Graham Hardcastle's county cricket roundup
Scarborough, seen as a cricketing Mecca by the Yorkshire faithful, is fast turning into a nightmare destination as the White Rose head for a fifth defeat in their past six Championship matches here. Since winning the title in 2015, they have lost to Middlesex, Essex, Somerset and Surrey, the latter in June. It would be a major surprise if Worcestershire are not soon on that list.
Moeen Ali has been crucial to the bottom side’s relentless march towards a second Division One win with a magnificent 219 off 277 balls, his second double hundred and the highest Championship score by a visiting batsman at North Marine Road. He underpinned their first-innings 572 for seven and then took four for 35 as Yorkshire ended the day on 140 for six, 216 behind.
Having cautiously advanced for much of day two he was back to his usual self as the visitors accrued a daunting lead. He shared a second-wicket stand of 294 with Daryl Mitchell, the experienced opener who was equally impressive for his 178. They helped the Pears record their highest total against Yorkshire, beating a 114-year record.
They fell either side of lunch; Mitchell caught at slip cutting at Adam Lyth’s part-time off-spinners and Moeen miscuing Tim Bresnan to point having hit 25 fours and four leg-side sixes.
Yorkshire’s second innings started midway through the afternoon and Moeen trapped Lyth lbw and had Harry Brook chipping to mid-on in his first two overs immediately before tea. He later had Gary Ballance caught at second slip pushing forwards and Tom Kohler-Cadmore lbw before Kane Williamson was caught behind for 61 trying, uncharacteristically, to uppercut a wide one from Wayne Parnell.
Another side in relegation trouble, Lancashire, were set 271 to beat the leaders Surrey in the pink ball game at the Oval and started steadily. Essex, chasing a come-from-behind win over second-placed Somerset at Taunton, reached 147 for one pursuing 336. Second-bottom Hampshire are closing in on a home victory over Nottinghamshire.
Updated
Kent have won by eight wickets
They take a significant stride towards promotion at the expense of the Foxes. Sean Dickson finished 134 not out and Heino Kuhn 96, the pair sharing an unbroken 215 for the third wicket. Lancashire have lost a wicket at the Oval, and it’s a big one of Alex Davies to the off-spin of Amar Virdi. They are 45-1 chasing that 271. Here at Scarborough, Moeen is still wheeling away as Yorkshire move to 112-3.
Kent are closing in on a big win at Grace Road. Chasing that 253 target, they are 200-2, with opener Sean Dickson and Heino Kuhn sharing an unbroken 162 to date. Dickson has 98 and South African Kuhn 79. Here at Scarborough, Yorkshire are 84-2 second time around. Kane Williamson and Dillon Pennington are in the middle of a particular watchable battle.
Notts, chasing 511 to beat Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl, have reached tea at 58-3, losing Jake Libby, Chris Nash and Samit Patel to Kyle Abbott, Liam Dawson and Fidel Edwards. At the Oval, Lancashire need 271 to beat Surrey. Under lights against that attack, I’m not sure I fancy them to achieve it. Surrey were bowled out for 306 in their second innings, with Graham Onions finishing with three wickets.
Essex are chasing 336 to beat Somerset at Taunton and have reached 47-0. It hasn’t been the defence of their title they had hoped for down at Chelmsford, but so many teams have been relegated immediately after success, and I can’t see that happening. So maybe mid-table safety is not a bad outcome. Guess what? Moeen has struck. Four balls into his spell, and he’s got Adam Lyth. Yorkshire are 37-1.
Updated
Surrey have moved to 278-8, a lead of 242, over Lancashire at the Oval, with Jade Dernbach and Morne Morkel adding some valuable late order runs. While the lead doesn’t look huge by any stretch, Lancashire will be batting at the trickiest time of the day against the pink ball under lights this evening. Meanwhile, here, Yorkshire are 33-0 at the start of their second innings.
The Worcestershire declaration comes with them on 572-7, a lead of 356. There are 52 overs remaining in the day. Josh Poysden finished with three wickets in the innings, although he won’t particularly look back on his home debut with great fondness. An aside, Yorkshire have not gone beyond 350 in any innings this season. They posted 350 in a draw with Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl.
Two early wickets for Lancashire at the Oval, with Surrey now 230-6, leading by 194. Tom Bailey and Joe Mennie have removed Sam Curran and Ben Foakes caught behind to keep the struggling Red Rose in the hunt. Worcester now 555-5, although it does have the devilish feel of 666-6 for Yorkshire!
Two wickets since we last spoke. Moeen Ali fell for 219, caught at point having miscued Tim Bresnan, followed by Ben Cox lbw to Josh Poysden. Worcestershire are 525-5, leading by 209. Moeen, incidentally, has posted the highest score by a visiting batsman in Championship cricket on this ground.
Second career double hundred for Moeen Ali, off 260 balls with 25 fours and three sixes. Worcester are now 502-3, leading by 286. He got there by sweeping Josh Poysden for six and smashing him down the ground for four. We’re definitely in foot down territory now, although I wouldn’t be batting on for too long if I was the visitors’ captain. We’ll surely get some more bad light interruptions at the end of the next two days.
Here’s your promised lunch time roundup.
Somerset are 127-5 in their second innings against Essex at Taunton, leading by 260. A couple of wickets apiece for Sam Cook and Simon Harmer as Essex attempt to fight their way back into that one. If they can bowl Somerset out for another 100, it may not be game dead.
Hampshire are 350-7 second time around against Notts at the Ageas Bowl, leading by 461. Surely that is game dead unless the weather plays its part. They have just started at the Oval, where Surrey are 194-7 and leading by 161 over Lancashire, while here at Scarborough Worcestershire have reached lunch at 479-3, leading by 263. Moeen Ali is 190 not out.
