickets apiece.
Last man Ethan Bamber offered some resistance with 24 before Middlesex were bowled out for 281.
Hassan Azad struck a career-best undefeated 144 to secure a draw for Leicestershire against Surrey at The Oval after they batted through the final day for the loss of just three wickets.
Facing a deficit of 297, the Foxes lost Sam Evans and Harry Dearden to successive deliveries from Jordan Clark (2-37), but Azad remained at the crease with support from captain Colin Ackermann (29).
Lewis Hill then hit his second half-century of the game, finishing on 69 not out as he and Azad put on an unbroken stand of 152 to reach 295-3 when a draw was agreed.
Sussex seamer Ollie Robinson returned career-best figures of 9-78 to pave the way for his side's eight-wicket success against Glamorgan at Cardiff in Group Three.
Robinson removed overnight centurion Kiran Carlson (132), but Sussex were held up by a seventh-wicket partnership of 81 between Callum Taylor (84) and Dan Douthwaite (26).
However, Robinson dismissed Douthwaite and James Weighell in successive deliveries, with Taylor the last man to fall as Glamorgan were bowled out for 349.
Aaron Thomason (78 no) and Tom Clark (54no) then put together an unbroken stand of 112 to wrap up Sussex's victory.
Former Lancashire all-rounder Luke Procter's defiant 93 was not quite enough to save Northamptonshire from a 206-run defeat against his old county at Old Trafford.
Procter made Lancashire work hard for their victory, batting a shade over six hours before he was last man out, caught at backward short-leg off Matt Parkinson (3-39) with just 13.3 overs remaining.
Tom Taylor (13) proved a staunch ally for Procter, with the pair adding 56 for the seventh wicket before he was stumped off occasional leg-break bowler Rob Jones - becoming only his second first-class victim.
Luke Wood (3-30) then removed two other ex-Lancastrians - Nathan Buck and Simon Kerrigan - in as many balls before Parkinson finished the visitors off for 218.
Yorkshire all-rounder David Willey registered his first five-wicket haul for the county as they bowled out Kent for 244 to complete a 200-run victory at Canterbury.
Willey finished with figures of 5-61, including the crucial wicket of nightwatchman Matt Milnes, who lasted four and a half hours for a first-class career-best 78.
Milnes shared a seventh-wicket partnership of 75 with Darren Stevens (47) before the pair both fell to Willey, who then finished Kent off by trapping last man Miguel Cummins leg before.
