David Bedingham smashed 138 from 99 balls as Durham took a stranglehold on their Vitality County Championship Division One clash with Worcestershire at Kidderminster.
The home side had been bowled out for 184 as Ben Raine, Matthew Potts and Paul Coughlin claimed three wickets each to give the visitors a 60-run first-innings lead.
Bedingham’s knock, which included 13 fours and eight sixes, and 75 from skipper Scott Borthwick helped to increase that advantage to 379 by stumps on day two as the promoted side reached 319 for five.
Bowlers Craig Overton and Migael Pretorius staged a remarkable 139-run partnership to put Somerset in a commanding position against Nottinghamshire.
The pair came together at 314 for eight and remained at the wicket until the South African fell for 77. Overton was then left stranded on 95 when last man Shoaib Bashir was dismissed for a duck with the score on 454.
Nottinghamshire, who made 193 on day one, were 38 for one in their second innings as they reduced the deficit to 223 runs.
Earlier Somerset opener Sean Dickson had added just two to his overnight score of 70 and Tom Banton contributed 83, with Calvin Harrison’s four for 93 the pick of the bowling.
Fletcha Middleton and Nick Gubbins put on an unbeaten 124 for the second wicket as they attempted to drag Hampshire back into touch with Warwickshire at Southampton.
Gubbins had reached 67 and Middleton 61 by stumps with their side 140 for one after the visitors were finally bowled out for 455, thanks in large part to England spinner Liam Dawson’s haul of five for 146 in 40.1 overs.
Rory Burns and Dom Sibley forged an opening stand of 147 as champions Surrey closed to within 59 runs of Kent’s first-innings total on day two at Canterbury.
Sibley will resume on 87 from a total of 185 for one after Tom Lawes and Cameron Steel each took three wickets as the home side were bowled out for 244.
Skipper Tom Westley hit 81 to help Essex take control of their showdown with Lancashire at Chelmsford.
Having resumed on 68 for one in reply to the visitors’ 146, the hosts made 377 with opener Dean Elgar going for 79 and George Balderson taking three for 75, and the Red Rose county finished the day on 10 for one in their second innings, a deficit of 221.
In Division Two, Leicestershire opener Marcus Harris plundered a double-century as Derbyshire were left with a mountain to climb.
Harris’ 214 was the backbone of a mammoth total of 574 for seven declared in which Peter Handscomb and Ben Cox hit 68 and 69 respectively.
The hosts’ response then got off to a dreadful start with Harry Came, Luis Reece, Wayne Madsen and Brooke Guest all falling cheaply as they limped to 54 for four by the close.
Tom Alsop’s 84 and an unbeaten 75 from Cheteshwar Pujara helped Sussex reach 267 for five as they ate into Gloucestershire’s first-innings total of 417.
Danny Lamb and Jack Carson had both taken three wickets as Zafar Gohar’s 60 and 45 not out from Zaman Akhter eased the visitors past 400 at Hove.
Yorkshire face a fight to set a competitive total after a challenging second day against Middlesex at Lord’s.
Having seen the hosts take an 87-run first innings lead thanks to half-centuries from Leus du Plooy and Josh De Caires, they ended the day on 216 for seven in their second – Toby Roland-Jones and Ryan Higgins claiming three wickets each – and will resume 129 ahead.
Ricardo Vasconcelos’ 166 not out left Northamptonshire in a dominant position at Glamorgan.
The hosts were 314 for two at the close, 43 runs ahead with Ben Sanderson having taken five for 92 as the Welsh side, for whom Colin Ingram scored 82, had been dismissed for 271.
West Indies win fifth T20I by eight wickets to secure 4-1 series victory
The West Indies Women defeated hosts Pakistan by eight wickets in the fifth and final T20 International at the Karachi National Stadium on Friday to complete a 4-1 series victory.
Pakistan, after being put in to bat by the West Indies, had an excellent start to their innings with Ayesha Zafar and Sidra Ameen putting on 38 for the first wicket before Zafar fell in the fifth over for 22.
Ameen and Muneeba Ali then put on a further 46 before the latter fell for 25 in the 13th over.
That same over saw Pakistan reduced to 86-3 when Nida Dar fell for two.
What proceeded that can only be described as a collapse as the hosts then lost their next five wickets for just 35 runs in five overs.
They eventually ended their 20 overs 134-8. Ameen was the final person out for a top score of 48 as Afy Fletcher was excellent with the ball for the Windies with 3-17 from her four overs.
Qiana Joseph also bowled well with 2-26 from four overs.
The successful chase was then anchored by superstar batter Hayley Matthews.
The skipper faced 59 balls and hit 11 fours on her way to a top score of 78 as the West Indies needed just 18.2 overs to reach 136-2.
