Rehan Ahmed and Tom Hartley join exclusive century and ten-for club

Times

4 days ago

In claiming a second five-wicket haul in successive days, Tom Hartley not only inspired his side's second victory of the season but also became the first Lancashire player for 31 years to score a hundred and take ten wickets in the same match (Geoffrey Dean writes). The last to do so had been Mike Watkinson against Hampshire at Old Trafford in 1994.
This was Hartley's third five-wicket return for his county, and his most important yet as it helped lift Lancashire from a lowly sixth to fourth in Division Two. They remain 21 points behind second-placed Glamorgan, but if they can beat the Welsh county at Old Trafford next week, will be well-placed to push for promotion.
Gloucestershire had begun the day 78 adrift with all second-innings wickets in hand, but immediately lost Cameron Bancroft when he fell tamely to James Anderson, being caught at mid-wicket. Gallingly for the home side, his fellow opener Ben Charlesworth was also caught there off George Balderson to end a fine innings of 71. At one point, Lancashire's field placings were so funky they had seven men, and at one point eight, posted on the leg side for the seamers.
On a dry pitch without much carry, it was always going to be spin that was the chief threat. Hartley lured Ollie Price into a rash drive that he edged to slip, before Chris Green, the Australian off spinner, deceived Miles Hammond with an arm ball, pinning him leg-before.
After James Bracey was caught behind off a loose waft at Jack Blatherwick's medium pace, it was Hartley who took the key wicket of Joe Phillips. The 21-year old Cornishman had underlined his promise with a second fifty of the match, but when his side badly needed him to play a long innings, he was caught at short leg. In his next over, Hartley bowled the ball of the day to find Graeme van Buuren's edge with one that turned sharply.
Zaman Akhter's cameo was ended by a superb diving return catch by the athletic Green, before Hartley ended Todd Murphy's stubborn resistance with one that spun out of the rough to bowl him through the gate. Last man Marchant de Lange was caught at silly point to give Hartley outstanding match figures of 11 for 215 from 62.4 overs.
Needing 110 from 26 overs to win, Lancashire lost Luke Wells to Murphy in the third over, but even on a turning pitch, Gloucestershire had far too few runs to play with. Keaton Jennings, with a 60-ball fifty, saw his side home with ample time to spare.
Rehan Ahmed became only the fourth Englishman this century to score a hundred and take ten wickets in the same match, guiding Division Two leaders Leicestershire to a 189-run victory over Derbyshire and strengthening their push for promotion. Shortly afterwards, Lancashire's Hartley repeated the remarkable feat, becoming the fifth Englishman to achieve the milestone in the 21st century.
England all-rounder Ahmed finished the day with seven for 93, and 13 wickets in the match, as the hosts were dismissed for 256.
Scarborough (final day of four): Yorkshire (13pts) drew with Surrey (14pts)
Yesterday morning there seemed little chance of this game ending in anything but a draw (Paul Edwards writes). A combination of a true pitch, the Kookaburra ball and Wednesday's rain had seen to that. But Surrey are chasing a fourth successive title, so that did not prevent Rory Burns's side from doing their damnedest to pressurise hosts whose own concerns centre on the bottom of the Division One table.
Having saved the follow-on inside the first hour of the morning's play, the Surrey batsmen went hell for leather for five bonus points. They reached that initial target of 450 with eight balls to spare and their overall approach was made clear by Ryan Patel, who drove Jack White to Dom Bess in the third over of the day and was dismissed eight runs short of his first century of the season.
Patel's colleagues pursued similar tactics and by the time they were dismissed for 537, giving them a lead of 20, Surrey had smashed 199 runs off 33 overs yesterday. Josh Blake made his maiden first-class fifty before being stumped off Adam Lyth for 72 but the chief beneficiary and target of the visitors' aggression was Bess, who returned the eventful analysis of 35-6-162-7.
Surrey's aim was to sweep aside a Yorkshire side reduced to ten men by the absence of Jonny Bairstow, whose partner, Megan, was in labour with their second child. The strategy produced an early success when Fin Bean fell to Sai Kishore for a single and a second three overs before tea when Lyth failed to get to the pitch of Dan Lawrence's off spinner, edging to Jamie Overton.
Lawrence also took the catch at deepish gully that removed James Wharton just after tea and when the same fielder snaffled Will Luxton off Will Jacks, Yorkshire's lead was just 61 and there was a minimum of 19 overs remaining.
In truth, though, it was never quite on. The draw was certain some time before the players shook hands with Yorkshire on 120 for five, giving them a lead of 100, and only 8.3 overs left.
Yet Surrey's dynamic cricket preserved their unbeaten record and keeps them one point ahead of Nottinghamshire going into the final four games. Yorkshire, meanwhile, drop into the relegation places following Essex's victory at Hove, although they are only 13 points behind sixth-placed Hampshire.