In Division Two, as I mentioned earlier, Kent are chasing 253 to beat Leicestershire at Grace Road and are 11-0. Middlesex are 143-5 in their second innings having been forced to follow-on by Northants at Wantage Road. They trail by 11 with Malan and Morgan gone for five and nought.
At Hove, Sussex are 25-0 in their second innings against Derbyshire, who were bowled out for 389 in reply to 440. Derbyshire are without injured Ravi Rampaul, who is being assessed having left the field with breathing problems earlier in the game. He will take no further part in the game and will be seen by specialists later this week.
Lunch around most of the grounds, and I’ll wrap them up in the next 20 minutes or so, but I see Kent are 4-0 chasing 253 at Grace Road. Here, Worcestershire’s lead is up beyond 250. They are 471-2 and Moeen is unbeaten on 186. Joe Clarke has eased his way to 34.
WICKET KLAXON! We have a wicket. This is not a drill. Daryl Mitchell has cut Adam Lyth’s off-spin to slip to fall for 178, with Worcestershire 405-2. Since then, the bonus points have ended, with Yorkshire claiming no bowling points. At the Ageas Bowl, there’s disappointment for Tom Alsop, who has fallen for 99 to Mark Footitt. Hampshire still in complete control against Notts, however, at 331-6. They lead by 442.
Worcestershire have advanced to 400-1 in the 107th over of their innings as Yorkshire employ two spinners in Josh Poysden and Adam Lyth. This is as much a tactic to get their over-rate down from plus three to avoid a points deduction. If I were Worcester, I wouldn’t be batting on beyond lunch here. Their lead should comfortably be beyond 250 by 1.10pm. Moeen has 156 not out.
The game between Leicestershire and Kent at Grace Road, a key promotion battle, hangs firmly in the balance. The Foxes are 187-7 in their second innings, leading by 212. Opener Harry Dearden has 74 and Dieter Klein 26 having shared 35 for the eighth wicket. If I had to swap the Scarborough game to be at another in this ongoing round, I think I’d choose that one.
Durham have wrapped up the win against Glamorgan at Cardiff, their third in nine matches this season. The Division Two’s bottom side have been bowled out for 111 in their second innings, with Chris Rushworth finishing with five wickets in the innings and eight in the match. Daryl Mitchell has moved to 154 as Worcestershire advance to 345-1 here, a partnership of 234 and counting with Moeen Ali (124).
I feel for Yorkshire here. They haven’t bowled anywhere near as badly as one wicket yesterday suggests, and Matthew Fisher and David Willey, the former in particular, have really tested Daryl Mitchell and Moeen Ali so far this morning. Worcestershire 316-1 with a lead of exactly 100. Durham are closing in at Cardiff. Glamorgan are 96-8, trailing by 45.
Preamble
Morning all. The sun is poking through at Scarborough, where Worcestershire will look to plough on for a session and a half today before sticking their hosts back in. They will resume their first innings on 310-1 with a lead of 94 and Daryl Mitchell unbeaten on 140 and Moeen Ali with him on 107.
If, as looks almost certain, Jonny Bairstow misses the last two Tests with his finger fracture, Moeen must be at the head of the queue to replace him with Jos Buttler taking the gloves. As Mitchell said last night, “this probably wasn’t a typical Moeen Ali knock”. He was unusually restrained before expanding a touch later on – clubbing Josh Poysden for six over long-on with the first ball after tea, for example, and smearing Jack Brooks over cover for four to reach his hundred.
I can’t see us getting the full allocation of 104 overs today due to light, so Worcestershire can’t afford to be cautious given they have nine wickets to play with and simply have to win to breathe life into their bid to avoid the drop.
Warwickshire completed the first win of the round yesterday by beating Gloucestershire inside two days at Edgbaston, and there could be a few more to follow today. The first of those will surely be Durham beating Glamorgan at Cardiff, where the hosts are 79-7 in their second innings and still 62 runs behind. Staying in Division Two, Derbyshire are 315-5 replying to Sussex’s 440, with Billy Godleman making 122. At Grace Road, Leicestershire are 126-5 in their second innings, leading Kent by 151 in one of the games of the round in either division. At Wantage Road, Middlesex are 32-1, leading Northamptonshire by 127. Dawid Malan and Eoin Morgan will be looking to recover from first-innings failures.
In Division One, leaders Surrey look to have turned their pink ball clash with Lancashire around. They conceded a first-innings lead of 36, but they will resume at 1.30pm on 197-4 with a lead of 161. I suspect that will finish up being too much for Lancashire when all’s said and done.
Second-placed Somerset will be hoping otherwise. They could do with a Surrey slip-up. More importantly, though, they need to complete victory over Essex at Taunton. They will resume on 32-1 in their second innings, leading by 165. James Vince scored a superb 147 for Hampshire yesterday, who, like Worcestershire here, have a stranglehold on their game with Nottinghamshire at the Ageas Bowl. They are 253-4 in their second innings, leading by 364.
Here are the overnight scores:
Division One
Yorkshire 216 all out, Worcs 310-1 Worcs lead by 94
Somerset 324 & 32-1, Essex 191 all out Somerset lead by 165
Hampshire 277 & 253-4, Notts 166 all out Hampshire lead by 364
Surrey 211 & 197-4, Lancs 247 all out Surrey lead by 161
Division Two
Warks 277, Gloucs 127 & 103 Warks win by innings and 47 (result)
Sussex 440 all out, Derbyshire 315-5 Derbyshire trail by 125
Northants 346 all out, Middlesex 187 & 32-1 Middx trail by 127
Leicestershire 220 & 126-5, Kent 195 all out Leics lead by 151
Glamorgan 154 & 126-5, Durham 295 all out Glamorgan trail by 62
