Durham poised to beat Kent and win County Championship
Friday, 26 Sep 2008 20:40
Kent skipper Robert Key was dismissed for a duck in their second innings.
Durham looked to be heading towards their first Division One title in the County Championship after dominating day three against Kent at Canterbury.
Kent, who will be relegated if they lose, ended their second innings on 159-5 and still need another 159 runs to avoid an innings defeat. Calum Thorp overshadowed the Harmison brothers with 5-58.
The visitors earlier sealed maximum batting points after declaring on 500-8 with Gareth Breese top-scoring with an unbeaten 121.
Elsewhere, Nottinghamshire's title hopes look bleak after Hampshire ended the day on 376-5 at Trent Bridge.
Hampshire lead by 368 after Nic Pothas smashed an unbeaten 104, which included 11 boundaries, and Michael Brown hit 93.
With Durham poised to defeat Kent, Bilal Shafayat's men must beat Hampshire to clinch the title.
Elsewhere, Lancashire destroyed Somerset's title hopes after closing day three on 122-0 at Taunton.
The visitors need 60 runs to win with Martin Chilton unbeaten on 76 off 97 balls. Somerset were earlier bowled out for 227 in their second innings with Ian Blackwell managing 55, and Gareth Keedy taking 5-56.
Elsewhere, Sussex could escape relegation after closing 75 runs behind against Yorkshire at Hove.
Yorkshire could also avoid the drop into Division Two after racking up 400-9 in their first innings before declaring with Adil Rashid (111) and David Wainwright (104 not out) making tons.
Defending champions Sussex were on 118-2 at stumps with opener Michael Yardy unbeaten on 60.