Surrey batsman Hashim Amla hits 88 to help his side beat Derbyshire and boost their hopes of survival

Hashim Amla hit a fighting 88 to help Surrey complete a crucial four-wicket win against fellow strugglers Derbyshire which boosts their chances of avoiding relegation from Division One of the LV County Championship.

Set an awkward victory target of 217 in 73 overs, Surrey slipped to four for two against a tenacious Derbyshire bowling attack on a tricky pitch that produced a relatively low-scoring contest.

But South Africa batsman Amla, rated at No 1 in the world rankings for both Test and one-day international cricket, batted for 202 minutes and faced 159 balls, hitting eight fours in just his fourth championship innings as Surrey’s latest overseas player.

The win, Surrey’s first of the championship season, earned them 21 points and puts them on 97, two ahead of Derbyshire at the bottom of the first division. Surrey remain 15 points adrift of seventh-placed Somerset, but with a game in hand.

At the top of the table it is even tighter after Durham completed a seven-wicket victory over Yorkshire at Scarborough on Saturday.

The home side followed on 299 runs behind but reached 419 second time round, leaving Yorkshire to make 121 in 37 overs after tea.

Scott Borthwick reached 65 in 85 balls to see them most of the way home after an early wobble. The victory puts Durham just 5½ points behind Yorkshire at the top.

Sussex kept alive their title hopes but killed off any lingering ambitions Warwickshire had of retaining the title by refusing to declare and batting through a tedious final day at Edgbaston and thus making it a three-way race.

“We have got to play Durham twice and Yorkshire so it’s an exciting end of the season,” Sussex manager Mark Robinson said.

“We are still outside favourites but we have given ourselves a chance.”

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Somerset crumble to 103 against Derbyshire as their season threatens to turn sour

As if this season had not been difficult enough to stomach for Somerset fans, in recent days the club announced the cancellation of their cider festival, citing poor ticket sales.

When the Taunton locals are off their apples, it must be serious. Monday’s batting performance once again gave them nothing to cheer, and only sorrows to drown.

After winning the toss and electing to bat in a crucial relegation battle, Somerset capitulated to 103 all out, their lowest total of the season.

There were neither demons in the pitch, nor the Derbyshire bowling line-up, which prospered quietly and simply with disciplined seam bowling.

Tony Palladino’s accuracy accounted for the hosts’ top order, before Tim Groenewald tore through the middle, with his third five-wicket haul of the season.

The Somerset innings was summed up by Craig Kieswetter, who attempted to smear consecutive deliveries from Groenewald. After a slice for four and a dropped return catch, Kieswetter finally holed out at mid-off. Three reckless strikes, and out.

That the hosts remain in the game at all owed everything to Piyush Chawla, their overseas import.

His cameo with the bat scored a quarter of Somerset’s runs, and the leg-spinner’s four for 87 took advantage of some unusually prodigious first-day spin, which also caught the attention of an England and Wales Cricket Board pitch inspector in attendance.

Chawla briefly threatened to undo the visitors’ solid opening platform, but an assured, unbeaten stand of 93 in the final session between Richard Johnson (55) and Tom Poynton (53) steered Derbyshire into the commanding position they deserved.

Eleven days cricket remain in this Division One county campaign. But the opening session yesterday could prove decisive for the fate of these two teams.

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Bowlers give Surrey the edge against Derbyshire

Surrey have edged ahead in their relegation battle with Derbyshire after their bowlers, led by Tim Linley and George Edwards, exerted admirable control.

There were runs to be had on this lush-looking track which was presumably what Wayne Madsen thought when he chose to bat but as soon as a partnership started to ooze runs, Surrey yanked things back smartly to stop the flow.

Without a championship win all season, Surrey had their serious hats on so if there was a funny side to England’s sprinkler celebrations on Sunday night, there was certainly no evidence of it in the players' demeanour and the solemn business of accumulating points started right away.

On paper, Derbyshire were slightly ahead in this relegation dogfight, having earned two excellent victories against Middlesex last week and Sussex at the start of the month. It is rather late in the season to show their mettle but in a head-to-head against the floundering wooden spoon contenders, they must have fancied their chances of a third consecutive strike.

Chris Tremlett’s fourth delivery of the morning might have dented that ambition when opener Ben Slater was caught at first slip. It created instant pressure though the arrival of the division’s highest run maker Madsen to the crease took the sting out of Tremlett’s menace.

There was no Jade Dernbach, on England duty, and no Stuart Meaker who is recovering from injury, so George Edwards, a 21-year-old who last played a first-class match for Surrey over a year ago, took on the challenge of first-change bowler.

It took a while for him to work up some pace and aggression but when the button was pushed, it caught a few unawares, starting with Madsen who, wrong-footed, drove loosely to point. Paul Borrington also came a cropper with a quicker ball that he cut to slip and Shivnarine Chanderpaul was worn down by a ball that struck his helmet followed by one that hammered into his pads.

Edwards finished with three for 29 and although Linley went one better with four for 59, the youngster claimed the bigger scalps.

The highest partnership of the innings was the first one but no one thereafter was given a chance to open the floodgates and Derbyshire were all out for 219, leaving Surrey with four uneventful overs to bat out.

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Durston & Hughes inspire Derbyshire

Friends Life t20, Trent Bridge

Derbyshire 108-1 (9 overs) beat Nottinghamshire 92-7 (9 overs) by 16 runs

Wes Durston and Chesney Hughes blasted Derbyshire to a 16-run FLt20 victory over Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.

In a rain-reduced match of nine overs each, Hughes smashed 46 off 25 balls and Durston an unbeaten 50 off 25 as the Falcons posted an imposing 108-1.

The hosts then reached 43-2 off three overs, with Michael Lumb hitting every run before falling to Peter Burgoyne.

But from that point wickets fell regularly, with Chris Read's 13 not out the next best score by a Notts batsman.

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