An excellent team bowling effort and a vital fifty from Colin Ackermann helped Durham pick up a magnificent seven-wicket win against Nottinghamshire in the Rothesay County Championship, despite a century from Joe Clarke.
It was Durham’s morning as the hosts picked up three of the nine wickets they needed including the vital scalp of Ben Slater, who made 74, which was his second half-century of the match.
However, Clarke counter-attacked either side of lunch and managed to take his side into the lead before notching up his first hundred of the season.
There was a late twist though as Durham’s bowling attack, led excellently by Ben Raine, roared back after tea and picked up five wickets to bowl Nottinghamshire out for 347.
Durham had 18 overs to get the 91 runs needed for the win and the chase got off to a dramatic start as the hosts lost two wickets at the hands of Mohammad Abbas, but the experienced head of Ackermann saw them home.
The win sees Durham move up to fourth in Division One and are just 16 points behind their opponents at the top of a congested table, while Surrey are now breathing down Nottinghamshire’s neck, as the gap at the top is just three points heading into the final game of the current block of fixtures.
Slater and nightwatcher Rob Lord resumed on 67 for one, still 190 behind Durham, and their aim was to bat out the day in order to keep their unbeaten record intact.
Durham got their much-needed ealy wicket as they got Lord for 15 as he edged a James Minto ball straight to Ben McKinney in the slips. The hosts got their third soon after as Brydon Carse bowled Freddie McCann for six with one that clipped the off-stump.
Slater remained at the crease and he passed fifty for the second time in the match from 69 balls. He then utilised the pace of Carse as he carved one to the boundary.
The Nottinghamshire opener continued to play nicely, but he was the next man to fall as he was caught behind from a Codi Yusuf delivery for a well-made 74.
Joe Clarke was joined in the middle by Jack Haynes and the former looked good as he smashed a Raine delivery to the offside boundary.
Clarke then continued to take chunks out of the hosts’ lead with a lovely shot for four past third man region just before lunch.
Clarke and Haynes combined for a fifty partnership and the former passed fifty for the first time this season from a rapid 58 balls.
Haynes was very much a foil for Clarke’s aggression, but he departed for 24 as George Drissell got him LBW to leave Clarke needing a bit of a hand. He was very nearly out himself as a short ball from Carse was hooked towards fine leg, but Yusuf failed to take the catch with the Nottinghamshire man on 61.
South African international Kyle Verreynne produced a delightful drive through the covers for four, which took his side into the lead.
Durham’s chances of a win were seemingly slipping away as Verryenne continued to be positive, while Clarke looked composed.
However they got a much-needed breakthrough, as Verreynne, who had looked comfortable, was then caught behind from the first ball after tea as Drissell coaxed an edge from the South African who had to depart for 38.
Clarke then reached his 25th First Class century from 140 balls, but another wicket fell as Lyndon James was caught behind off the bowling of Ackermann for a duck.
Durham’s excellent session continued as Raine bowled Liam Patterson-White for three and he then struck again to bowl Brett Hutton for a duck.
Clarke’s excellent knock of 119 ended as he chopped on from a Yusuf delivery, setting Durham a target of 91 from 18 overs.
There was more drama though, as McKinney was bowled by Abbas for a first ball duck and Emilio Gay was caught behind from the same bowler. Hutton built the pressure with a series of dots, but Ackermann plundered an Abbas ball to the boundary.
The Netherlands international then clubbed an Abbas ball to the boundary to take his side within 50 and he followed that up with a lovely cover drive for four from a Patterson-White ball.
Ackermann, who passed fifty, took Durham to their target, with Carse hitting the winning runs with 10 balls to spare.
Centuries from Emilio Gay, Ollie Robinson and Graham Clark put Durham in a strong position on a record-breaking day in their Rothesay County Championship clash with Nottinghamshire.
Gay and Robinson dominated the morning session as they pushed Durham beyond Nottinghamshire’s total, with Gay notching up a second consecutive home century.
Robinson was then joined by Clark in the afternoon and the pair took the game to the Nottinghamshire bowling attack, with Clark picking up a second consecutive century and Robinson looked back to his best as he got his first hundred of the season.
The hosts kept on going into the evening and broke the county’s record for the highest First Class total, but there was a bright spot for Nottinghamshire as Liam Patterson-White picked up his fifth First Class five-wicket haul and they eventually bowled Durham out for 664. Nottinghamshire reached close on 67 for one, 190 runs behind the hosts.
Clark has been a consistent performer for Durham this season, impressing with the bat on several occasions already this year. On the other hand, Gay and Robinson both had tricky starts to the season, but their class showed today to give their side a chance of a vital win on day four
Meanwhile, Nottinghamshire will be thinking about what could have been as Joe Clarke dropped both Gay and Robinson in the slip cordon in the early stages of their knocks.
