Pope century takes Surrey to victory
Imperious back-to-back sixes by Ollie Pope, played with a comic in one hand and a mitre in the other, flicked Hampshire into the dark corners of the Oval among the dust and the crisp packets, and hurtled Surrey to victory by nine wickets. It was the chocolate frosting on top of a delicious hundred, full of brio and skill, and, alongside an energetic 79 from Dom Sibley, transformed a game which had been tight with toing and froing over the first three days.
Hampshire have been here before. Pope has now made six hundreds against them, five at the Oval, and this innings brings his average in first-class cricket at his home ground back up to 99.62. Surrey had kept the pressure on in the morning, dismissing the remaining five Hampshire batters in 22 overs, Dan Worrall finishing with five for 40.
The chase of 243 might, on paper, have been tight against the trickiest bowling attack in the Championship. Rory Burns and Sibley blunted early promise, however, and Pope’s arrival transformed the tempo: snapped cuts, dancing drives and one six hit with his backside to the bowler back over the wicketkeeper’s head. He kissed his Surrey badge on reaching his hundred to a standing ovation from a good crowd, and signed a young boy’s autograph book as he climbed the pavilion steps with victory in his pocket.
At Edgbaston, Kent were thwarted at the last after an unflappable performance by the tail was finally defeated with just six overs of the match to go and the light quickly disappearing. At 99 for seven following-on, Warwickshire’s victory had looked assured, but Ben Compton and the No 9, the 21-year-old Joey Evison, added a hundred in 25 overs – only parted in the first over after tea. From there Evison and Conor McKerr, on loan from Surrey, were in touching distance before McKerr was superbly caught and Evison nicked Hasan Ali behind on 99.
At Trent Bridge, Somerset subsided to a 165-run defeat, despite losing one day to rain. Their bowlers gave them early hope after polishing off Nottinghamshire in the first six overs of the day. Lewis Gregory added four wickets to pocket 11 in the game. But with a target of 295 in their heads, wickets fell like spring raindrops, with only James Rew passing 20. Stuart Broad grabbed two top-order wickets and Dane Paterson five for 46.
It was the tale of two innings at Chelmsford, after a pop‑gun explosion of hitting from Lancashire in the morning session was matched by an afternoon of stonewalling from Essex. Tom Hartley (73 not out), Colin de Grandhomme and Tom Bailey thwacked nine sixes before the lunch declaration. There was time for Sir Alastair Cook to be out lbw to Jimmy Anderson for the second time in the match before Essex dropped anchor and Tom Westley ensured they would avoid defeat.
Matthew Kuhnemann bowled Durham to victory against Worcestershire, Leicestershire drew with Derbyshire, and Northamptonshire cruised to a seven‑wicket win against Middlesex.
With the groundsmen spraying The Oval veld, time to slip away. A privilege to watch that innings from Ollie Pope. Congratulations to Surrey, Northants, Notts, Warwickshire and Durham. Commiserations in particular to Kent, who got so close to safety. Joey Evison, chapeau. Thanks for your company over the last four days, we’re back on Thursday. Good night!
Updated
Final scores
DIVISION ONE
Chelmsford: Essex 219 and 128-4 v Lancashire 207 and 351-7dec Match drawn
The County Ground: Northants 198 and 120-3 v Middlesex 149 and 167 Northants win by seven wickets
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 256 and 211 v Somerset 173 and 129 Notts win by 165 runs
The Oval: Surrey 270 and 247-1v Hampshire 254 and 258 Surrey win by nine wickets
Edgbaston: Warwickshire 453-4dec v Kent 158 and 281 Warwickshire win by an innings and 14 runs
DIVISION TWO
Chester-le-Street: Durham 425-9dec and 254-4dec v Worcestershire 366-5dec and 192 Durham win by 121 runs
Bristol: Gloucestershire v Yorkshire MATCH ABANDONED
Grace Road: Leicestershire 451-9 Derbyshire 254-7 Match drawn
Surrey beat Hampshire by nine wickets
All over at the Oval! Surrey needed 243 from 72 overs after finishing off Hampshire’s second innings on 258 and got there with plenty to spare. Ollie Pope hit an unbeaten 122 from 102 balls with Dom Sibley 79 not out in the anchor role. Sibley and Rory Burns began with a stand of 54, and although Kyle Abbott removed Burns, Pope came to the crease and proved unmovable, with the pair scoring an unbroken 193 in 30 overs. PA
A last look round the grounds before I stop to write up for the paper:
Surrey cruising at The Oval, the only question is whether Pope will make his century before they knock off the 65 required. As Pope turns 180 degrees and pulls Fuller over Ben Brown and into the ground floor of the Micky Stewart pavilion.
