ESSEX secured promotion to Division One of the LV County Championship after a six-year absence thanks to a five-wicket victory at Derby.

Only a win would do for Essex after Northamptonshire overcame Leicestershire by an innings to go second on Friday.

Essex chased down a target of 359 in 65 overs to take the second promotion place after Derbyshire had declared on 240 for four, with Garry Park scoring an unbeaten 103.

It seemed a generous declaration by the home side and Essex skipper Mark Pettini and Ryan ten Doeschate completed the task with five overs to spare. The sixth-wicket pair added 156 in just 17 overs, with ten Doeschate scoring an unbeaten 108 off only 59 balls. It was Pettini who hit the winning runs to end on 85 not out and spark wild scenes of celebration.

Chris Rogers, the Derbyshire skipper, defended his declaration. He said: ‘We thought they would have struggled to get that if we bowled well but all credit to them, they batted fantastically. We wanted to come third and we needed some time to bowl them out.’

JONATHAN BATTY occupied the crease for two and a half sessions to deny Glamorgan victory against Surrey at the Brit Oval. Batty scored 120, his second century of the summer, and featured in a match-saving fourth-wicket stand of 174 with captain Stewart Walters that helped Surrey to reach 309. Glamorgan had declared on for 702 for eight.

Scoreboards

LV County Championship First Division

Nottinghamshire v Sussex (Trent Bridge; final day of four): Nottinghamshire (20pts) beat Sussex (4) by 35 runs

Nottinghamshire First Innings 328 (*†C M W Read 88, M A Wagh 67)

Second Innings 286 (*†C M W Read 83, S R Patel 54; D R Smith 4-58

Sussex First Innings 243 (C D Nash 135; A R Adams 4-63)

Second Innings
*M H Yardy b Ealham 48
C D Nash lbw b Fletcher 70
J S Gatting c Wagh b Fletcher 70
M W Goodwin c Ealham b Patel 9
R J Hamilton-Brown c Read b Patel 4
†A J Hodd lbw b Ealham 11
R S C Martin-Jenkins c Brown b Patel 15
D R Smith c A Patel b Patel 80
P P Chawla st Read b Patel 8
C D Collymore c Hales b Patel 3
J D Lewry not out 1
Extras (b 5, lb 10, nb 2) 17
Total (75.1 overs) 336

Fall: 1-114, 2-145, 3-170, 4-176, 5-199, 6-224, 7-278, 8-303, 9-309

Bowling: Shreck 5-1-26-0; Fletcher 21-3-93-2; Adams 11-1-59-0; Patel 24.1-1-84-6; Ealham 14-2-59-2

Umpires: N G B Cook and R T Robinson

Worcestershire v Durham (Worcester; final day of four): Durham (12pts) drew with Worcestershire (9)

Worcestershire First Innings 356 (G M Andrew 77, D K H Mitchell 67; L E Plunkett 4-104)

Second Innings (o/nt 41-1)
D K H Mitchell c Mustard b Plunkett 26
S C Moore lbw b Blackwell 16
*V S Solanki b Plunkett 31
M M Ali lbw b Plunkett 25
A N Kervezee c Mustard b Claydon 48
†S M Davies c sub b Plunkett 97
D A Wheeldon c Di Venuto b Blackwell 30
G M Andrew not out 59
R A Jones not out 53
Extras (b 14, lb 9, w 2) 25
Total (7 wkts, 91 overs) 410

Fall: 1-41, 2-55, 3-93, 4-128, 5-169, 6-286, 7-291

Bowling: Davies 19-3-64-0; Claydon 12-3-53-1; Plunkett 29-1-132-4; Blackwell 27-2-124-2; Benkenstein 2-1-5-0; Smith 2-0-9-0

Durham First Innings 634 (S Chanderpaul 201, M J Di Venuto 113, D M Benkenstein 109, L E Plunkett 52)

Umpires: N L Bainton and J F Steele

Yorkshire v Hampshire (Headingley Carnegie; final day of four): Hampshire (11pts) drew with Yorkshire (10)

Hampshire First Innings 351 (M J Lumb 81, J H K Adams 51; A Shahzad 4-75)

Second Innings (o/nt 41-0)
J H K Adams b Wainwright 72
L A Dawson c Shahzad b Kruis 35
M J Lumb c Brophy b Lyth 64
C C Benham not out 67
S M Ervine not out 18
Extras (b 15, lb 3, w 2, nb 8) 28
Total (3 wkts dec, 98 overs) 284

