The Cricketer wraps up the best of the action during day three of round 14 of the Vitality County Championship in 2024
Kia Oval (day three of four): Durham 262 & 177, Surrey 415 & 25-0 - Surrey win by ten wickets
Surrey are closing in on a third successive Vitality County Championship title after cruising to a ten-win over Durham with a day to spare at the Kia Oval.
Durham, who began the third day trailing by 152, never recovered after losing two wickets in the first over to Dan Worrall, who claimed his 50th and 51st scalps of the season when he removed Dan Hogg and Ben McKinney with the fourth and sixth balls of the day.
Worrall and Sam Curran, in only his second Championship appearance of the season, each took four wickets as Durham were dismissed for 177 in their second innings with only Emilio Gay (48) offering prolonged resistance.
That left Surrey needing just 25 to complete their eighth win of the campaign and skipper Rory Burns and Dom Sibley knocked off the target in five overs. It was their sixth victory at the Kia Oval this season with only Somerset, who drew in April, denying them a clean sweep on home turf.
Surrey picked up 23 points which took them onto 221. If Somerset beat Lancashire that will give them 209 going into the final round of matches with Surrey facing Essex at Chelmsford and Somerset hosting Hampshire.
If Somerset fail to win at Old Trafford Surrey will become the first team since Yorkshire in the 1960s to win three titles in a row and a fourth under Burns in six years.
Related: Surrey stay patient and allow Durham to fall into their trap
Sam Curran's four wickets helped Surrey smash Durham (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
Utilita Bowl (day three of four): Hampshire 462 & 204, Worcestershire 273 & 117- - Worcestershire require 277 runs to win with five wickets remaining
Liam Dawson returned 50 wickets in a Vitality County Championship season for the first time after scoring an eighth fifty of the season as Hampshire closed in on victory over Worcestershire.
Spinning all-rounder Dawson reached a half-century of scalps by adding Kashif Ali and Adam Hose to his tally – in doing so beating the 49 wickets he claimed last season – with no spinner in the country taking more this year.
Along with his bowling exploits, no one has passed 50 more times than Dawson in Division One in 2024, as he moved to 907 runs with a 51 which set Worcestershire 394 runs to win.
The visitors ended the day five wickets down, still 277 runs short of victory – but with Jake Libby still undefeated on 55.
Both sides are now only playing for positions after Hampshire's improbable title challenge ended with Surrey's victory over Durham, and Worcestershire's survival already secured.
***
Canterbury (day three of four): Nottinghamshire 433 & 28-0, Kent 225 & 230 - Nottinghamshire win by 10 wickets
Nottinghamshire have thrashed Kent by ten wickets in the Vitality County Championship at Canterbury, condemning the hosts to relegation and boosting their own survival hopes into the bargain.
Jacob Duffy took 4 for 60 and Rob Lord 3 for 42 as Kent were dismissed for 230 in their second innings.
Joey Evison scored 42 to make Nottinghamshire bat again, but the target was a mere 23 and the visitors needed just 3.3 overs to chase it down, Ben Slater finishing on 22 not out with Haseeb Hameed unbeaten on six.
The result ends Kent's wafer-thin chances of staying in the top flight, while Notts will stay up provided they avoid defeat in the final round of fixtures next week.
Freddie McCann celebrates dismissing Matt Parkinson at leg slip (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Related: The ever-reliable Craig Overton stands up for Somerset again
Old Trafford (day three of four): Lancashire 140 & 398, Somerset 146 & 204-6 - Somerset require 189 runs to win with four wickets remaining
Needing 393 to beat Lancashire and keep their hopes of winning their first Vitality County Championship title alive, Somerset ended the third day's play at Emirates Old Trafford on 204 for 6, still 189 runs short of their target.
Should they succeed in their now deeply improbable task, Somerset will take their battle with Surrey into the final week of the season. However, defeat would relegate Lancashire, who will also be playing Division Two cricket next season regardless of their own results if Nottinghamshire take ten points from their final match at home to Warwickshire, who would also need five points from that game.
Related: County Championship 2024: All the permutations ahead of the final two rounds
In yesterday's play, Luke Wells made 130 in Lancashire's second-innings total of 398 but Archie Vaughan responded with 68 to give his side some hope of mounting what would be the highest fourth-innings run-chase against Lancashire.
Those hopes were greatly diminished when George Balderson removed both Vaughan and Tom Kohler-Cadmore after tea but Kacey Aldridge and James Rew looked set to ensure Somerset suffered no further losses when Aldridge was caught by Matty Hurst off Luke Wells for 19 when there were only four balls left in the day's play.
Join The Cricketer's brand new Whatsapp channel for the latest breaking news, comment and features - click here to become a member
Welcome to www.thecricketer.com - the online home of the world’s oldest cricket magazine. Breaking news, interviews, opinion and cricket goodness from every corner of our beautiful sport, from village green to national arena.