Essex have shut down shop at Chelmsford, Westley and Critchley eyeing up handshakes shortly. Essex 94-3.
Kent are just an hour or so away from a small miracle, Evison and McKerr still enconsced in a ninth-wicket stand of 43. Kent 242-8.
Durham are closing in on Worcestershire, D’Oliveira has lost Waite and Leach, Finch currently holding up one end. Worcs 146-7. Four now to Kuhnemann.
And at the going through the motions match at Grace Road, my colleague has pointed out that Derbyshire and Leicestershire could still be in search of bonus points.Derby will have to get a wriggle on though, 111-2.
I must go, but do chat on BTL.
Updated
Fifty for Ollie Pope
He’s bubbling now, overtakes Dom Sibley, that first-innings 90 in his head. A gorgeous cut, followed by dancing drive for four more.
Dom Sibley joins in with a bottom handed axe-chop. The target down to 74.
Fifty for Dom Sibley!
His first for Surrey since his return from Warwicks. He and Pope have rather taken this out of reach of Hampshire now. I could be wrong but I don’t think the wind is with Abbas or Abbot this evening.
Just a charming reverse sweep from Ollie Pope, and then Sibley has a go – this time reaching the rope.
But never mind Division One, at The Riverside Durham are worrying Worcestershire. Five wickets needed, a theoretical 187 to win. D’Oliveira and Waite batting out the minutes. Three wickets to Matthew Kuhnemann.
And a wicket at Chelmsford! This time Dan Lawrence, a third lbw of the innings. Too late for Lancs though – surely? Essex 64-3 – 276 to win.
An eventful over from Kyle Abbot as an all at sea Ollie Pope pushes forward to Abbot and misses, and then misses again. Then a sharp cover drive for a couple, and a charming off drive for four. Surrey now bristling and up on their toes. Is bad light threatening? 132 needed.
…where Ben Compton has been out after an 185-ball blockade. That must be curtains for Kent now, unless the weather swoops in to save them. 199-8
Thanks to Romeo for pointing out that Kent need 100 to avoid an innings defeat, NOT to win! We’ve restarted at The Oval and there is news from Edgbaston…
Tea-time scores
DIVISION ONE
Chelmsford: Essex 219 and 60-2 v Lancashire 207 and 351-7dec Essex need 281 to win
The County Ground: Northants 198 and 120-3 v Middlesex 149 and 167 Northants win by seven wickets
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 256 and 211 v Somerset 173 and 129 Notts win by 165 runs
The Oval: Surrey 270 and 98-1 v Hampshire 254 and 258 Surrey need 145 to win
Edgbaston: Warwickshire 453-4dec v Kent 158 and 195-7 Kent need 100 to avoid an innings defeat
DIVISION TWO
Chester-le-Street: Durham 425-9dec and 254-4dec v Worcestershire 366-5dec and 101-5 Worcs need 213 to win
Bristol: Gloucestershire v Yorkshire MATCH ABANDONED
Grace Road: Leicestershire 451-9 Derbyshire 54-2
Updated
Action at Grace Road. Leicestershire declared! And Derby have lost two wickets – Godleman and Haider wickets for Finan and Wright. Only an hour or so till handshakes, Derby 50-2.
Tea round the grounds, scores to follow.
A raucous voice in the stand shouts something like Ollie, Ollie as Pope cuts Holland through backward point for four more. And the Surrey boundary count tallies up nicely.
Gosh, Kent! The target down to 101 – Compton providing the gruel, 83 not out, and No.9 Evison the buttered roll, 54 not out.
And Sibley throws the bat again, hooking Abbas with a huge crack and the ball defeats Hampshire on the rope again, this time Felix Organ. Just 156 needed.
Abbas, this time from the pavilion end. Sibley has an extravagant slap, gets an outside edge and Fletcha Middleton just in front of my nose on the rope, leaps acrobatically but misses the ball. Surrey march on 83-1 – need 160.
Notts beat Somerset by 165 runs
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 256 and 211 v Somerset 173 and 129 Notts win by 165 runs
Davey stranded on 17. Five for 46 for Dane Paterson, three wickets for Brett Hutton, two for Stuart Broad. A dreadful outing for the Somerset batting.
Updated
At Trent Bridge, Somerset’s last pair – Davey and Siddle - have been left with gathering 167. And at Edgbaston, Ben Compton has found someone to bat with at last. Joey Evison, 27 not out.
