Nottinghamshire dash Lancashire's lofty ambitions with convincing win

Teams hoping to win the County Championship cannot afford many such collapses as the one Lancashire produced at Southport. Needing to score 258 to beat Nottinghamshire and establish a 14-point lead over Durham at the top of the Division One table, Glen Chapple's team lost 10 wickets for 91 runs and subsided to 128 all out inside 51 overs. Lancashire did not get halfway to their target and nor did they deserve to. Chapple's batsmen exhibited weaknesses aplenty against Nottinghamshire's pace attack, beginning with Stephen Moore's flat-flooted slash to Darren Pattinson in the 11th over of the day and continuing throughout a dismal half-day for home supporters. Five overs later Paul Horton let a delivery from Andre Adams go, only to see it remove his off stump. Mark Chilton followed next ball when his forward push edged the ball to Chris Read behind the stumps. Only Karl Brown, who top-scored with 23, displayed the necessary technical accomplishment against seamers of Pattinson's quality, and when the 23-year-old played down the wrong line to the fast bowler in the first over after lunch it marked the beginning of his side's rapid disintegration. Tom Smith eschewed foot movement when attempting to drive Adams and Gareth Cross's crooked defensive shot caused him to play on to Pattinson. Lancashire lost their last five wickets for 25 runs in 65 balls. By contrast, Chris Read's men were excellent. Adams's four for 51 gave him match figures of 10-122 and Pattinson, in another summer bedevilled by injury, collected a season's best five for 44. Together, the pair had too much pace and accuracy for Lancashire's batsmen on a wicket that rewarded such skills. This was Nottinghamshire's first Championship win in eight games since April. It will have been sweet indeed for Read's players, who have to play Durham twice in August.