Surrey stay on course for another title with commanding win over Warwickshire

Surrey took a big step towards successive LV= Insurance County Championship titles,  needing just four overs on day three to secure a convincing victory over Warwickshire by an innings and 97 runs. Surrey brought up their eighth win of the Division One campaign, increasing their advantage over their promotion rivals. Warwickshire lost 17 wickets on day two at the Kia Oval and were soon bowled out for 138 after resuming play still 109 runs behind the leaders at 126 for seven. It did not take long for the hosts to see off their opponents, withvictory coming just 15 minutes into the day’s play when Jordan Clark bowled last man Chris Rushworth for six with the last ball of his second over. In Division Two, Leicestershire kept themselves in the hunt for promotion with an eight-wicket win over Gloucestershire. After Rishi Patel and Sol Budinger lost their wickets early in the piece, an unbeaten partnership between Colin Ackermann (93) and skipper Lewis Hill (62) which yielded 161 runs guided the hosts to their 168 target inside 42 overs at Uptonsteel Grace Road. The Foxes still have work to do but have a game in hand away to Sussex next week, victory there could set up an intriguing final couple of games in which Leicestershire and their chief promotion rivals Worcestershire both face the same opponents – Yorkshire and Durham – in their last two fixtures. Worcestershire, who sit one place above Leicestershire, strengthened their grip on second place with an 80-run win defeat of Glamorgan at New Road. Their fifth victory of the campaign came with more than a day to spare and handed Glamorgan their first loss in the competition this season.