 |
| Usman Khawaja made 86 on debut but Lancashire were bowled out for 266. |
A horrific batting collapse gave Durham a
lead of 88 runs heading into the third day of their County Championship match against
Lancashire, who were bowled out for 266 after a positive start with the bat.
Lancashire lost eight wickets for 61 runs
after debutant, Usman Khwaja (86) and Ashwell Prince (49) added 111 runs for
the third wicket.
The final session of the first day had
frustrated Lancashire after Paul Coughlin and Phil Mustard batted Durham back
into the match and the evening session of the second day was equally disastrous
for the visitors.
The aforementioned partnership continued to
irritate Lancashire in the morning session as Coughlin (85) and Mustard made a
record-breaking ninth-wicket stand worth 150 to put Durham in control.
Shortly after they had reached this improbable
milestone, Coughlin was bowled by Tom Smith (3-90) as the home crowd were
silenced after a long period of elation. Mustard attempted to earn another
batting point, but edged behind for 70 as Kyle Hogg finished with 6-70 and Durham
were bowled out for 338.
Lancashire responded positively but lost
Paul Horton (9) with the score at 30-1 after he was trapped lbw by Chris
Rushworth. Alex Davies continues to be a highlight in an otherwise difficult
season for the 2011 Champions and his 46 led the visitors to 82-1 at lunch.
Ably assisted by debutant Khawaja, Davies
(46) struck eight fours in his innings to continue an impressive start to life
in the first team, but was caught at gully off Ben Stokes after edging a loose
drive.
The partnership of Khwaja and Prince had
all the hallmarks of being a dangerous combination and was reminiscent of last
season when Prince and Simon Katich flourished in Division Two.
On his Lancashire debut, the Australian
international reached his half-century in 80 balls and it seemed as tough he
and Prince could but all day, as the pitch flattened in glorious sunshine.
Having been drafted in to aid Lancashire in
their search for more runs, Khawaja can feel happy with his own performance as
he struck 11 boundaries before falling in similar fashion to Davies by edging
to gully, this time off Coughlin who continued a fine all-round Championship
debut to remove Prince for 49.
After both batsmen were removed in quick
succession, Durham had a much more positive outlook on the match and with the
score at 213-4 the hosts were set for an incredible final session where they
would claim a further six wickets for 53 runs.
The first was that of Steven Croft, who had
made an unbeaten century in the previous match against Warwickshire, but could
only make one run today as Coughlin finished with (3-42).
At 230-5, Lancashire should still have been
able to post 300 and aim to be near enough to Durham’s total, but all purpose
had ben lost from the innings and the remaining batsmen could do nothing to
prevent a disastrous batting downfall.
Jos Buttler (8) and Tom Smith (11) both
fell in identical fashion, edging behind to Mustard off Ben Stokes who finished
with figures of 3-97 after a tough start with the ball and Buttler’s 54-ball
stand at the crease demonstrated how Lancashire’s innings had been reduced to a
standstill.
The visitors were soon in danger of failing
to reach 250 to achieve a second batting bonus point, with Kyle Hogg and Glen
Chapple both dismissed by John Hastings (3-45) for two runs a-piece.
Lancashire had lost four wickets for 19
runs and were adequately reserved in their celebrations when Kabir Ali (15*)
guided them to 250, before Simon Kerrigan (6) skied the ball to Gordon Muchall
to bring a turbulent innings to a close.
With just four overs remaining, Mark
Stoneman (9) and Keaton Jennings (7) guided Durham to close of play unscathed
with the score at 16-0, as the hosts added to their first-innings lead of 72.
No comments:
Post a Comment