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Saffas Abroad: Tons of runs as wickets tumble

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Wiaan Mulder of Leicestershire celebrates with teammate Colin Ackermann

Colin Ackermann, Wiaan Mulder and Simon Harmer capped off a standout week from South Africans on the English County Championship scene.

Ackermann and Mulder both hit maiden double centuries in a record-breaking Leicestershire total of 756-4 in a draw with Sussex on Thursday.

SA-born Dutch international Ackermann resumed on 167, and Proteas all-rounder Mulder on 129, on the final morning of the four-day match at Hove.

They proceeded to take their partnership to 477 before the declaration was made with Ackermann 277* and Mulder 235*. It is a new record partnership for the fifth wicket in the County Championship.

Harmer harvested a match haul of 13-156 as Essex thrashed Gloucestershire, coached by former Proteas assistant coach Dale Benkenstein, by nine wickets on Wednesday.

The Proteas off-spinner had put Essex on the front foot immediately with figures of 5-44 in the first innings, before a marathon spell in the second saw him pick up 8-112.

It was the fifth time that Harmer had taken eight wickets in an innings for Essex since joining the county in 2017  and he also has two nine-wicket hauls in an innings.

His tally for the season is now 40 in seven matches.

Gloucestershire skipper Graeme van Buuren failed to inspire his men with the bat, scoring just 34 and 12.  

In a 203-run victory for Northamptonshire against Kent, Ryan Rickelton struck nine fours in a first-innings effort of 55 from 95 balls, then upping the ante in the second with a commanding 133 (13 fours and a six) before he was out off the bowling of George Linde, who finished with match figures of 4-92.

Leus de Plooy smashed 122* (14 fours) and 134 (15 fours) for Derbyshire in a nervy draw with Durham at Seat Unique Riverside, while speedster Kyle Abbott took 5-45 in the first innings and 1-49 in the second as Hampshire beat Warwickshire by eight wickets in Southampton.  

Hashim Amla notched up 79 and 28 as Surrey beat Yorkshire by four wickets in Scarborough, while paceman Dane Paterson finished with 2-142, with Colin Ingram having managed just 34 and 33 as Nottinghamshire and Glamorgan played to a draw in Cardiff.

SA-born England international Keaton Jennings’ mammoth 318 (28 fours and four sixes) was the fourth-highest individual score in Lancashire’s history, and the best since Neil Fairbrother made 366 against Surrey at The Oval in 1990, in a draw with Somerset in Southport. 

Lancashire skipper Dane Vilas could only muster seven, but former Proteas all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe claimed 5-174 in the first innings and 2-27 in the second, to go with a whirlwind 55 runs off 69 balls that included six boundaries.

Photo: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images