Horton century brings Lancashire into contention.

Horton's second century of the summer led
Lancashire to 256/6 at close of play.

A fine century from Paul Horton spearheaded Lancashire’s first innings at Emirates Old Trafford as the opening batsman made 114 to help guide the hosts to 256/6, 84 runs in arrears of Durham’s total.

Horton and Luis Reece (36) gave Lancashire a good start, breaking the record for the highest opening stand against Durham worth 138 runs and Ashwell Prince made an unbeaten half-century to assist their efforts on a patient day for all concerned.

Durham added just 11 runs to their overnight total of 329/8 before Tom Smith and Simon Kerrigan continued their impressive contributions in this fixture with the ball, claiming a wicket a-piece to bring the innings to a close.

Ben Stokes made his intentions clear, attempting to swipe Kerrigan (4-86) trough the leg-side, a tactic which eventually led to the Durham all-rounder being caught on the boundary by Prince for 27.

Smith (5-45) then became the leading wicket-taker in Division One when he removed Chris Rushworth (5), who was caught comfortably by Usman Khawaja in the covers to end Durham’s innings at 340.

Lancashire’s reply can be described as turgid, but in such a pivotal fixture the hosts responded with a responsible batting display, one which may prove to be the difference between avoiding or succumbing to relegation.

Both Horton and Reece started their knocks with patience, but once the former had found the fence a handful of time he began to open up and his contribution to the record-breaking partnership with Reece became much more sizable than that of his batting partner.

Two contrasting approaches were, however, very effective for Durham yesterday and the pair complimented one another nicely as they mimicked the efforts of Durham’s openers to reach 50 for the first wicket unscathed.

Lancashire's previous best opening stand against Durham, set by Michael Atherton and John Crawley in 2000, soon came under threat as Horton began to accelerate, reaching his fourth fifty of the season.

Reece faced a total of 124 deliveries for his 36 runs, but played a crucial role in his fifth hundred-partnership with Horton. He was, however, eventually undone by the persistence of Scott Borthwick (2-93) as he was caught by Paul Collingwood.

Borthwick bowled for most of the day from the Pavilion End, although initially introduced early on in Lancashire’s innings from the Statham End and he soon claimed his 100^th first-class wicket when he removed Khawaja cheaply, taking a return catch off his own bowling. 

The loss of two wickets in quick succession was far from ideal given that Lancashire were still trailing Durham by 198 runs, but the introduction of Prince proved to be important in the context of the second day.

Horton soon reached his second century of the summer, his first at Old Trafford since he scored 156 against Leicestershire last September, and Prince became a dependable batting partner to the Lancashire opener as he thwarted Borthwick’s best efforts.

Conditions were unfavourable for Horton on a cold and windy day in Manchester and he soon fell to the pace of Chris Rushworth (1-41), who trapped Horton lbw with Lancashire on 174/3.

Steven Croft was unable to continue his respectable run of form in the County Championship, leaving a straight delivery from John Hastings (1-44), losing his off-stump as he fell for just 6.

Prince, like Horton before him, was now in search of a stable partnership and Alex Davies obliged with a useful contribution of 25 from 44 balls as he and Prince added 58 for the fifth-wicket partnership.

Their resistance was ended by Stokes (1-49) when Davies was caught off the glove by Callum MacLeod, but not before Prince registered a typically dependable fifty in 93 deliveries.

With a handful of overs remaining on the second day, the loss of Davies brought Smith (0*) to the crease, but the ever-decreasing quality in light eventually tolled, bringing play to a close.