Wednesday 27 May 2015 10:17, UK
England man Chris Jordan made a brilliant 56 not out as Sussex secured an enthralling one-wicket victory over Warwickshire in a LV= County Championship Division One thriller at Hove.
Having been set 190 to win a low-scoring affair, Sussex slumped to 45-5, but Ben Brown (53) kept them in with a chance before Jordan’s 34-ball match-winning knock secured an amazing win.
Warwickshire began day three on 180-7, a lead of 169, and they were dismissed for 200 as Jordan (2-38) removed Rikki Clarke (34) and Boyd Rankin (0), and Steve Magoffin (3-55) bowled Ian Westwood (2), leaving Jeetan Patel 27 not out.
However, Clarke (2-35) and Chris Wright (3-54) then removed the top five in the Sussex order and their chances of chasing down 190 looked remote.
But Craig Cachopa (20) helped Brown add 53 for the sixth wicket before holing out to long-on off Patel, and the dynamic Jordan then combined with Brown to add a quick 55.
Rankin (3-32) looked to have changed the course of the match again when he had Brown caught by Patel on the deep mid-wicket boundary and Oliver Robinson (8) caught behind, and then bowled Magoffin for a duck.
That made it 175-9 but number 11 Matthew Hobden (0 not out) managed to survive three balls, one of which was a Wright bouncer which sailed away for four crucial byes.
And Jordan then clinched victory in sensational fashion, smashing Rankin for a straight six, his second of the innings to go alongside eight boundaries.
Warwickshire were left to rue giving Jordan a huge reprieve on 44, when Keith Barker put down a fairly straightforward chance at long leg off Rankin.
Jordan did not make the final England XI for the Test match win over New Zealand which finished on Monday and said: "It is great to be able to come back to Sussex and make a contribution, especially one like that, which helps us win the game.
"Obviously I was disappointed not to play in the Lord's Test you have to get over it very quickly, and it's very satisfying to help us get what was a very special win.
"At 45 for five I don't think anyone gave us much hope but, on that wicket, you can't really bat with a game plan, you just need to be positive, try and manufacture some shots, and ride your luck.
“But we wouldn't have won without Ben Brown's innings. He set things up and I just went out there and decided to play my shots.”
At Worcestershire, visitors Durham are on course to pull off a fine run chase of their own, thanks to a superb century from captain Paul Collingwood on his 39th birthday.
Chasing 318, Durham have reached 270-3 and are 48 runs away from winning a match they looked out of when they were 103-9 in their first innings, in reply to 323.
Scott Borthwick made a hundred in that innings to keep Durham in the game and Collingwood now has them on course for an improbable win.
Worcestershire began the third day on 65-6 but Joe Leach smashed 76 from 53 balls as they added 127 more to reach 192 not out.
Leach hit 10 fours and three sixes in his entertaining knock and was also put down three times before he was last man out, bowled by John Hastings, who took a career best 7-70.
Ben Cox (32) supported Leach ably, helping to add a speedy 75 for the seventh wicket.
The cloud cover of the first two days had given way to sunshine and, with batting conditions easier, Mark Stoneman made 37 as Durham made an enterprising start to their chase.
He and Borthwick (4) then fell in quick succession but Collingwood arrived and embarked on a beautifully controlled knock, reaching his 17th Championship hundred from 140 balls and finishing on 111 not out.
He added 108 for third wicket with Keaton Jennings (61) and, when Jennings was caught behind off Charlie Morris, Michael Richardson (41 not out) proved an equally good accomplice.
The duo have put on an unbroken 96 so far and only the weather or a stunning collapse can deny Durham now.
Collingwood said: “It's been an amazing day to get a hundred on my birthday and get us into a winning position.
“The response from the first innings has been magnificent, we have shown our character."
An intriguing final day is in prospect at Taunton, where the twins Jamie and Craig Overton produced a thrilling last-wicket stand of 76 of 35 balls to put Somerset in a good position against Yorkshire.
Somerset eventually reached 485 all out and, having claimed an unlikely first-innings lead of 47, they then reduced Yorkshire to 117-5, with Craig Overton (3-36) again proving a key figure.
However, Jonny Bairstow (33 not out) and Adil Rashid (23 not out) then guided the visitors to 171-5 at stumps and their unbroken stand of 54 means Yorkshire lead by 124.
Somerset began the day on 309-4 and Aussie Tom Cooper, 55 not out overnight, got to within a run of his maiden century for the county, only to be caught behind off Liam Plunkett.
Steven Patterson (5-70) had already been among the wickets and Cooper’s dismissal left Somerset 409-9.
But the Overton twins then ran riot, Craig (31 not out) smashing four successive fours off Patterson, while number 11 Jamie hit three sixes and seven boundaries in a remarkable 19-ball 50, before he was caught at slip off Rashid.
The momentum was with Somerset as lunch was taken and they built on it soon after the interval when Peter Trego had Alex Lees caught behind for a single.
Will Rhodes (40) and Jack Leaning (52) batted sensibly to take Yorkshire into the lead, but when Rhodes was caught at slip off the occasional off-spin of Johann Myburgh for 40 the advantage was only 35.
It was 96 for two at tea after which Craig Overton struck a purple patch, sending back Leaning, Andrew Gale (12) and Glenn Maxwell (2) in quick succession, before Bairstow and Rashid launched their fightback.
