Day 3 of the County Championship (Division One and Division Two) saw some exciting contests between the bat and the ball. While Hampshire could not handle the pressure of follow-on, Sussex exhibited tremendous spirit in the same situation. Moreover, we are in for a close finish in the game between Glamorgan and Nottinghamshire.
Surrey secure a thumping innings victory over Hampshire
Hampshire resumed Day 3’s play on 152/7, having a mountain to climb as they trailed by 315 runs. A determined resistance from the lower order allowed them to render some respectability to their score. However, they could not avoid the follow-on as Jamie Overton snared a fifer.
Being sent in to bat again, Hampshire got reduced to 41/2. However, Joe Weatherly (87) and captain James Vince (57) stitched a 100-run partnership and instilled some stability into the innings.
However, the troika of Surrey’s bowlers in Overton, James Taylor and Jordan Clark, had other ideas. They combined to hand Surrey a humongous victory of an innings and 17 runs.
Brief Scores: Surrey 467/10 (Ollie Pope 127*, Hashim Amla 73, K Barker 80/4, Kyle Abbott 92/3) defeated Hampshire 223/10 (K Barker 57, Ben Brown 49, Jamie Overton 54/5, Jordan Clark 67/2) and 227/10 (f/0) (Joe Weatherley 87, Jordan Clark 55/4, James Taylor 56/3, Jamie Overton 53/3) by an innings and 17 runs.
Tom Haines and Cheteshwar Pujara hold the fort as Sussex displays a fighting spirit
After bowling out Sussex for a paltry 174 on Day 2, Derbyshire enforced follow-on at the beginning of Day 3’s play. Sussex began their second innings with extreme determination, with the first wicket falling on 119. Soon, the second wicket fell on 145, triggering the chances of a collapse.
However, captain and opener Tom Haines with the Indian import, Cheteshwar Pujara, ensured no further damage. Sussex’s skipper Haines (164*) led from the front as he struck 17 boundaries in the day’s play.
After failing in the first innings, Pujara too put a price on his wicket and will resume on his overnight score of 57. Sussex trailed by 53 runs when the umpires took off the bails.
Brief Scores: Sussex 174/10 (Tom Haines 41, Sam Conners 47/3, Nick Potts 43/3) & 278/2 (f/0) (Tom Haines 164*, Cheteshwar Pujara 57*, Samuel Conners 52/1) trail Derbyshire, 505-8, declared (Shan Masood 239, Wayne Madsen 111, Henry Crocombe 131/3) by 53 runs
Stage set for an exciting final day finish between Glamorgan and Nottinghamshire
Glamorgan added 25 runs to their overnight score of 352/9 to get bowled out for 379. In a bid to scale down the lead of 77 runs, Nottinghamshire had the worst possible start to their second innings. Both their openers returned to the pavilion on duck as they fell to Michael Hogan. After a horrendous start, Ben Duckett (95) found support from the other end in Joe Clark (30).
However, Nottinghamshire continued to lose wickets at regular intervals. They lead by 147 runs but have only two wickets left. An enthralling final day’s play awaits, with Glamorgan in a slightly better position.
Brief Scores: Nottinghamshire 302/10 (Ben Duckett 122, Steven Mullaney 44, Michael Neser 3/56) & 224/8 (Ben Duckett 95, Gugten 51/4) lead Glamorgan 379/10 (Sam Northeast 85, David Lloyd 76, Gugten 62, Joey Evison 67/3) by 147 runs