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Sam Cook starred with an extraordinary nine-wicket haul on a ramshackle day of batting, as Essex and Northamptonshire did their level best to fast-forward the end of their county seasons by two full days, and thereby trigger an early start to Essex’s celebrations after they all but secured one of the more spurious red-ball trophies of their storied recent run.The Second Division trophy may lack the cachet it held back in 2016, when Essex kickstarted their reign as the country’s pre-eminent first-class team by marching back to the top flight after a six-year absence – this time, they will be picking up a gong for finishing precisely seventh out of 18, which is about as specifically weird as this grand old game gets.But at least they are likely to seize their spoils in style, as Northamptonshire limped to the close of their second innings on 23 for 5, still trailing by 66 runs and with their hopes of making it even as far as lunch on day two looking as flat and forlorn as James Sales’ off stump, as Cook signed off a remarkable personal haul of 9 for 26 in 17.5 overs by bowling the hero of Northants’ recent rearguard against Durham with the final ball of the day.Even allowing for the brilliance of a young bowler who has now surged past 50 wickets for the season, there really were no mitigating circumstances in a desperate team display. Five of Cook’s dismissals were pinned-on-the-front-pad lbws, as Northants – seemingly suffering from end-of-era-itis as David Ripley’s fabled reign dribbles to an unworthy conclusion – found themselves consistently confounded by a modicum of movement on an unwavering full length.Adam Rossington even won the toss for the visitors and chose to bat first, perhaps having considered that Simon Harmer in late-September is a threat best countered in the first innings than the fourth. As it was, Harmer barely had a chance to feature. Northants were three-down for 29 before he entered the attack for a five-over foray in the first innings, and though he served up a handful of sizzlers in a three-over burst before stumps, this is shaping up as possibly the quietest contest of his Essex career.Harmer may also be involved in some fairly quiet Essex celebrations, as and when the contest is sealed, given that Ronnie Irani’s current boardroom agitations seem to centre around allegations of a drinking culture at Chelmsford. Nevertheless, as the County Ground lined up at the lunch break for an emotional salute to the retiring Ryan ten Doeschate, after 19 years of trophy-harvesting service, it was a salutary reminder that the game’s glories are judged in human terms as well as by the weight of a team’s silverware.Adam Rossington survives an appeal for lbw, a rare achievement in Northants’ innings•Andrew Miller

Tendo declined the chance to be directly involved in this fixture, and with Tom Westley also absent due to his fast-impending parenthood, the captaincy passed to one of Essex’s younger senior pros. And for 47.4 overs, spanning two separate innings, Dan Lawrence would have been forgiven for thinking he’s got this leadership thing nailed. Jamie Porter set the full-lengthed tone with a brace of wickets in his first four overs – each of them a left-hander in Ricardo Vasconcelos and Luke Procter, whose off stump went tumbling as he flung his hands dismissively through an ill-aligned drive.And thereafter, Northants’ innings degenerated like a clueless younger brother in a game of Brian Lara Cricket. Rob Keogh: full, straight, pinned on the pad! Saif Zaib: full, straight, pinned on the pad! Emilio Gay: full, straight, pinned on the pad! Josh Cobb, full, straight, pinned on the pad!Guileless from top to bottom, right down to the skipper Rossington himself, who signalled some resistance when he dropped to one knee to slog-sweep Cook over midwicket for six, only to ruin his own endeavours by attempting the same trick too balls later, to be … you guessed it, pinned on the pad by a straight one!Simon Kerrigan was then pinned on the front pad by a full and straight one (fancy that) to give Cook his fifth wicket in the space of 39 balls, having actually gone wicketless for the first 32 balls of his day, whereupon Porter broke with the theme of the innings as Sales was caught at first slip by Alastair Cook for a duck, Northants’ last three wickets falling without addition.Related

