Stokes helps bowl Durham to 153-run win at promotion rivals Northamptonshire

Men's Football / 4 September 2026 No fans for Old Firm derbys for rest of the season 4 September 2026 Men's Football / 4 September 2026 Preston and Blackburn want to end Championship familiarity but not like that 4 September 2026 JAMES NALTON explains how this historic Lancashire clash has become a fixture of the Championship season

BEN STOKES helped bowl Rothesay County Championship Division Two leaders Durham to an emphatic 153-run win at promotion rivals Northamptonshire.

After Durham got up to 261 in their second innings to set a victory target of 204 at the start of day four, Callum Parkinson raced through the hosts’ batting line-up in stunning fashion on his way to six for 20.

Stokes then finished the job when he had the last laugh on Yuzvendra Chahal, who had dismissed the former England captain with a wonder delivery in the first innings, but was caught behind for 10 with Northamptonshire dismissed for only 50.

Elsewhere in the second tier, Kent were able to make the most of Northamptonshire’s defeat to boost their own promotion hopes with victory by an 84-run margin at home to Worcestershire.

After the away side resumed day four on 84 for three with a victory target of 380, they were all out for 295 despite an unbeaten 103 by captain Brett D’Oliveira with Matt Milnes, Hasan Mahmud and Keith Dudgeon all taking three wickets apiece for Kent.

Kent now boast a 15-point advantage over third-placed Northamptonshire in the battle to go up to Division One.

Elsewhere, Gloucestershire secured a remarkable victory by 213 runs against Derbyshire after the visitors collapsed to 105 all out. Sai Kishore picked up five wickets after James Bracey’s 104 not out had helped the hosts declare on 359 for five earlier on day four.

In Division One, Nottinghamshire had to settle for a draw at Leicestershire, who resumed on 250 for seven and made it up to 358 before Haseeb Hameed struck a century for the home team in the second innings at Trent Bridge.

Matt Critchley fell four runs short of a century and could not prevent Essex from losing by 47 runs to Sussex in pursuit of 329. James Coles was the pick of the bowlers for the visitors with four for 98 at Chelmsford.