County Championship - Essex champions, Bears relegated as it happened

Summary

Essex champions for first time since 1992
Somerset beat Lancs by seven wickets to give Essex title
Warwickshire are relegated after Middlesex draw
Worcestershire beat Leicestershire by six wickets to go top of Division Two
Northants defeat Glamorgan by seven wickets to stay in promotion race
Hardus Viljoen returns match figures of 15-170 as Derbyshire beat Sussex

Live Reporting

Matthew Henry and Paul Grunill

Signing offpublished at 17:09 British Summer Time 15 September 2017
Image source, Rex
Another round of County Championship matches is over and Essex are champions for the seventh time in the club's history, having beaten Warwickshire on Thursday.
We'll be back next Tuesday for the penultimate round of fixtures, with promotion and relegation issues still to resolve, but for now we'll leave you with the thoughts and feelings of some of the Essex players, expressed via social media.
Thanks for your company.
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Results at-a-glancepublished at 17:07 British Summer Time 15 September 2017
Division One
Middlesex 204 & 14-1 v Hampshire 146
Match drawn
Somerset 335 & 69-3 v Lancashire 133 & 269 (f/o)
Somerset won by seven wickets
Surrey 592 v Yorkshire 394 & 281-2 (f/o)
Match drawn
Division Two
Glamorgan 207 & 320 v Northamptonshire 310 & 221-3
Northants won by seven wickets
Gloucestershire 385 & 294-9 dec v Kent 386
Match drawn
Derbyshire 338 & 322-8 v Sussex 271 & 344
Derbyshire won by 45 runs
Leicestershire 404 & 220 v Worcestershire 493 & 132-4
Worcestershire won by six wickets
DERBYSHIRE BEAT SUSSEX BY 45 RUNSpublished at 17:02 British Summer Time 15 September 2017
Breaking
Sussex 271 & 344 all out v Derbyshire 338 & 322-8 dec
David Wiese can't believe what he has done. The Sussex man is caught in the deep and the first ball after the new ball. Harry Podmore takes the wicket.
Hardus Viljoen finishes with eight in the innings.
A remarkable match.
Sussex's promotion push is all-but over.
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Postpublished at 17:01 British Summer Time 15 September 2017
Sussex 271 & 333-9 (80 overs) v Derbyshire 338 & 322-8 dec
Whittingham survives two balls of Viljoen's latest over.
Four leg byes help Sussex in their quest.
What a thriller this is.
The new ball is taken.
Postpublished at 16:59 British Summer Time 15 September 2017
Sussex 271 & 343-9 (79.3 overs) v Derbyshire 338 & 322-8 dec
Stuart Whittingham meets Wiese in the middle with Sussex's target looking a way off with the last pair in.
The number 11 will be happy with that though.
He clips four to fine leg and is off the mark. More importantly though they require less than 50.
47 to win for Sussex.
WICKET Garton (c Hamidullah Qadri b Podmore) 12published at 16:52 British Summer Time 15 September 2017
Sussex 271 & 332-9 v Derbyshire 338 & 322-8 dec
Booooooo.
Derbyshire may well dramatically win this game but I'm a little disappointed Hardus Viljoen isn't going to take all 10.
Harry Podmore gets in on the action as he dismisses Garton who had hit the previous two balls for four and then six.
Sussex need 58. Derbyshire need one wicket.
Postpublished at 16:49 British Summer Time 15 September 2017
Sussex 271 & 321-8 v Derbyshire 338 & 322-8 dec
A wicketless over from Viljoen. It doesn't feel like that has happened too often in this match.
The new ball is just two overs away. That could be crucial.
Viljoen has all eight of these wickets.
Sussex still have a sniff with 69 needed.
Postpublished at 16:46 British Summer Time 15 September 2017
Sussex 271 & 320-8 v Derbyshire 338 & 322-8 dec
The 71 runs Sussex need to win look a long way off now.
They were 267-3 with Wright and Van Zyl at the crease. Now they're 319-8.
Hardus Viljoen starts another over...
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Essex title win 'end of the beginning'published at 16:43 British Summer Time 15 September 2017
Essex players and staff react to the county's first Championship title success since 1992.
Read More
WICKET Archer (c Hughes b Viljoen) 25published at 16:39 British Summer Time 15 September 2017
Sussex 271 & 318-7 v Derbyshire 338 & 322-8 dec
Image source, Rex
Viljoen is going to do this! He has all eight!!
Jofra Archer had looked pretty good but the South African gets his man.
