County Championship: Middlesex win at derby to stay in promotion race

Middlesex wrapped up their fifth win of the Division Two season to keep their County Championship promotion challenge mathematically still alive as a dismal Derbyshire succumbed to a three-day defeat by an innings and 66 runs.

With skipper Toby Roland-Jones continuing his impressive streak of form with another five-wicket haul, Derbyshire, 74-3 overnight, were shot out for 119 after 87 minutes of the day’s only session.

Roland-Jones finished with 5-38 for match figures of 10-72 – and the 36-year-old seamer has taken five wickets or more in six of his last nine innings to total 52 wickets for the season.

Ethan Bamber and leg spinner Luke Hollman picked up two wickets each, with 20-year-old left-arm seamer Noah Cornwell completing their demise with his maiden first-class wicket.

The result means that the race for promotion goes down to the final round, although last week’s defeat against Gloucestershire at Lord’s left the odds stacked heavily against Middlesex, handing second-placed Yorkshire a 15-point advantage going into this week’s games.

A seventh defeat of the season means that Derbyshire are almost certain to finish bottom of Division Two for the first time since 2016 after a poor season under head coach Mickey Arthur.

It would be the 16th time in their Championship history that Derbyshire have finished bottom of the pile, comfortably ahead of nearest challengers Somerset.