County wrap: Thrilling win avoids rare tie

It came within one wicket of a cricketing first, but Middlesex would be far happier with the eventual outcome of their County Championship duel with Warwickshire, claiming a thrilling victory in Birmingham on Thursday.

When Middlesex lost their ninth wicket still seven runs short of their fourth-innings target of 234, a unique tie looked on the cards at Edgbaston.

While the record books show numerous ties at first-class level – including two in the Test arena – none of them have occurred with each side's first-innings scores also level.

Middlesex had matched their hosts' initial tally of 334 thanks to Australian-born first-drop Stevie Eskinazi's career-best 179, before former England batsman Jonathan Trott made 99 to help give Warwickshire a lead of 233. 

And when the visitors slumped to 2-1 – with Eskinazi and another Antipodean-raised Middlesex batsman in Sam Robson both out for ducks – a win, let alone a tie, looked a distant proposition.

But Middlesex edged closer with piecemeal contributions from their middle-order, before No.11 Tim Murtagh joined No.10 Tom Helm with seven runs still required.

The last-wicket pair made sure history wasn't made, Murtagh hitting fellow Irish quick Boyd Rankin for the winning runs to hand Middlesex a much-needed win.

"I think the way Tom (Helm) plus Tim Murtagh and Ryan Higgins bowled at the end of day three - their spell set it up for us because at tea they had been in the driving seat and we probably bowled them out for a lot less than they should have got," Middlesex skipper and recent England debutant Dawid Malan said.

"We desperately needed that win. We haven't been playing our best cricket so far and have not been able to string four good days together.

"We have won two and lost two of our last four which is disappointing on the loss side because we pride ourselves on being hard to beat, but positive on the winning side.

"To get a win moving forward with guys due to come back from injury and England duty when the Championship starts again we are in a good position to get a few wins in a row and be pushing for the top."

Image Id: 5640D5A01FEE42EF9AAA05597B77D30E Image Caption: Marathon effort by Burns // Getty

Surrey opener Rory Burns meanwhile spent all but about half-an-hour of his side’s four-day clash with Hampshire in the middle of The Oval in a marathon match-saving effort.

After former Australia limited-overs captain George Bailey's 161 helped power Hampshire to a mammoth 7-648 declared, Burns carried his bat in a 10-hour, 423-ball knock yielding 219 runs.

But with the hosts still 165 runs shy of Hampshire when Burns ran out of partners on the game’s final day, the visitors enforced the follow-on with the 26-year-old forced to pick up where he left off.

He managed another 68 runs, soaking 112 more balls up before being stumped in a unusual fashion with a draw more or less secured.

After 7️⃣5️⃣6️⃣ minutes at the crease, this was probably the only way @roryburns17 could be dismissed...

Heroic effort! 👏 pic.twitter.com/ZCb9G04nKB

— County Championship (@CountyChamp) July 6, 2017

"I'm pretty tired. Four days on your feet would take it out of anyone," Burns admitted. 

"But when you're fighting to save a game it's far more a mental task than a physical task. 

"It was more what was going on between my ears, and trying to replicate and be consistent in the process of how I was going about my batting."

Other county scores:

At Scarborough

Somerset 268 (A Hose 62, L Plunkett 4-73) and 4-281 dec (J Hildreth 101 no, T Rouse 69) defeated Yorkshire 213 (C Overton 5-87) and 157 (C Overton 4-47, J Leach 4-51) by 179 runs.

At Arundel (second day of four)

Sussex 262 (C McKay 4-59) and 1-74 v Leicestershire 281 

At Chesterfield

Derbyshire 368 (M Critchley 102, B Godleman 98, W Madsen 54) and 214 (A Hughes 108) lost to Durham 301 (P Coughlin 73 no, M Richardson 64, Imran Tahir 5-110) and 4-285 (J Burnham 93 no, M Richardson 62, R Pringle 62 no) by six wickets

At Beckenham

Kent 7-701 dec (S Dickson 318, J Denly 182) and 3-184 dec (J Denly 78 no, S Dickson 60) drew with Northamptonshire 568 (M Holden 153, A Rossington 112, B Duckett 105, R Newton 57, Yasir Shah 4-165)