10:31am Sunday 29th August 2010
WARWICKSHIRE boosted their chances of staying in Division One of the LV= County Championship as Darren Maddy's unbeaten half-century completed a seven-wicket win against relegation rivals Essex at Edgbaston.
Set 153 to win in a tense, low-scoring contest, they dumped Essex to the bottom of the table with only one game to play and moved alongside Kent, their opponents in another crucial fixture in Birmingham next week.
Although Essex reached the highest score of the match before they were dismissed for 193 in their second innings, they did not have enough runs in the bank to avoid their second defeat by Warwickshire this month - with the Bears, in a freakish parallel, scoring 155 all out followed by 155 for three on both occasions.
An unbeaten 92 from Middlesex captain Neil Dexter frustrated Derbyshire's hopes of chasing down victory on the final day of their Division Two match at the County Ground.
By the time Dexter chose to declare his side's second innings at 221 for seven half an hour after lunch, bottom-of-the-table Derbyshire were left needing an unlikely 303 to win in 53 overs.
Chris Rogers led the Derbyshire charge after tea with 96 but the home side fell well short at 189 for six as the contest finished in a draw.
Two wickets from Northamptonshire captain Andrew Hall were not enough to secure victory against Worcestershire as yet more rain spoiled the final day of their encounter at Wantage Road.
In an attempt to force what would have been a much-needed result, Worcestershire declared their first innings at 45 for no wicket after 31 balls of buffet bowling from the hosts.
Northants forfeited their second innings, giving the visitors a target of 341 and they were teetering on 182 for six despite Moeen Ali's 62 before heavy downpours saved them from defeat.
The second day of the match between promotion hopefuls Sussex and Glamorgan finished with the hosts on 30 without loss, after Glamorgan had declared on 300 for nine.
Mark Cosgrove's 142 was the highlight of the Welsh county's innings, while James Anyon took three wickets for 52 for the hosts and Corey Collymore two - the West Indian becoming the first Sussex bowler to take 50 wickets in the season.
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