Resuming on 320 for four, Gay and Robinson were the unbeaten pair in place and they were looking to get Durham into a lead as soon as possible.
Robinson picked up where he left off as he played a lovely punch for four early on, but he was dropped by Clarke on 35 as the Durham man edged a Mohammad Abbas delivery but the slip fielder dropped one for the second time in the innings.
Gay played a beautiful shot through mid-wicket for four, while Robinson reached his half-century from 75 balls.
Gay brought up his second century of the season in style as he cut a Rob Lord delivery to the boundary, while Robinson smashed a Patterson-White delivery down the ground for six.
Gay’s excellent innings came to an end as Patterson-White bowled him for 104 while attempting a reverse sweep, but that brought the in-form Clark to the crease and he smashed Lyndon James for two boundaries in an over to take his side into the lead.
Clark passed fifty in quick time, with it coming from 56 deliveries, and another milestone came soon after as Robinson got his first century of the season from 141 balls with a lovely boundary through third man region.
Robinson then made the most of a short ball from Patterson-White as he heaved one over the legside boundary for six, but the Durham keeper’s fabulous innings came to an end at 141 when a leading edge from a Lyndon James delivery was caught by Freddie McCann at backward point.
Wickets came like buses for the visitors as England’s Brydon Carse was bowled by the resilient Patterson-White without troubling the scorers.
Clark was agonisingly left on 99 not out at tea, but he reached his second century of the season in the first over after tea and he took his side over the 600 mark.
The runs continued to flow for Clark and George Drissell, but Clark handed Patterson-White a fourth wicket of the day as he chopped on for 121.
But they kept on going as they reached their highest ever First Class score as a county, with Ben Raine getting the single that gave them the record, but he became Patterson-White’s fifth victim when he departed for 10.
Drissell smashed one down the ground for six as the lead stretched past 250, but the Durham innings came to an end when Codi Yusuf was run out, with the lead at 257.
First innings double centurion Haseeb Hameed picked up an early boundary as the league leaders kicked off their second innings, while Ben Slater got off the mark with a nice shot through the covers.
Just before close, Carse got the vital wicket of Hameed for 13 with a beauty which dismantled the Nottinghamshire captain’s off-stump, but Slater, who has looked in good touch, and nightwatcher Rob Lord saw Nottinghamshire to close without further loss.
James Minto, Alex Lees and Emilio Gay starred with the bat as Durham fought back on day two of their Rothesay County Championship clash with Nottinghamshire.
It was well and truly Durham’s morning as Minto, who came in as nightwatchman to see out one over at the end of day one, became the county’s youngest ever half-centurion and he played beautifully along with his skipper Lees to take the hosts to lunch without loss.
Nottinghamshire hit back in the afternoon, picking up three wickets including Minto for an excellent 67 and Lees for a gritty 82, but Gay remained calm and composed in the evening to pass fifty and get his side to 320 for four at close, still trailing by 87.
Minto, who had only scored 40 runs in his four previous First Class matches, looked the part with the bat as he dominated the Nottinghamshire bowling attack in the morning session with some lovely strokes and the left-arm bowler, who opens in club cricket, demonstrated skills that could see him develop into a genuine all-rounder.
Resuming on two without loss, Minto and Lees kicked things off in the morning. The former got the first boundary of the day with a lovely cover drive for four off the bowling of Brett Hutton.
The teenager frustrated the experienced bowling pair of Mohammad Abbas and Hutton as he played some nice shots including a delightful cut shot for four. He then played two more glorious strokes on the offside from the bowling of Abbas.
Lees was happy to be a foil to Minto’s aggression, but he picked up his first boundary of the day as he guided one past third for four.
Minto brought up his first career half-century from 61 deliveries with his eighth boundary of the day, but Nottinghamshire restricted Durham before lunch with Rob Lord and Freddie McCann keeping things tight.
Nottinghamshire got the breakthrough soon after lunch with Hutton getting Minto for a fantastic 67 as he went for one shot too many, pulling one straight to Haseeb Hameed at square leg.
Lees went to his fifty soon after, with the milestone coming from 96 deliveries and he was joined in the middle by England Lions man Ben McKinney, who looked good in the early stages of his innings.
McKinney continued to underline his attacking intentions as he plundered a McCann ball straight down the ground to the boundary, but shortly after he edged an Abbas ball to Kyle Verreynne to depart for 28.
Lees continued to tick along nicely with Gay joining him in the middle and the ex-Northamptonshire man helped Durham steer the ship in the face of some tight bowling from the visitors.
