Notts flirt with world record low

LONDON: Nottinghamshire flirted with a world record low score in First-Class cricket yesterday before being bowled out for 79 by Essex in the English County Championship. Chasing Essex’s 203 all out at Trent Bridge, the home team were seven for eight at one stage, before last pair Stuart MacGill of Australia and Muhammad Malik hit out desperately to put on 60 for the last wicket. The lowest First-Class score ever recorded was 12, by Oxford University against the MCC in 1877. Essex’s Scott Brant, whose fellow Zimbabweans were crushed by an innings in the First Test by England last week, took a career-best six for 45 with his left-arm fast medium. Notts fielded three other Test players in their batting line-up apart from MacGill. Jason Galian made a duck, Usman Afzaal got three and Chris Cairns of New Zealand made one. None of the top eight batsmen scored more than three.