At The Oval, a wicket! As Abbot gets reward for building, building, building the pressure A smart catch at slip by James Vince, swallowed to his right and close to the ground, as Burns gets an outside edge for 35. Surrey 54-1, which brings in Ollie Pope.
Poor Derbyshire, destined to bowl all game. Still, Zak Chappel has picked up four and Lewis Hill collected his highest first-class score – 162 not out. Rehan Ahmed made a 44 ball 33.
Essex have lost another – Nick Browne – another lbw, this time to Bailey. A smashing opportunity for Dan Lawrence to play a big innings against Anderson, with the game on the line.
TRJ doing nothing to dispel his nice guy image as he supports his fragile top order after the game.
“It’s been a tricky start. We’ve played on some wickets that have obviously offered a fair bit and some attacks that have bowled nicely with the new ball. So, those guys know that they’ve got they’ve got the faith and the trust of the dressing room and hopefully there’s some runs around the corner.
“Part of being an opener, and part of being an experienced player is learning how to deal with different situations. And I think you always see the best players are the best at coping with those downtimes. It’s part and parcel of playing and I’ve got no doubt about our guys. You always know that often good form is one knock away. And there’s a lot of guys that will know that and will hopefully look to put things right from next week.”
Just marvelling at Rory Burns’ thigh muscles – never mind the nervous glance to leg, he squats so low in his stance. They must be insane. Anyway, he looks in prime nick. Another good turn out at The Oval, spectators in every stand.
Essex in no hurry at Chelmsford, handbrake, footbrake and truss applied. Will Lancashire’s conservative declaration come back to bite them?
Somerset down and almost out – Josh Davey, who saved their bacon in the first innings, left to hold things together with ten and jack: 89-8.
Fifty for Ben Compton
While his team-mates nurse their skittled bruises, Ben Compton proves that last year was no fluke. 52 not out in a scorecard brimming with roads not travelled. Kent 116-7. Three for Woakes in what has been a successful return to first-class cricket.
Can Kyle Abbott make the breakthrough? Keith Barker resumes his place in the left ear of the bowler at mid-on. Surrey 42-0.
Where’s the jeopardy Surrey? Burns and Sibley zipping along rather easily here at The Oval – 36 on the board and Barker and Abbas not finding any real menace.
Anderson traps Cook for a duck
A skirtingboard skittler scuttles onto his pads. Essex five for one.
Apologies, Somerset are five down. Poor Lewis Gregory, 11 wickets , 38 overs, and still batting to save the match.
Both Somerset and Kent in deep trouble, six down and not much left in the tank.
Essex chase 340 to win
Jimmy v SirAlastair as Essex start the chase. Happy that there is no Hassan Ali to face this year, but the king of swing opens the bowling. Just one run off his two overs. An astonishing 73 off 50 balls from young Tom Hartley in the morning session has set up a cracker of an afternoon. Advantage, Lancashire.
Lunchtime scores
DIVISION ONE
Chelmsford: Essex 219 v Lancashire 207 and 351-7
The County Ground: Northants 198 and 120-3 v Middlesex 149 and 167 Northants win by seven wickets
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 256 and 211 v Somerset 173 and 57-4 Somerset need 238 to win
The Oval: Surrey 270 and 10-0 v Hampshire 254 and 258 Surrey need 233 to win
Edgbaston: Warwickshire 453-4dec v Kent 158 and 82-5
DIVISION TWO
Chester-le-Street: Durham 425-9dec and 254-4dec v Worcestershire 366-5dec and 3-1 Worcs need 311 to win
Bristol: Gloucestershire v Yorkshire MATCH ABANDONED
Grace Road: Leicestershire 379-5 Derbyshire
Durham declare, setting Worcs 314 to win.
Borthwick reaches his hundred, Bedingham does not. A bold declaration by Durham on a friendly pitch. But (winning) points wins prizes.
Northants beat Middlesex by seven wickets!
The County Ground: Northants 198 and 120-3 v Middlesex 149 and 167 Northants win by seven wickets
Sam Whiteman’s unbeaten 60 takes Northants over the line. They have a win under their belt, and are temporarily top of the table. Middlesex do not -six points all their booty from two games.
Abbas, wearing 38 on his back, paws the ball from hand to hand as he waits at the top of his run. A plane flies by. Burns and Sibley take a rapid single as lunch approaches.
Find Wisden editor Lawrence Booth, who reminds me about the launch of Wisden –or that pathetically woke political pamphlet in the words of Simon Heffer last year - which hits the shops on Thursday.