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Essex in reply were rambunctious from the outset. Nick Browne and Alastair Cook had written off nearly half the deficit inside the first six overs before both men nicked to slip in the space of the next four balls – Cook’s innings of 18 from 17, with four expansive fours, another flighty display from a batter who has seemed all season to be tiring of the hard yards that for so many years have been his calling card.There was to be no let-up in Essex’s appetite, however, as they surged into the lead inside 15 overs, and squandered two more wickets in the process – Josh Rymell losing his off stump to a length ball from Procter, and Lawrence, with six fours in a bristling 33, choosing the wrong length from which to chase his seventh, as he scuffed a low drive to the substitute Gareth Berg at slip.The race to the bottom continued as Paul Walter and Adam Wheater swung for a defendable lead, as if attempting to set up a run-chase in a rain-ruined title decider – they’ve certainly had some practice in that regard in recent years. Tellingly, there wasn’t a single lbw in Essex’s innings, as Jack White and Tom Taylor earned their four wickets apiece through a probing off-stump line, inviting aggression and as often as not a nibble to the cordon. In its own way, a total of 170 all out, at nearly four runs an over, made as little sense as the ineptitude that had preceded it.But it was soon to be put back into context as Essex’s seamers swaggered back out for the second-innings kill. Two balls into his resumption, Sam Cook aimed full and straight, and pinned Vasconcelos on the pad for the eighth lbw out of 11 Northants dismissals in the day. Before his day’s work was done, he had delivered Simon Kerrigan a first-day pair – a rare ignominy on a day packed with them – then added Rob Keogh for good measure before taking the wind out of Sales. There’s not a lot of fight left in this one. But at least it was glorious weather for a drubbing.

Middlesex’s young bowlers just about held their nerve to secure a six-run win over Lancashire in a magnificent Royal London Cup match at Emirates Old Trafford.Defending 257, the visitors were indebted to 20-year-old leg spinner Luke Hollman, who took 4 for 56, but the visitors had to withstand a late assault from Danny Lamb, whose 21-ball 33 looked as though it might win the game until he was bowled by Ethan Bamber when four balls remained in the game.Middlesex’s total owed much to Sam Robson’s 81-ball 76 and also to Martin Andersson’s partnerships with tailenders Thilan Wallalawita and Bamber that saw 67 runs added for the last two wickets in less than ten oversThe visitors probably envisaged making an even bigger total when they were 80 for 1 in the 18th over but Stevie Eskinazi became the second of his side’s batters after Josh de Caires to be caught by Lamb when he top-edged a rank full-toss from George Balderson to fine leg where the Lancashire all-rounder dived full length to clutch the ball in his right hand.Eskinazi’s departure for 45 was followed by that of the Middlesex skipper Peter Handscomb for 14 seven overs later and once again Lamb literally had a hand in things when he dived backwards from short fine-leg to take a one-handed snare off Jack Morley.Related

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By that stage Robson had reached his fifty off 54 balls and the four-day opener continued to bat fluently despite injuring his groin and needing a runner. Robbie White was caught behind off leg-spinner Luke Wells for 18 and that wicket started a collapse that saw Middlesex decline from 154 for 3 to 190 for 8 in nine overs.Three of the five wickets were taken in eight balls by Tom Bailey, who finished with 3 for 33 and was clearly the pick of his side’s attack. Indeed Bailey was the only bowler to concede less than five runs an over and Wallalawita helped himself to two sixes and a couple of fours when Jack Morley and Liam Hurt’s radar malfunctioned. Andersson ended the innings unbeaten on 42.Lacashire’s reply began badly as both Josh Bohannon and Wells fell to Bamber and James Harris for single-figure scores but Keaton Jennings and Rob Jones had put on 63 in some comfort before Jennings injured his calf when setting off to complete a leg bye.Following treatment he was helped from the field in obvious pain but Jones and Steven Croft added a further 77 before Croft fell to Hollman for 41. Balderson then hit de Caires for two sixes over the short leg-side but both he and Jones were dismissed by Hollman, whose eighth over was crucial in deciding the outcome.Jones was caught by de Caires at long-off for a career-best List A score of 72 but that only prompted Lamb’s defiant assault that nearly brought Lancashire a famous victory. Jennings’ injury prevented him coming out to bat when Lancashire’s ninth wicket fell.

