Somerset see off Sussex after rain curtails James Hildreth’s big day

Somerset made it three wins out of three in the Royal London Cup after beating the previously undefeated Sussex by 68 runs on Duckworth-Lewis-Stern at Hove.

Chasing 283 for eight, Sussex were 62 for four from 16.3 overs when rain arrived at 4pm. Somerset’s win was set up by solid contributions from Azhar Ali (68), James Hildreth (81) and Lewis Gregory (50).

Hildreth, who became Somerset’s record appearance-maker across all formats, said: “It’s another good win and performance and it’s nice to keep the unbeaten start going.”

Billy Godleman scored a second century in consecutive innings as Derbyshire pulled off a last-ball win against Leicestershire. With six needed off the final two balls, Leus Du Plooy pulled the Leicestershire left-arm seamer Dieter Klein to the long leg boundary before pushing the final delivery back past the bowler.

The non-striker, Matt Critchley, who had not faced a ball after coming in when Godleman was run out off the third ball of the final over, completed the necessary second run by diving to make his ground. Godleman’s 106, made from 115 balls, means Derbyshire’s captain has now scored 309 runs in the competition this season in justthree innings.

Lancashire’s Saqib Mahmood returned a career best six for 37 as Northamptonshire were bowled out for 269 in 50 overs. Lancashire’s openers, Haseeb Hameed and Keaton Jennings, then hit 65 and 63 respectively on the way to 164 for two in the 29th over when rain arrived, with Lancashire winning by 45 runs on DLS.

Durham suffered their first defeat of the campaign as Ross Whiteley and Ben Cox guided Worcestershire to a four-wicket DLS success. Cox (31 not out) and Whiteley (26) tipped a see-saw contest in favour of the home side with a half-century stand before a four-wicket DLS win was completed with 10 balls to spare.

(THE GUARDIAN)