Matt Milnes bowls Kent to pressure-relieving victory

COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION TWO ROUNDUP: Meanwhile, Middlesex and Durham played out a draw at Lord's, with the visitors sensing a sniff but ultimately unable to break through for a third win of the season

ECB Reporters Network | 04/05/2026 at 17:15

Lord's (day four of four): Middlesex 430 & 146-4, Durham 567 - match drawn

A resolute half century by Max Holden, his second of the match, prevented Durham's third consecutive Rothesay County Championship victory as Middlesex battled to secure a draw at Lord's.

Holden finished unbeaten on 77, sharing a key partnership of 82 with Ben Geddes (26) for the fourth wicket after the home side, 137 in arrears on the first innings, had slumped to 53 for 3.

Matthew Potts and Callum Parkinson's stand of 71 – a Durham record for the ninth wicket against Middlesex – enabled the visitors to post 567 in their first innings before seamer Ben Raine followed up his earlier five-wicket haul with figures of 3 for 23.

But Holden did enough to haul Middlesex towards safety before the contest was curtailed by bad light, ensuring the draw which was nevertheless enough to propel Durham to the top of the Division Two table.

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^{David Bedingham struck a century in Durham's draw at Middlesex (Stu Forster/Getty Images)}

Canterbury (day four of four): Kent 352 & 355, Derbyshire 304 & 158 - Kent won by 225 runs

Matt Milnes bowled Kent to their first Rothesay County Championship win in over a year, as they routed Derbyshire by 225 runs at Canterbury.

Milnes took career-best figures of 6 for 12 as Kent blew the visitors away for just 158 in their second innings, wrapping up the win with 54 overs remaining.

Luis Reece was Derbyshire's top scorer with 67 but he lacked any real support, and the game was over at 2.44pm, when he holed out to Ekansh Singh and was caught by Chris Benjamin.

A crowd of over 600 took advantage of free entry on the final day, but as on Day Three, when Derbyshire took two wickets in the first over, any latecomers would have missed an explosive start.