Thursday 18 September 2014 18:55, UK
Chris Rogers completed the 11th first-class double century of his prolific career as Middlesex eased relegation fears by batting out a draw on the final day of their LV=County Championship match with Somerset at Taunton.
Unbeaten on 97 overnight, the veteran Australian took his number of first-class hundreds to 70 and went on to bat through the day to register 203 not out. His side closed on 328-4 - leading by 28 runs - when the players shook hands at 4.20pm, Joe Denly having contributed a valuable 60.
The result meant Middlesex took seven points from the game to Somerset's 11 and will go into their final Championship fixture at Old Trafford next week 19 ahead of opponents Lancashire in the fight to avoid the drop to Division Two.
Rogers faced 386 balls and hit 29 fours in an innings spanning seven and a half hours, showing huge powers of concentration on what became a seriously hot afternoon.
Elsewhere, Sussex picked up their sixth win of the season with a 191-run triumph over Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.
Chasing a victory target of 385 from a minimum of 75 overs, the home side were bowled out for 193 in 60.3 overs. Steve Magoffin claimed 4-51, to take eight wickets in the match, with three wickets apiece to Chris Jordan and Ashar Zaidi.
Earlier, as Sussex batted on until 20 minutes before lunch, Ed Joyce, who had been undefeated on 115 overnight, fell for 149 after sharing a stand of 60 with Luke Wells, who scored 79.
Luke Fletcher, on his 26th birthday, was the pick of the Nottinghamshire attack, taking 3-66, to add his first-innings haul of 3-67.
Mark Robinson, Sussex head coach, said: "I'm delighted and always thought we could bowl them out if we scored enough runs. It was important that Mags (Magoffin) knocked over their top two and to get Hales, who can score so quickly, was crucial.”
