County Championship: Josh Tongue stars as Nottinghamshire beat Surrey by 20 runs to close in on Division One title
Saturday 20 September 2025 20:13, UK
Nottinghamshire are on the verge of a first Rothesay County Championship title in 15 years after completing a dramatic 20-run win over Surrey in their top-of-the-table clash at the Kia Oval.
Surrey - chasing a fourth consecutive Division One title - resumed on 66-0 and needing a further 249 runs for victory, had captain Rory Burns (45) trapped lbw by Josh Tongue (5-100) early on the final day.
Ollie Pope (41) pushed them closer to their target before momentum moved back Nottinghamshire's way when the hosts lost Dan Lawrence (50) and Tom Curran (33) in successive overs, with Tongue then taking two in an over to leave Surrey nine down and 38 runs from victory.
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Tom Lawes' late boundary burst threatened a famous Surrey victory, before he was caught in the deep by Ben Slater to complete Tongue's five-wicket haul and see the hosts dismissed for 294.
Victory moves Nottinghamshire 15 points ahead of Surrey heading into the final round of fixtures from September 24-27, leaving them 10 points away from winning their first County Championship since 2010.
Nottinghamshire host Warwickshire at Trent Bridge in their final game of the season, while Surrey travel to face a Hampshire side battling to avoid relegation. Should the two teams finish equal on points, Nottinghamshire would be crowned champions due to winning more matches this season.
Somerset's title hopes came to an end after they came up short in a draw with Hampshire.
Archie Vaughan took six for 96 but Hampshire, who had been forced to follow on, held out to finish on 201 for eight.
Jonny Bairstow was unbeaten on 64 with Yorkshire 53 runs ahead of Sussex when bad light ensured a draw at Hove.
The visitors lost their first three wickets for six runs but recovered to reach 109 for three in their second innings.
Durham's Emilio Gay scored 161 and Will Rhodes finished unbeaten on 151 as their match with Worcestershire, whose relegation was confirmed on day three, ended in a draw.
Durham had reached 450 for six - securing a maximum five batting points ahead of a potential relegation shoot-out against Yorkshire next week - in reply to 591 for nine declared when the teams shook hands.
Day four went the same as days one and three at rain-hit Edgbaston where Essex drew with Warwickshire.
Leicestershire win second division title, Glamorgan promoted
In Division Two, Leicestershire were crowned champions after play against Kent was abandoned on day four without a ball being bowled.
They are now out of reach of second-placed Glamorgan, who were also consigned to a rain-affected draw against Derbyshire.
Glamorgan were still able to celebrate promotion after Middlesex could not force a win against Lancashire.
Lancashire declared on 375 for five with Josh Bohannon hitting 87 off 69 balls and passing 6,000 career runs in the process.
Middlesex were still 65 short of making them bat again on 92 for four when play ended.
Gloucestershire successfully chased down 158 to beat Northamptonshire, losing just three wickets with Ollie Price top-scoring with 54.