The chase, at The Oval, is on. Burns leans into Keith Barker’s (whose hand is bandanged up) first ball which flies away for four, but that’s the sum total of the runs so far.
Surrey need 243 to win
Abbas lasts four balls before being pinned by Worrall, who finishes with five for forty. Advantage Surrey, I think.
Broad wins early Ashes battle with Bancroft
Cameron Bancroft’s stumps a-go-go as Stuart Broad opens his account for Notts. Somerset 40-2. For optimists, 255 to win.
GOT 'IM!
— LV= Insurance County Championship (@CountyChamp) April 16, 2023
Stuart Broad with a beauty to bowl Cameron Bancroft#LVCountyChamp pic.twitter.com/ZBaFcRy1M7
Updated
Barker, whose hands are in a terrible state, jigs and jags through his innings until Barker hooks a short one up into the stratsosphere and Jamie Smith collects. Mohammad Abbas enters, and the Hampshire innings’s end is nigh.
A few T-shirts, lots of fleeces, watching in the Micky Stewart pavilion as Kemar Roach paws the ground and runs in.
Some interesting experiments coming up for the this season's reduction in points for the draw from eight to five @tjaldred. Will sides aim to bazball the afternoon session with aggressive declarations / scoring at five an over / posting four slips?
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) April 16, 2023
I sure hope so.
Indeed!
Are Durham aiming to declare at lunch? Borthwick and Bedingham certainly charging along, both in sight of their centuries. Durham 227-2, a lead of 286. But looking at the totals in this game, it does seem a long shot that they can take 10 Worcestershire wickets by stumps…
Poor Wiaan Mulder, waits four days for a bat – out for five. Leicestershire and Derbyshire going through the motions at Grace Road. Captain Lewis Hill, three short of his hundred.
And in the time it takes me to pop downstairs, Kyle Abbott has been bowled with Roach’s second over with the new ball. Up and through and off he goes. Hants 248 for 8 – can they inch that lead up to 250?
Jennings falls – a disconsolate figures, out four short of his hundred. A second for Harmer, the lead 208, four wickets in hand. Time for some big hits by the big man.
Kent, alas. Have just lost three for six.
And at The Oval the new ball does it again! A hasty drive straight to cover by Fuller. No Keith Barker yet, the commentators think he might be protecting those fingers - which took a battering in the first innings.
Updated
The new ball is now in the hands of Kemar Roach. Hampshire 239 for six, the lead building: now 223. But Hampshire won’t forget how brilliantly Ollie Pope batted, or how quickly Abbott accumulated once he’d got going.
Fifty for George Bell
What a start to the summer he’s having – out now, Harmered, for 56, but so far has proved essential ballast to the late middle-order.
This was Glenn Chapple singing his praises yesterday.
“George is doing brilliantly. His quality last year was great. He went away this winter to play cricket in Australia and when he came back, first time we saw him we knew that he was ready to play. He’s kept well and so far he has made vital runs for us.
“We just see a quality player who’s determined and driven to do well. It’s really good when a young player comes in and goes some way to establishing himself so quickly.”
Oooh a third wicket for Middlesex. I’m not saying a word, but TRJ does have that ability to run through teams. Northants 52-3, need 67.
Injury updates: Tom Moores left the field at Trent Bridge yesterday after hurting his left hand. Joe Clarke took the gloves for the remainder of the innings.
Kent’s Matt Quinn suffering with a groin injury, Sam Cook with a hamstring.
Somerset need 295 to win
An agricultural scythe by Stuart Broad, swiftly followed by Hutton – giving Gregory 11 in the match! Somerset gird their loins to chase 295 and as I type are in the happy state of 0-0 when everything is possible.
WICKET! Lewis Gregory bowls Stuart Broad to give him 10 in the match!!
— Somerset Cricket 🏏 (@SomersetCCC) April 16, 2023
LIVE STREAM ➡️ https://t.co/aRtGCP76ez#NOTTSvSOM#WeAreSomerset pic.twitter.com/aK7jTQJ6ed
A breakthrough! Sibley holds on, despite slipping at first slip, as Gubbins prods forward and gets an outside edge – fabulous ball by Lawes.
An early wicket for TRJ, but Middlesex don’t have many runs to play with – just 83, with eight wickets to catch.
Here's the current situation at The County Ground:@NorthantsCCC require 86 runs to win @Middlesex_CCC need eight wickets
— LV= Insurance County Championship (@CountyChamp) April 16, 2023
How do you see this finishing?#LVCountyChamp https://t.co/FTtoCmaXFd
We are being serenaded by some heady tunes from The First Love church who hold services at The Oval every Sunday morning. A good scattering of Sunday punters scattered round the ground to see what could/should/will be an umbrella-handle-chewer.
