County Championship 2022 | Bowling performances steal the show as batters struggle on Day 1

Division Two of the ongoing 2022 County Championship resumed with four matches on Monday, July 11. Here is a look at the highlights from each of the four games at the end of the opening day of action.

Sussex vs Leicestershire

Sussex and Leicestershire, the two teams at the bottom of the Division Two points table, clashed at Hove’s County Ground. Before the match, Sussex skipper Tom Haines won the toss and opted to bat first.

Losing just four wickets throughout 96 overs of the opening day, they amassed a daunting 407. Number 3 batter Tom Alsop belted the Leicestershire bowling attack with a stroke-filled 150 while opening batsman Alistair Orr and wicketkeeper Oliver Carter struck crucial half-centuries.

Remarkably, the Leicestershire bowlers bowled as many as 40 no-balls on the day, with Ben Mike delivering 20 of them in his expensive nine-over spell.

Brief scores:

Sussex: 407-4 (96)

Tom Alsop 150, Alistair Orr 70

Colin Ackermann 2-48, Callum Parkinson 1-77

Middlesex vs Worcestershire

The Worcestershire bowlers wrapped up hosts Middlesex for just 188 inside 60 overs. Apart from half-centuries by Luke Hollman and Tom Helm, no other Middlesex batsman managed to reach 20 figure mark in the innings.

By stumps, the visitors had lost half their side for 100. Trailing Middlesex by another 88 runs, Worcestershire’s Ed Bernard (33*) and Gareth Roderick (18*) will resume action for their side on Day 2.

Brief scores:

Middlesex: 188 (59.1)

Luke Hollman 62, Tom Helm 50*

Joe Leach 3-58, Josh Baker 2-29

Worcestershire: 100-5 (36)

Ed Barnard 33*, Gareth Roderick 18*

Tim Murtagh 2-22, Tom Helm 1-15

Worcestershire trail by 88 runs

Glamorgan vs Nottinghamshire

Glamorgan, led by David Lloyd, scored 318 in 84 overs on Day 1 of their home game against Nottinghamshire at Cardiff. Sam Northeast, the lone half-centurion of the innings, was aided by his teammates with handy contributions in the middle.

Nottinghamshire survived the remaining nine overs of the day, reaching 19-0.

Brief scores:

Glamorgan: 318 (84.2)

Sam Northeast 56, Kiran Carlson 46

Brett Hutton 4-76, Steven Mullaney 2-42

Nottinghamshire: 19-0 (9)

Ben Slater 10*, Haseeb Hameed 8*

Nottinghamshire trail by 299 runs

Durham vs Derbyshire

Hosts Durham bowled out Derbyshire for 283 during the closing stages of their opening day at the Riverside Ground. Leus du Plooy top-scored for the visitors with a crafty 122*and was assisted by Anuj Dal, who played a knock of 90.

Durham speedster Chris Rushworth claimed seven wickets in the innings, conceding just 44 runs in 21 overs.

Brief scores:

Derbyshire: 283 (92.1)

Leus du Plooy 122*, Anuj Dal 90

Chris Rushworth 7-44, Stanley McAlindon 2-63

Durham: 2-0 (1)

Matt Salisbury 0*, Alex Lees 0*

Durham trail by 282 runs