Cricket: Sussex overcome Leeds hoodoo

COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP

RICHARD MONTGOMERIE hit his second century of the season to guide Sussex to an impressive five-wicket PPP healthcare County Championship victory over Yorkshire at Headingley yesterday.

Chasing a target of 237 on a pitch playing marginally easier than on the first two days, Sussex recorded only their second win at Leeds in 20 attempts and their first since 1966. Their heroes were Montgomerie and the captain, Chris Adams, who shared the decisive second-wicket stand of 147 in 37 overs, the highest against Yorkshire this season, after the opener Toby Peirce had fallen cheaply.

High-flying Warwickshire clinched their fourth County Championship victory in five games in dramatic fashion on an eventful day that saw 18 wickets tumble at Trent Bridge.

Neil Smith's title hopefuls appeared to be sliding towards defeat early on when they were reduced to 66 for 7 in their second innings, giving them a lead of just 55 over Nottinghamshire.

However, Smith was instrumental in the dramatic turnaround, producing a tail-end flurry that enabled Warwickshire to reach 142 all out. That still left the hosts with just 132 to make for victory, but they crumbled to 38 for 8 and were eventually dismissed for a sorry 76.

The Championship leaders, Surrey, will need 36 runs to win with four wickets standing this morning after Lancashire staged a spectacular fightback at The Oval.

Needing 157 to win Surrey were cruising to victory as they reached 78 without loss. But then Lancashire - inspired by their superb Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan - captured four wickets for nine runs in 31 balls as the Surrey batsmen experienced a collective panic attack.