Veteran seamer Tim Murtagh claimed a 10-wicket match haul to top 1,000 wickets in all formats for Middlesex and set up a second successive LV= Insurance County Championship victory as they triumphed against Kent.
Middlesex player-coach Murtagh, who is now in his 17th season with the county and turns 42 later this summer, scythed through the visitors’ line-up with 6-42 – for match figures of 10-82 – as they crumbled to 128 all out at Lord’s.
Ben Compton and Jack Leaning had dragged Kent back into contention with their solid 87-run partnership before seven wickets tumbled for only 22 runs, leaving Middlesex to chase a modest target of only 86.
They achieved that in 24.3 overs, with Sam Robson compiling an unbeaten 41 and Pieter Malan 24 not out to steer their side across the line by nine wickets.
Surrey blew Warwickshire away to seal a nine-wicket victory on the third day of their County Championship match at Edgbaston.
Kemar Roach claimed 5-34 as Surrey wrapped up a convincing nine-wicket win over Warwickshire
The visitors started the day by adding 70 in 10 overs to earn a first-innings lead of 131, with Jamie Smith scoring an excellent 88 and tail-ender Dan Worrall adding 35 off 24 balls.
Then Warwickshire’s top order was destroyed by Kemar Roach, who took three wickets before lunch to leave the hosts 22-4.
There was no way back from there despite Ed Barnard’s resolute 49 – his best score for Warwickshire – as the hosts were ultimately skittled for 141, with Roach finishing with 5-34.
Surrey knocked off the required 11 runs in two overs to complete a superb team performance led by pace bowlers Roach and Worrall, who took a combined 15-160 in the match.
In Division Two, England seamer Matthew Potts ran through Derbyshire‘s lower order with a five-wicket haul to see Durham to an innings-and-seven-run win at Emirates Riverside.
England seamer Matthew Potts claimed a five-for to steer Durham to victory over Derbyshire in Division Two
Derbyshire halted the hosts’ push for victory in the morning session of day three as Matthew Lamb and Luis Reece put on 149 runs for the sixth wicket.
Lamb fell agonisingly short of a century when he was pinned lbw by Ben Raine for 99 and the wicket opened the floodgates for Durham and Potts.
The England seamer tore through the lower order to secure the four remaining scalps, ending with figures of 5-65, allowing the hosts to claim maximum points from the fixture.
As a result, Durham extend their lead at the top of the Division Two table, while their opponents sit bottom after three games.
On day three of their Division Two clash, Chris Cooke and Michael Neser starred with the bat as Glamorgan mounted an impressive fightback against hosts Leicestershire.
With Glamorgan struggling on 225-7, replying to Leicestershire’s first-innings 407, Cooke and Neser shared a stand of 211 – the highest for the eighth wicket for the Welsh county against any opponent – to lift their side up to 446-8.
Cooke remained unbeaten on 121 at stumps, with Neser departing for 90, after fellow Australia international Marnus Labuschagne had contributed 64.
Leicestershire were handicapped by an injury to Ed Barnes, one of their five seam bowlers, who reported for duty with a swollen ankle, ruling him out of bowling for the remainder of the match.
Sussex substitute fielder Tom Clark’s direct-hit run out of Marcus Harris unlocked their bid for victory in their match at Gloucestershire.
Australian opener Harris’ dismissal, after his despairing dive, began a chaotic 10-minute period for the hosts as Nathan McAndrew (5-53) claimed the key wickets of James Bracey and Graeme van Buuren with successive balls on his way to a five-wicket haul.
Gloucestershire were suddenly four down at tea – after India’s Cheteshwar Pujara hit 151 to underpin Sussex’s 455-5 declared in their first innings – as a rain-affected match came to life.
Sussex claimed a further five wickets in the final session as Gloucestershire slumped from 99-1 to 198-9 at the close, still 257 runs behind, with the visitors eyeing up enforcing the follow-on early on the final day.