ScorecardJohn Simpson admitted Lancashire held a slight advantage•Getty Images

There was no possibility of playing cricket on the second day of this match at Southport. The overnight rain relented quite early in the morning but it was replaced a couple of hours later by another front which drenched the outfield that the Lancashire and Southport groundstaff had worked so hard to dry. At three o’clock Peter Hartley and Steve O’Shaughnessy called things off for the day and the only surprise was that they had not taken that decision an hour earlier.Food tended to dominate proceedings thereafter. The rain may have prevented cricket being played but it softened the ground at Trafalgar Road and made it all the easier for the young crows to forage for worms; in the tents and marquees the corporate hospitality guests tucked in as heartily as they had every right to do, especially given that they had been denied their cricket. The players drifted back to their hotels in town with plans to watch the football or go out to eat in one of Southport’s many restaurants. Another day in another season.The good news from the point of view of those attending on Sunday and Monday, when the weather forecast is considerably better, is that this looks like a three-day pitch. A par score is reckoned to be about 240 and much will therefore rest on whether Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Dane Vilas can be parted on the third morning. It would be difficult to fancy Middlesex’s chances on a pitch showing variable bounce at the Grosvenor Road End if they conceded a lead of anything over 70 or so, and the need for points is not lost on the champions’ wicketkeeper-batsman, John Simpson, whose unbeaten 53 held his side together on the first afternoon.”I’d say Lancs probably edged the first day,” he said. “It nipped around early and it was a strange day, as much as anything because there were four guys caught down the leg side, which I’ve never seen before. It was a case of applying myself when I got the opportunity to bat.”When you’re coming at four down with about 70 on the board you have to get your head down but capitalise on any loose deliveries and try to put the bowler under pressure. It was a good old fashioned grafting knock. We got a couple of quick wickets and then the pitch settled down a bit. Then it started swinging a little and I’m not sure whether that’s got anything to do with the tide coming in or going out. But it was an intriguing day.”Simpson is in his ninth season at Lord’s and is one of the best uncapped cricketers in England. Time and again people reading their morning papers at county matches see that he has scored runs and wonder what his prospects might be without Bairstow, Buttler and Billings in the England set-up. Across the river the same is said of Ben Foakes, whose time should surely come. Simpson, himself, is more concerned with helping Middlesex defend the title they won so gloriously at Lord’s last September. Four successive draws hardly help but there is a long way to go yet.”Apart from the Hampshire game where we had to dig in and fight really hard to come away from with a draw, I think we’ve played some really good cricket,” said Simpson “We dominated all four days against Essex without getting over the line but the weather curtailed that game. Against Surrey we had to cope with Sangakkara but he’s a world-class player and churning out runs and hundreds is what world class players do.”It’s now a case of getting it all together and putting in a total team performance, which we haven’t done so far. But Lord’s has been a tough place to get results – I think we only won two games there last season – so I think it’s going to be a case of trying to force wins at home and win games on the road. You have to remember that we’re a couple of games behind some teams and a couple of good wins will put us back in the mix.”

Match Facts

Tuesday, April 4, 2017
Start time 1900 local (1330 GMT)Bangladesh have lost their last seven T20Is•Associated Press

Big Picture

Bilateral T20Is can become meaningless when fitted towards the end of tours. Teams use these games to prepare for future endeavours and to give the players who had been confined to the bench some game time. As a result, not many of these matches are memorable. But the series between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh has gained importance after stalemates in both the Tests and ODIs.The hosts would consider themselves favourites. They beat both South Africa and Australia away from home and have been bolstered by the return of Lasith Malinga. Additionally, the competition at the top of the order also bodes well for them. They have four openers to choose from: Kusal Perera, who has recovered from a hamstring strain, captain Upul Tharanga, Danushka Gunathilaka and Dilshan Munaweera.Bangladesh would regard the tour as a lost opportunity if they end up not winning any trophies. They struggled in New Zealand and their count of successive T20I losses reached seven, but in subcontinent conditions, they pose a stronger threat.There is very little difference between their ODI and T20I batting line-ups, and this continuity has helped the players feel more secure. On the bowling front, captain Mashrafe Mortaza and Taskin Ahmed have been among the wickets recently, while Mehedi Hasan has taken to limited-overs cricket as well as he did to Tests.Lasith Malinga made a triumphant return to international cricket in Australia last month•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Form guide

