Worcestershire beat Nottinghamshire by eight wickets to deny Chris Read a fairytale finish at Trent Bridge
Saturday 9 September 2017 10:44, UK
Chris Read's final game at Trent Bridge ended in defeat as Worcestershire inflicted a first Specsavers County Championship reverse of the season on the Division Two leaders Nottinghamshire.
Daryl Mitchell ended unbeaten on 139, passing 1,000 first-class runs for the season in the process, as second-placed Worcestershire, who required a further 103 runs at the start of day four, reached their target of 226 for the loss of just George Rhodes (21) and Tom Fell (30).
Mitchell's side have cut Notts' lead at the top of Division Two to 15 points with two games remaining - Worcester host Leicestershire and Durham while Notts visit Northamptonshire and Sussex.
Read, who struck 38 in his last innings on his home track before retiring, was applauded off the field by players and officials from both sides after Worcestershire's first Championship victory at Trent Bridge since 2000.
Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire could swap divisions with Warwickshire, with the Bears edging closer towards relegation following a 169-run defeat to second-bottom Somerset at Edgbaston.
Jonathan Trott's side slumped to 232 all out chasing 402 for victory and are now 43 points from safety with three games remaining, the first of which, against table toppers Essex, is live on Sky Sports from Tuesday.
Essex's lead over second-placed Lancashire remains 36 points after the two played out a draw at Old Trafford, with Yorkshire and Middlesex, sixth and fifth respectively, recording the same result at Headingley.
Third-placed Hampshire and fourth-placed Surrey also registered a stalemate at The Ageas Bowl after Ollie Pope (100no) scored his maiden first-class ton for the visitors and Ben Foakes hit an unbeaten 83.
Durham and Kent drew in Division Two as well - but there was a gripping finish at Emirates Riverside as Paul Collingwood's hosts got Sam Northeast's visitors nine down with 11 balls remaining.
However, former Durham seamer Mitchell Claydon survived the final five deliveries of James Weighell's penultimate over before Sam Billings (70no) saw out Graham Onions' last over as Kent, set 371 to win, survived.
Onions became Durham's all-time leading first-class wicket-taker, with his 519th scalp - New Zealand international Adam Milne - moving him past Simon Brown's previous record.
Winless Leicestershire, meanwhile, remain rooted to the foot of the second tier after suffering a seventh defeat in 12 matches, a 10-wicket thrashing at home to Gloucestershire.
Liam Norwell scooped the final three Leicestershire wickets to bag career-best figures of 8-43, before Chris Dent and Cameron Bancroft eased Gloucestershire to the required 15 runs in 3.3 overs.
Northamptonshire boosted their promotion bid with a six-wicket triumph over Sussex, Alex Wakely's team now level on points with their opponents and 36 behind second-placed Worcestershire after chasing down 140.
Plus, Derbyshire and Glamorgan drew in Derby after suffering a third washout in four days - the umpires, Graham Lloyd and Billy Taylor, calling off play before the scheduled 10.30am start due to heavy overnight rain.