Just two wickets needed for Derbyshire now. They looked almost out of it since tea but now they're huge favourites.
GLOUCESTERSHIRE DRAW WITH KENTpublished at 16:38 British Summer Time 15 September 2017
Gloucestershire 385 & 294-9 dec v Kent 386
Gloucestershire declare their second innings with a 293-run lead and the game at Bristol comes to an end. Gareth Roderick finishes unbeaten on 78, while all-rounder Darren Stevens takes 5-77 for Kent.
The visitors now have 164 points, 43 below second-placed Notts, with only 48 left to play for in their final two games against Derbyshire (away) and Glamorgan (home). You'd get very long odds on them winning promotion from that position.
Postpublished at 16:33 British Summer Time 15 September 2017
Sussex 271 & 307-7 (74 overs) v Derbyshire 338 & 322-8 dec
David Wiese is the new batsman for Sussex. He hit 45 in the first innings so this is by no means over and he proves his worth by hitting four on his first ball.
Viljoen took seven in the first innings and now has seven in this.
Remarkable pace bowling.
WICKET Robinson (b Viljoen) 15published at 16:29 British Summer Time 15 September 2017
Sussex 271 & 303-7 (73.4 overs) v Derbyshire 338 & 322-8 dec
Seven from seven in the innings for Hardus Viljoen. Time to get excited ladies and gents...
The South African knocks back Ollie Robinson's stumps and Derbyshire are just three wickets away from winning this match.
Sussex need 87 runs.
WICKET Norwell (run out) 8published at 16:25 British Summer Time 15 September 2017
Gloucestershire 385 & 289-9 v Kent 386
Just two games remain and Gloucestershire lose another wicket at Bristol as Liam Norwell is beaten by a direct hit at the bowler's end. They are 288 ahead, with Gareth Roderick 75 not out, as Matt Taylor comes to the crease.
Thriller at Hovepublished at 16:19 British Summer Time 15 September 2017
Sussex 271 & 292-6 (71.1 overs) v Derbyshire 338 & 322-8 dec
Jofra Archer and Ollie Robinson are now at the crease for Sussex in this game with all results still possible.
South African Hardus Viljoen is still steaming in and this is quite a battle with young Archer.
A few words are said between the two but Archer swats a four and the target is below 100.
98 to win for Sussex.
SURREY DRAW WITH YORKSHIREpublished at 16:12 British Summer Time 15 September 2017
Surrey 592 v Yorkshire 394 & 281-2 (f/o)
There will be no more play at the Oval because of bad light with Yorkshire batsman Shaun Marsh finishing unbeaten on 125 in his final innings of the summer for the county.
The Australian batted for five and a half hours, faced 263 balls and hit 17 fours, but he will be replaced by West Indies opener Kraigg Brathwaite for the county's final two games.
Surrey take 12 points after their 10th draw of the summer and move up to third place, while Yorkshire collect 10 and climb above Somerset and Middlesex into fifth.
With only 13 points covering third to seventh places, though, the struggle to avoid relegation is far from over.
Image source, BBC Sport
for Gareth Roderickpublished at 16:09 British Summer Time 15 September 2017
Gloucestershire 385 & 275-8 v Kent 386
Gareth Roderick reaches his half-century off 76 deliveries with a single off Adam Milne and Gloucestershire are now 278 ahead.
Mathematically, promotion will still be possible for Kent after this game is drawn - but realistically, their chance of going up is almost gone.
WARWICKSHIRE RELEGATEDpublished at 16:07 British Summer Time 15 September 2017
By way of confirmation, Somerset's victory over Lancashire and the draw between Middlesex and Hampshire means that Warwickshire will be playing Division Two cricket in next summer's Championship.
Could Viljoen take all 10?published at 16:06 British Summer Time 15 September 2017
Sussex 271 & 275-6 v Derbyshire 338 & 322-8 dec
Hardus Viljoen is still on for 10 wickets in this innings by the way.
He has all six so far, having taken seven in the first innings.
Sussex need 115 runs with four wickets left.
Viljoen has 6-62 in 19 overs and three wickets in his two overs.
WICKET Wright (b Viljoen) 80published at 16:02 British Summer Time 15 September 2017
Sussex 271 & 272-6 v Derbyshire 338 & 322-8 dec
Remarkable.
Hardus Viljoen has 13 wickets in the match and things have totally swung around since tea.
Sussex's main man Luke Wright is bowled and now Derbyshire have three wickets since the interval and need just four more to win.