Their three-day demolition of Surrey was enough to give them a 10-point lead over Durham, and that victory was significantly boosted by Petersen’s first century of the summer, 105 off 108 balls.
Their total of 394 gave them a lead of 201, and against the excellence of Zimbabwean seamer Kyle Jarvis and the Saffa-turned-Kiwi Neil Wagner, Surrey couldn’t even match it second time around. Jarvis ended with 11 in the match (6-70, 5-49), with Wagner backing up with 3-52 and 2-17. The only resistance came from Kevin Curran’s son, Tom, who contributed 53 of Surrey’s 107.
Petersen’s ton shows steady progression after two scores in the 80s, a 61 and a near-miss 48. He has picked up where he left off last season, in which he scored 861 in 14 matches.
Durham owe their position to a four-wicket win over Warwickshire, one which relied heavily on a century from Keaton Jennings, son of Ray. Durham faced a first-innings deficit of 123, but Warwickshire was bounced out for 114 in the second innings. Faced with a target of 238, Jennings solidly worked his way to 113 off 228 balls, with 14 fours and a six, aided by Paul Collingwood (44). It was his third century of the season and his eighth in first-class cricket. It was especially important after Durham had fallen to 87-4.
Ryan McLaren, too, played a vital part in Hampshire’s win over Nottinghamshire. He took 3-24 in restricting Notts to 189 in the first innings (Riki Wessels 72), but then added a very useful 43, batting at No 8 as the Southampton side struggled to 223 in the second innings and a lead of 305. His 2-37 off 16, along with Tino Best’s 4-47 ensured a 69-run win; their first of the season.
It’s not often that a side scoring nearly 500 ends up losing, but Derbyshire fell victim to a Kent whirlwind, which blew away Wayne Madsen‘s hundred-run effort.
Derbys ended the first innings on 492, to which Madsen had added 103. But Kent replied with 412 and then demolished the Derbys line-up for 94, James Tredwell and Calum Haggett sharing four apiece. Only Madsen resisted, scoring 37; but Kent were left with a target of just 175 for a seven-wicket win.
Elsewhere, Jacques Rudolph‘s Glamorgan ground out a draw with Essex, as did Gareth Roderick‘s Gloucestershire side, against Northants in which Richard Levi scored a pair of 23s.
Compiled by Mark Salter