Delayed start at Edgbaston
They’re mopping up after a morning shower, but play will/is starting on time elsewhere!
Saturday's round-up
On the Oval’s first Saturday of the County Championship summer the sweet murmur of relaxed conversation drifted around the ground. A tight, high-stakes game swung from one clenched dressing-room glove to the other.
It was the new ball, taken just after half past 12 that jolted the crowd awake. Ollie Pope, on his way to what seemed an inevitable hundred, having played with immaculate judgment, leaned back extravagantly and played Mohammad Abbas on to the stumps. Lawes was lbw to the very next ball and, though Kemar Roach played out the hat-trick ball, he fell in Abbas’s next over.
With one wicket left, Sean Abbott exploded into life – caterwauling Keith Barker for 16 runs including one huge one-kneed six that took Surrey to a first-innings lead. Abbas had the last word, though, plucking out Dan Worrall’s middle stump to finish with six for 64. At 58 for four, Hampshire’s second innings threatened to end in ignominy. But Nick Gubbins and Ben Brown pressed on and slowly the shoulders of the pitch relaxed. Gubbins, who survived a tricky chance in the slips, collected his 50 late in the afternoon and Ian Holland stayed with him in an unbeaten partnership of 79. The lead of 182 set the scene for a thrilling last day.
The chance of a result at The Riverside drifted into the far distance, as Worcestershire stacked the cakes carefully on a tray against Durham. The 22-year-old Jack Haynes made 134, his highest first-class score, before the declaration came. There were three wickets for Matthew Potts who chugged his way through 27 overs.
At Edgbaston Zak Crawley was out twice in the day as Kent’s first innings limped to 158, Chris Woakes taking his first first-class wickets for more than a year. Following on, Crawley was lbw to an optimistic shout from Chris Rushworth before bad light stopped play. Warwickshire had declared on 453 for four, thanks to run-a-ball mayhem from Dan Mousley and an unbeaten 165 from Sam Hain.
Northamptonshire were on top in a low-scoring nerve-tingler at the County Ground, set 119 to win after Middlesex were dismissed for 167.
Peter Siddle struck with his first ball in Nottinghamshire’s second innings as Ben Duckett clipped his first Australian test of the summer to midwicket for 15. Haseeb Hameed and Ben Slater got starts but failed to flourish and the Somerset bowlers did their best to keep things tight as the lead built. Somerset had earlier lost six wickets for 40, blushes saved by 60 from Josh Davey and a stoical tail. Brett Hutton finished with six for 45.
The tightly spooled game at Chelmsford unwound a little, with rain permitting 36 overs of play. Keaton Jennings carefully moved to 80, propped up by George Bell in an unbeaten stand of 56 after Lancashire lost Josh Bohannon, Steven Croft and Dane Vilas in quick succession. They go into the final day with a lead of 155. Sam Cook left the field early with a hamstring twinge after bowling on heavy ground.
There was no action at Grace Road and they called it a day at Bristol – match abandoned at 10am on the third day without a ball being bowled because of a persistently damp outfield. “The water table is incredibly high and it doesn’t take much to take us over the line,” said Will Brown, the Gloucestershire chief executive. “This was the wettest March for 40 years and it is a sign of things potentially to come. They are talking about significant areas of the county facing drought this summer, but we are still facing extreme wet conditions now.
“We are going to have to think smarter about when and how we play our cricket and how we protect our grounds. We think of seamers in April, spinners at the end of the summer, but it will be interesting to see if that holds true. The rule book of the season has been ripped up because of climate change.”
Scores on the doors
DIVISION ONE
Chelmsford: Essex 219 v Lancashire 207 and 167-4
The County Ground: Northants 198 and 30-1 v Middlesex 149 and 167 Northants need 89 to win
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 256 and 187-6 v Somerset 173
The Oval: Surrey 270 v Hampshire 254 and 198-5
Edgbaston: Warwickshire 453-4dec v Kent 158 and 27-1
DIVISION TWO
Chester-le-Street: Durham 425-9dec and 96-2 v Worcestershire 366-5dec
Bristol: Gloucestershire v Yorkshire MATCH ABANDONED
Grace Road: Leicestershire 243-2 v Derbyshire
Preamble
Good morning! Sorry about the delay, slight technical hitch. It’s a beautiful spring morning in South London and here, at least, we will start on time on the final day of the second round of matches.
