LONDON, Saturday - When, having completed his 14th first-class double-century, Kumar Sangakkara finally fell, caught at long-off trying to stick Simon Harmer into the river, the stage seemed set – with the pitch brimful of runs and the sun beaming – for Alastair Cook to go just as large. It was not to be as Tom Curran pinned Cook in front – so plumb he walked – shortly after lunch for a brisk 36. But the boy many folk in these parts believe is their next Test player, Dan Lawrence, stepped in, shelved his trademark extravagance and ground out a fine day for Division One’s leaders. Sangakkara’s was an exquisite innings that had hauled Surrey to 369. Farming the strike in the company of the last man, Ravi Rampaul, Sangakkara was turning down singles on 199, a score he reached with a searing cut splitting two men in the deep. He had put on 110 with Stuart Meaker, one of two other batsmen to reach double-figures, until he nibbled outside off to Jamie Porter, who sent Amar Virdi’s off peg cartwheeling shortly afterwards. Cook’s 44-ball stay, potted with lovely drives, gave Essex a sharp start, but they were pinned down by Surrey in a slog of an afternoon session. That was in large part thanks to the 18-year-old off-spinning debutant, Virdi, who bowled 12 overs unchanged from the River End at a cost of 22 runs. Zafar Ansari retired confident that Virdi was ready to play first-team cricket and it appears he was right.
Virdi is green, but beat the bat and found drift and turn, while poor deliveries were rare. Rory Burns persisted with him for seven overs after tea and while a first wicket was not forthcoming, nor were a flurry of runs, apart from successive silky smooth cover drives and a cut by Ravi Bopara. After Tom Westley was caught behind driving Sam Curran, Lawrence, capped by Essex on Friday and with England Lions for the first time next week, batted with grace and maturity. With his pronounced trigger and easy manner, he was quick to pull and powerful through point.
Lawrence’s first partner was Nick Browne, whose touch partially returned in his first half-century of the season (although two balls later, he pulled Meaker straight to midwicket), then Bopara, with whom he has put on 89. Their next task is the imminent new ball. If Surrey are to leave with a win, they must make good use of it.
Should the weather stay fair, Hampshire’s visit to Taunton will not make it into a final day. After Somersetused the final 10 overs of the second day to knock 39 off their target of 259 for their first win of the season in an entertaining game on a turning track, the equation is simple: Hampshire need 10 wickets, Somerset 220 runs. Hampshire had a better day, besides a crazy hour after lunch in which they lost six wicket. They had efficiently docked Somerset’s tail, with Liam Dawson and Kyle Abbott taking four wickets apiece, to limit the first innings lead to 35, then all chipped in to make 293 in their second innings. Dom Bess, an increasingly alluring off-spinning prospect, took seven wickets (including the first five) to finish with 10 in the match.
Nottinghamshire’s inevitable march back to Division One continued apace at Trent Bridge as they skittled Gloucestershire for 149 (a first innings lead of 281) and invited the visitors to follow-on. When they did, Luke Fletcher, who, like Stuart Broad, took three first-innings wickets, picked up the scalp of Chris Dent.
Kent took a 205-run first innings lead as they bowled Sussex out for 164 with Darren Stevens again taking five wickets. Daryl Mitchell made 161 in Worcestershire’s 434, a lead of 196 over Northamptonshire, who they had reduced to 53 for two by stumps. There was another run-drenched day at Derby, where Derbyshire reached 532 for eight, with hundreds for Billy Godleman and Shiv Thakor and 97 for Gary Wilson, in response to Leicestershire’s 619 where Sri Lanka’s leg spinning all rounder Jeevan Mendis had figures of six for 204 off 52.3 overs. And on a rain-affected day at Swansea, Durham toiled hard for six Glamorgan wickets, as they reached 220 in response to 342.
English county scores on Saturday:
FIRST DIVISION
At Chelmsford: Surrey 369 (K Sangakkara 200, S Curran 90; J Porter 4-89) v Essex 215-3 (D Lawrence 78 no, N Browne 52)
At Taunton: Hampshire 162 (M Leach 6-78) and 288 (M Carberry 51; D Bess 7-117) v Somerset 197 (D Elgar 60; L Dawson 4-63, K Abbott 4-49) and 39-0
SECOND DIVISION
At Swansea: Durham 342 (P Collingwood 127, C Steel 59; M Hogan 5-49) v Glamorgan 225-6 (C Cooke 63 no, A Donald 51)
At Tunbridge Wells: Kent 369 (J Denly 119) and 116-0 (D Bell-Drummond 68 no) v Sussex 164 (D Stevens 5-40)
At Northampton: Northamptonshire 238 and 53-2 v Worcestershire 434 (D Mitchell 161, T Kohler-Cadmore 76, J Leach 50; N Buck 5-90)
At Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 430-9 dec (M Lumb 117, C Pujara 112, C Miles 4-123) v Gloucestershire 149 (P Mustard 53)and 37-1
At Derby (third day of four): Leicestershire 619 (M Cosgrove 188, E Eckersley 158, C Ackermann 118; J Mendis 6-204) v Derbyshire 532-8 (B Godleman 141, S Thakor 132, G Wilson 97) – AFP
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