Fall: 1-105, 2-142, 3-262

Bowling: Hoggard 11-3-31-0; Shahzad 13-4-27-0; Kruis 14-5-50-1; McGrath 15-2-39-0; Wainwright 20-6-49-1; Lyth 19-9-38-1; Rudolph 5-0-32-0; Brophy 1-1-0-0

Yorkshire First Innings 348 (J J Sayers 95, J A Rudolph 68, J M Bairstow 50)

Umpires: M J D Bodenham and N G C Cowley

Finished Friday

Old Trafford: Lancashire (21pts) beat Warwickshire (3) by ten wickets: Warwickshire 148 (N M Carter 59; G Chapple 6-19) and 244 (T R Ambrose 55; G Keedy 6-50); Lancashire 389 (V V S Laxman 113, S J Croft 79; A S Miller 4-76) and 4-0

Second Division

Derbyshire v Essex (Derby; final day of four): Essex (20pts) beat Derbyshire (8) by five wickets

Derbyshire First Innings 474 (*C J L Rogers 222, G T Park 57; C J C Wright 4-97)

Second Innings (o/nt 103-3)
*C J L Rogers c Cook b Danish Kaneria 42
W L Madsen c Walker b Wright 0
G T Park not out 103
G M Smith c and b Danish Kaneria 16
W W Hinds b Danish Kaneria 36
J L Sadler not out 27
Extras (lb 8, nb 8) 16
Total (4 wkts dec, 64 overs) 240

Fall: 1-20, 2-63, 3-85, 4-143

Bowling: Napier 10-2-30-0; Wright 16-2-59-1; ten Doeschate 5-0-26-0; Kaneria 17-1-36-3; Westley 3-0-3-0; Cook 7-0-40-0; Pettini 6-0-38-0

Essex First Innings 356 (T Westley 132, M J Walker 75)

Second Innings
J K Maunders c Wagg b Smith 55
A N Cook c Sadler b Clare 25
T Westley c Jones b Wagg 40
M J Walker c Sadler b Smith 18
*M L Pettini not out 85
†J S Foster c Park b Smith 13
R N ten Doeschate not out 108
Extras (b 5, lb 4, w 2, nb 4)15
Total (5 wkts, 60 overs) 359

Fall: 1-45, 2-114, 3-139, 4-160, 5-203

Bowling: Jones 11-0-68-0; Wagg 19-0-102-1; Clare 6-0-35-1; Smith 18-0-96-3; Park 1-0-12-0; Madsen 4-0-29-0; Redfern 1-0-8-0

Umpires: S A Garratt and R A Kettleborough

Surrey v Glamorgan (Brit Oval; final day of four): Glamorgan (11pts) drew with Surrey (10)

Surrey First Innings 430 (U Afzaal 170, M N W Spriegel 100, A Harinath 57)

Second Innings (o/nt 24-1)
†J N Batty b Harris 120
M J Brown b Kruger 17
R J Logan c Wallace b Kruger 6
A Harinath b Kruger 12
*S J Walters c Dalrymple b Harris 82
M N W Spriegel c sub b Harris 0
C P Schofield lbw b Croft 21
C J Jordan not out 37
U Afzaal not out 2
Extras (b 4, lb 1, nb 2, pen 5) 12
Total (7 wkts, 104 overs) 309

Fall: 1-20, 2-41, 3-63, 4-237, 5-237, 6-256, 7-302

Bowling: Harris 19-4-70-3; Kruger 12-2-28-3; Cosker 26-8-70-0; Croft 35-6-91-1; Allenby 3-0-8-0; Dalrymple 5-1-18-0; Cosgrove 4-0-14-0

Glamorgan First Innings 702 (M J Cosgrove 175, G P Rees 154, †M A Wallace 139, J Allenby 137)

Umpires: J W Holder and D J Millns

Finished Friday

Bristol: Gloucestershire (22pts) beat Kent (4) by an innings and 23 runs: Kent 264 (S J Cook 60no, R W T Key 50; J E C Franklin 5-30, J Lewis 4-50) and 265-9 (S A Northeast 128no); Gloucestershire 552 (S J Adshead 114, J E C Franklin 104, H J H Marshall 87, C G Taylor 69).

Northampton: Northamptonshire (22) beat Leicestershire (3) by an innings and 196 runs: Northamptonshire 600-8 dec (R A White 193, A J Hall 159, N Boje 90no, M H Wessels 65); Leicestershire 218 (P A Nixon 52; A J Hall 4-41) and 186 (J G E Benning 72; D S Lucas 7-45)