Lees then picked up a rare boundary as he pulled a Lord delivery to the rope to relieve a bit of pressure and Gay followed that up with a nice shot through the covers.
Gay got a second life just before tea, after he edged a Lyndon James ball towards Joe Clarke at first slip but he couldn’t take the chance with the Durham man on 30. However, they did get a big breakthrough in the next over as Lees was caught behind for 82 with Liam Patterson-White the one to get the Durham skipper.
Nottinghamshire’s economic bowling continued into the evening session as Gay and new batsman Colin Ackermann struggled to find the boundary, but the latter broke the shackles as he drove a Patterson-White ball down the ground for four.
Gay was making the league leaders pay for the drop as he became the third Durham player to pass fifty in the innings, with his coming from a more attritional 113 balls.
The second new ball came for Nottinghamshire and runs started to flow for Ackermann who played a delightful shot off Abbas for four, but he then departed for 37 as he edged a beauty from Abbas to Verreynne behind the stumps to give the visitors a much-needed breakthrough.
Ollie Robinson joined Gay at the crease and played a lovely shot through the covers to take Durham to the 300 mark and the pair took Durham to stumps without further loss.
Haseeb Hameed’s remarkable unbeaten double century put Nottinghamshire in a strong position on day one of their Rothesay County Championship clash with Durham.
The Division One leaders, who were put in to bat at Banks Homes Riverside, had the better of the morning, with openers Hameed and Ben Slater combining for a partnership worth 104.
However, it was Durham’s afternoon as four wickets from Codi Yusuf helped the hosts rein Nottinghamshire in, but Hameed reached three figures for the second time this season and he dominated the evening session to reach his second First Class double ton and lead his side to a first innings total of 407.
Durham began their reply with one over left to bat and they reached two without loss at close.
Hameed’s innings didn’t go without its chances, but on the whole it was an excellent knock from the former England opener, who was a rock during the Nottinghamshire first innings as wickets fell around him.
Durham, who had England quick Brydon Carse in their line up for the first time this season, won the toss and elected to bowl on a green pitch.
However, Nottinghamshire got off to a good start with the bat, with skipper Hameed taking a liking to the bowling of Yusuf as he picked up three boundaries in an over.
The opening pair continued to accumulate and frustrate Durham’s bowling attack, as they accelerated to their 100 partnership within 20 overs and Ben Slater brought up his half-century with a clip off his legs that went to the boundary.
James Minto got the breakthrough soon after as Slater departed for 52, with the opener edging one straight into the gloves of Ollie Robinson.
The in-form Hameed then reached his half-century from 71 balls in the final moments before lunch, but Durham struck back after the break as Yusuf got Freddie McCann for 26 when the number three attempted a pull shot but he could only help the ball on its way through to Robinson.
Yusuf struck again to remove Joe Clarke, with the South African forcing the Nottinghamshire man to chop one on to his off-stump and Carse then produced a moment of brilliance to remove Jack Haynes for one, as the former Worcestershire man chipped one up and the England bowler made an excellent one-handed return catch.
Kyle Verreynne joined Hameed at the crease and they steadied the ship for the visitors, absorbing the pressure that the Durham bowlers were putting them under. Hameed looked to break the shackles as he got back-to-back boundaries off the bowling of Minto. The former England man then danced down the pitch to George Drissell and launched one down the ground for six.
Shortly after, Yusuf broke the partnership and got his third of the day as the dangerous Verreynne was caught behind for a well-made 41. Lyndon James couldn’t build on a nice start as Yusuf got him caught behind for 21 and Drissell struck soon after to remove Liam Patterson-White without scoring.
Despite the wickets falling, Hameed remained calm and passed three figures for the 17th time in his First Class career, but another partner was back in the pavilion when Ben Raine bowled Rob Lord.
After tea, Hameed came out and attacked the Durham bowling, taking his side over 300 when he swatted a Raine delivery to the boundary.
Brett Hutton remained solid alongside Hameed as they tried to eke out every run they could from their first innings and Hameed reached his 150 as he hooked a Yusuf ball for four.
Durham continued to be frustrated as Hutton played a nice shot through the offside to the boundary.
Durham took the second new ball, but it had little effect as Hameed pulled a Raine ball for four as he closed in on 200.
Hutton then departed at the hands of Carse for a stubborn 32, but Hameed doubled up and reached 200 from 240 balls and he did it in style as he plundered a Drissell ball for six.
Carse removed Muhammad Abbas to bowl Nottinghamshire out for 407, which left Hameed unbeaten on 206. Durham had one over to bat, with nightwatch Minto and Alex Lees seeing the hosts through to close.