Sri Lanka LWWWW (completed matches, most recent first)
Bangladesh LLLLL

In the spotlight

Asela Gunaratnewas the most talked-about batsman during Sri Lanka’s last T20I series, and was so with good reason. Having struck back-to-back fifties to help beat Australia in their own backyard, the focus will be on him to repeat the feat at home.Twenty20 is Sabbir Rahman‘s favourite format. So far on tour, he has hit two decent forties in the Colombo Test and a fifty in the Dambulla ODI. His fans will be expecting a big one from him now.

Team news

Kusal has passed his fitness test, and as such, is available for this match. But Sri Lanka were reluctant to say where he would bat, or if he would slot back into the XI. They might have to choose between fast bowlers Vikum Sanjaya and Nuwan Kulasekara. Apart from that, most of the line-up will be similar to the one that played against Australia in February. Left-arm wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan, who missed the latter part of the ODI series against Bangladesh, is expected to regain his T20 place.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Danushka Gunathilaka, 2 Dilshan Munaweera, 3 Upul Tharanga (capt), 4 Chamara Kapugedera, 5 Asela Gunaratne, 6 Kusal Perera/ Milinda Siriwardana, 7 Seekkuge Prasanna, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Lakshan Sandakan, 10 Vikum Sanjaya/ Nuwan Kulasekara 11 Lasith MalingaBangladesh are unlikely to tinker with their batting line-up, but they might perhaps mull over Mohammad Saifuddin. The uncapped fast-bowling allrounder could be used to give one of the frontline quicks a break. Left-arm spinner Sunzamul Islam is another option available to the visitors.Bangladesh (possible): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Soumya Sarkar, 3 Sabbir Rahman, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mosaddek Hossain, 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Mehedi Hasan, 9 Mashrafe Mortaza (capt.), 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Taskin Ahmed

Pitch and conditions

An unusually hard surface might afford some help to the fast bowlers early on. The average score batting first in the last five T20Is at the R Premadasa Stadium is 150. Overall, teams that have batted first have won 14 out of 23 completed matches at this venue. There is a slight chance of rain in the evening.

Stats and trivia

• The only two batsmen, out of both squads, to have more than 1,000 T20I runs are Tamim Iqbal (1202) and Shakib Al Hasan (1159).
• Sri Lanka have won just one T20I at the Premadasa in 11 outings. They have better records in Pallekelle – seven wins out of 11 games – and Hambantota – three wins out of six games.
• Sri Lanka is one of five countries where Bangladesh have never won a T20I.
• Sabbir has the most Player-of-the-Match awards (3) for Bangladesh in T20Is.

Quotes

“We’ve got to be consistent in getting those runs as well, and that has to carry over to the T20 format. In Australia we’ve chased 170-odd as well. Even here, if we can get and chase 180 – scores like that – that would be the best thing.”
“When we played the decider against England in Chittagong [last October], we lost despite having a good record there. So these things don’t really matter much.”

ScorecardFile photo – Callum Ferguson top scored with 90•Getty Images

Callum Ferguson and Tom Cooper were instrumental in setting Tasmania a target of 300 for victory in Hobart, where South Australia must win to have any chance of making the Sheffield Shield final. The Redbacks began the third day at 0 for 69 and were dismissed in the final over the day for 406, an innings that was based around a 173-run fifth-wicket stand between Ferguson and Cooper.Opener Jake Weatherald fell early for 28 to the bowling of Sam Rainbird, before debutant John Dalton was caught behind for 71 off fellow first-gamer Gabe Bell, the Tasmania fast bowler who finished with 4 for 97 and seven wickets for the match. South Australia’s hopes faded when Bell snared both Travis Head and Jake Lehmann for single-figure scores to leave the total at 4 for 120.But Ferguson and Cooper then settled in for a long stay before Cooper was eventually caught behind for 83. Ferguson had the opportunity to push for his second century in consecutive matches but instead was caught behind off Rainbird for 90. However, there were still plenty of runs to come, with Adam Zampa striking 63 to lift the total to 406.