Div Two reports: Brilliant Burnham guides Durham to victory

Jack Burnham and Ryan Pringle put on 127 for the fifth wicket to guide Durham home relatively comfortably in the end.

Derbyshire 368 & 214 v Durham 301 & 285/4 (Durham win by 6 wickets)
Kent 701/7d & 184/3d v Northants 568 (Match drawn)
Sussex 262 & 74/1 v Leics 281

DERBYSHIRE V DURHAM

KENT V NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

Kent and Northamptonshire played out a dull, high-scoring draw at Beckenham after Josh Cobb and the Northants lower order comfortably made the 24 more runs they required to avoid the follow-on early on the final day.

Northants, resuming on 528 for 7 in reply to Kent’s mammoth 701 for 7 declared, were eventually bowled out for 568. Kent then replied with 184 for 3 in sizzling temperatures, and in front of a sparse crowd, and they took 11 points from this Specsavers County Championship Division Two match and Northants 9.

Daniel Bell-Drummond played on to Ben Sanderson on 5, but Sean Dickson made 60 in a second wicket stand of 101 with Joe Denly, who went on to 78 not out before hands were shaken at 4.50pm. Denly, who made 182 in Kent’s first innings, now has more than 900 championship runs this season, at an average above 60, with three hundreds and four more scores above fifty.

Dickson, the first innings triple-centurion, skied Max Holden’s off spin to cover after totalling 378 runs in the match, while Denly took his match run aggregate to 260 as Kent captain Sam Northeast kept him leisurely company against an assortment of Northants’ slow bowling – which included the offerings of wicketkeeper Adam Rossington, with skipper Alex Wakely deputising behind the stumps.

As the game meandered to its conclusion, indeed,  it was a moot point as to whether what was on show could be deemed first-class cricket. Perhaps the championship regulations should allow the umpires to call matches off early, but to their credit Kent’s batsmen did not try to smash the gentle bowling to all parts – merely walking singles into the deep field amid the odd boundary. Northeast, in fact, gifted Ben Duckett his maiden first-class wicket when he skied an attempted big hit at a full toss to cover, on 27. Adam Rouse finished 8 not out.

At the start of the day Northants did not lose another wicket until the follow on target of 552 had been passed, with Cobb off driving Pakistan leg spinner Yasir Shah for four to take his side beyond that score. Graeme White, on 11, then skied Shah to mid on before both Nathan Buck and No 11 Sanderson fell cheaply to leave Cobb 34 not out. Buck was leg-before to Shah, as he shaped to play to leg off the back foot, and Sanderson slogged James Tredwell’s off spin to mid on to go for a duck.

Northants’ 568 was a record total in first-class cricket against Kent, beating the previous best of 561 for 8 declared at Canterbury in 1995.

SUSSEX V LEICESTERSHIRE

Sussex have a slight advantage over a Leicestershire side looking for their first win of the season after two fluctuating days of their Specsavers County Championship match at Arundel.

The hosts conceded a first-innings deficit of 19 after bowling out Leicestershire for 281 but they got through 20 overs before stumps losing only one wicket.

Chris Nash (21) was leg before to Clint McKay but Luke Wells and Harry Finch took their side to 74 for 1 at stumps, a lead of 55.

And with two spinners in their team on a pitch already showing signs of wear, Sussex will fancy their chances of claiming a third win in four games if they can chisel out a lead of 250 or more.

Earlier events had followed a similar pattern to the first day with plenty of Leicestershire batsmen getting set without anyone going on to play the decisive innings that would have put them in control. No batsman has yet to make a 50, although Wells, who has played well so far for his 39, will fancy his chances on the third day.

Slow left-armer Danny Briggs (1 for 49) and leg-spinner Will Beer (2 for 53) bowled 39 overs between them. There was some rough to exploit, particularly for Briggs who had Mark Cosgrove, Leicestershire’s left-handed captain, in all sorts of trouble during the best passage of play. Cosgrove (40) was dropped twice on 27 and survived a loud appeal for a catch at the wicket before eventually pushing forward and getting a thin edge to a ball which turned just enough.

Beer snared debutant Will Fazakerley padding up to a googly for a second-ball duck before ending the innings when he bowled Richard Jones for six.

But Leicestershire’s last two wickets had added 55, which might turn out to be crucial, while Lewis Hill’s nuggetty 49 held their middle and lower order together at times when it looked as if Sussex were about to take control.

Chris Jordan and Jofra Archer both bowled 24 overs, a commendable effort in the pitiless heat, and each took two more wickets.

Archer, who took 11 wickets when the sides met at Grace Road last month, ended a stand of 70 between Cosgrove and Colin Ackermann for the third wicket when Ackermann (40) gloved one down the leg side. He then returned after lunch to bowl Ned Eckersley through the gate for 35 after he had put on 50 either side of lunch with Hill.

Jordan eventually induced Hill to drive to cover for 49, made in a shade under two hours, and two balls later had Matt Pillans held at second slip while Abi Sakande bowled Rob Sayer through the gate for 31.

That left the Foxes on 226 for 8 but McKay chanced his arm to make an unbeaten 32 with five fours that gave them a small first-innings advantage.