Title holders Lancashire have been relegated from the County Championship Division One after losing to Middlesex at Lord's this afternoon.
The Old Trafford outfit needed to chase down 304 in their second innings to elongate their top-flight status, or hope that fellow strugglers Surrey lost against Nottinghamshire.
However, Steven Crook [5-48] ripped through the Lancashire top order, before Ravi Patel [4-72] polished off the tail to leave them 109 runs short of their target.
Across the capital, former England off-spinner Gareth Batty claimed four scalps, while Kevin Pietersen also took two wickets as Surrey recorded a convincing 195-run win at The Oval.
That result was enough to keep Surrey up and condemn champions Lancashire to relegation with one fixture of the season still remaining.