Shemaine Campbelle provided good support with 33.
Matthews was named player of the series thanks to her 205 runs and seven wickets.
Full scores: Pakistan 134-8 off 20 overs (Sidra Ameen 48, Muneeba Ali 25, Ayesha Zafar 22, Afy Fletcher 3-17, Qiana Joseph 2-26)
West Indies 136-2 off 18.2 overs (Hayley Matthews 78, Shemaine Campbelle 33)
IPL: Iyer and Starc boost Kolkata's top-two hopes after Mumbai win
Venkatesh Iyer starred with 70 for Kolkata Knight Riders before Mitchell Starc's four-wicket haul eased his side to a 24-run victory over Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.
The Knight Riders only managed to post 169 at Wankhede Stadium as Iyer and Manish Pandey (42) were the only Kolkata batters to pass 15 runs on Friday.
Nuwan Thushara registered figures of 3-42 and Jasprit Bumrah picked up three wickets for just 18 runs as Kolkata limped to a target that appeared somewhat reachable for Mumbai.
Yet Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma and Naman Dhir all failed to get going in response for the Indians before Suryakumar Yadav's 35-ball 56 promised a tense ending.
However, Andre Russell forced Suryakumar to launch a full toss into the sky for a simple Phil Salt catch – with the West Indian one of three Kolkata bowlers to collect two wickets, along with Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy (both 2-22).
Suryakumer's dismissal teed up Starc's three-wicket blitz to end the innings with 4-33, moving the Knight Riders up to second in the table as Tim David's quickfire 24 proved redundant for Mumbai.
Data Debrief: Iyer the hero as Mumbai play-off hopes stunted
Having been reduced to 57-5 in the first innings, Iyer stood up with his season-best 70 off just 52 balls – including six fours and three maximums – guiding Kolkata to a commendable target.
This defeat left Mumbai ninth in the table, some six points adrift of the play-offs with just three games remaining – they may live to rue not capitalising on a promising first-innings position.
CWI's Lead Selector Haynes confident in T20 World Cup squad- “We’ve got a team that can win this World Cup”
CWI Lead Selector, Dr. The Hon. Desmond Haynes, believes the squad that has been selected to represent the West Indies at the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup set for June 1-29 in the Caribbean and the USA can replicate the performances of the region’s title-winning squads in 2012 and 2016.
“This is a very good time in West Indies cricket. I believe that we’ve got a team that can win this World Cup and I feel damn good about this,” Haynes said in a Friday press conference announcing the squad.
“We’ve had preparations for the last year. The majority of the players, we had them involved and they were very successful. This is a very exciting time for us and I would hope that everyone in the Caribbean and all the West Indies fans support us because this is our best chance,” he added.
Also on hand at Friday’s press conference was West Indies Men’s ODI and T20I head coach Daren Sammy who also expressed confidence in the squad ahead of the tournament.
“We’ve known how to select winning teams. We’ve done it before and I think, as a selection group, we’re really excited about it,” Sammy said.
“It’s an exciting time and this preparation did not start now. It started from the last World Cup in Australia. What we’ve been able to do throughout the last year as a T20 group, the players we’ve exposed, has brought us to this moment and I think we’re about to knock it out of this world,” he added.
Two of the standout names in the 15-man squad were pacer Shamar Joseph and Shimron Hetmyer.
Joseph made his Test debut during the recent tour to Australia and became a worldwide phenomenon when he took a seven-wicket haul in the final innings despite an injured foot to give West Indies a dramatic eight-run win at the Gabba in the second Test. It was West Indies' first Test win in Australia since 1997.
This will be his first opportunity to represent the West Indies in the T20I format. He’s currently getting his first crack at franchise T20 cricket as he is a member of the Lucknow Super Giants in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL).
“You really can’t question Shamar Joseph’s skills. We saw him in Australia. We were looking at someone up front to bowl in the first powerplay and we think he ticks that box for us,” Haynes said.
Hetmyer is making his return to the squad after being left out for the tour of Australia. Haynes said it was a tough time deciding whether to pick Hetmyer or Kyle Mayers.
“It was a very close decision between Kyle and Hettie but we look at it from the point of view that we wanted the extra batsman to be one batting down the order,” he said.
Since the start of Daren Sammy’s tenure as head coach, he has always placed an emphasis on the importance of roles in a successful T20 outfit.
He believes that this 15-man group has covered all the necessary bases.
“We are ready. When you look at role definition from the group we’ve selected, I think we’ve come up with the best combination to help us win this World Cup.
The hosts will open their campaign against Papua New Guinea at Providence in Guyana on June 2.
Full squad: Rovman Powell (C), Alzarri Joseph (VC), Johnson Charles, Roston Chase, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, Gudakesh Motie, Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd
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