Durham Second XI 352AO & 251/9 beat Warwickshire Second XI 358ao &241ao
Bas de Leede’s unbeaten 77 guided Durham Second XI to a thrilling one-wicket win as they open up their 2XI Championship campaign with victory over Warwickshire at Edgbaston Community Sports Ground.
Needing 24 runs to win at the start of day four with just one wicket in hand, Sam Conners started convincingly with two boundaries to gain 10 from the opening over as Durham closed in on victory.
The pair then navigated Warwickshire’s spinners to bring the scores level before Conners struck for four into the leg side to take Durham over the line.
Half-centuries from Bas de Leede (70*) and Ben McKinney (53) set up thrilling final day with Durham Second XI 24 runs away from victory with one wicket remaining against Warwickshire at Edgbaston Community Sports Ground.
Beginning the third day on 22 without loss, Warwickshire Seconds added a further 15 before James Minto dismissed Taz Ali.
Paul Coughlin and George Drissell then took two scalps each as Durham claimed four wickets with the visitors adding just 12, falling from 55/1 to 67/5.
Hamza Shaikh made 37 to take his side 20 124 before falling victim to Coughlin. The host continued to frustrate Alan Walker’s side with partnerships of 45 and 50 for the seventh and eighth wickets.
Daniel Hogg, Mitchell Killeen and Drissell took the final three wickets as Durham dismissed Warwickshire for 241 on the stroke of tea with Coughlin and Drissell claiming three apiece in the innings.
This left the visitors requiring 238 to win in the game’s final four sessions and got off to a flyer despite the early loss of Wilf La Fontaine-Jackson, making 50 from the opening nine overs as McKinney and Scott Borthwick went on to share 80 in 76 balls.
McKinney made a powerful 53 from 37 balls with five fours and a quartet of sixes before he and Borthwick were out in consecutive overs. Drissell made 13 before becoming the second of six lbw dismissals of the innings.
Haydon Mustard shared 61 alongside de Leede before wickets began to tumble as Durham lost four wickets for 21 runs- amidst de Leede reaching 50 from 60 balls.
Daniel Hogg added 20 from 27 balls, striking two sixes before he became Eddie Miller’s fifth wicket, leaving the match finely poised going into the final day.
George Drissell (88) and Haydon Mustard (61) lead the way with the bat for Durham Second XI, trailing Warwickshire Second XI by 22 after day two at Edgbaston Community Sports Ground.
Starting the day on 0/0, Ben McKinney and James Minto shared 37 for the first wicket before Ethan Bamber removed Minto’s leg stump.
Rob Yates then took a trio of wickets, dismissing Wilf La Fontaine-Jackson cheaply before taking the wickets of Scott Borthwick and Ben McKinney (47) in quick succession to leave Durham 99 for four, still trailing by 259.
Drissell and Bas de Leede hit back with a stand of 67 in 70 balls before the latter thinly edged behind to Taz Ali for 27.
Drissell and Mustard then both made half centuries with Drissell going on to score 88 from 112 balls with 13 boundaries while Mustard’s knock of 61 came from 86 deliveries and featured nine boundaries.
Durham were 272/6 when Drissell fell to Ali but Paul Coughlin hit a quickfire to ensure the visitors made it to 352, giving Warwickshire a lead of six. Yates and Ali claimed four scalps apiece with Bamber taking two in support.
Warwickshire sent out Vansh Jani and Ali to open and the duo saw the hosts through to the close, adding 16 runs in six overs.
Sam Conners shines with the ball as Durham Second XI dismiss Warwickshire Second XI for 358 on the opening day of their ECB 2XI Championship campaign at Edgbaston Community Sports Ground.
After being put into the field by the hosts, Durham struck early as James Minto knocked back Theo Wylie’s off stump in the sixth over.
Warwickshire responded with a partnership of 158 between Rob Yates and Hamza Shaikh with Yates going to three figures from just 126 deliveries as the Edgbaston-based side raced to 172 for one.
Their stand was put to an end in the following over though as Sam Conners struck twice in two balls, finding Shaikh’s outside edge for 58 before arcing one into the top of Zen Malik’s off peg.
Conners then took his third of the day four overs later as he removed Vansh Jani via his outside edge before Bas de Leede had the hosts five down before tea; although Yates made it to the interval unbeaten on 142 with his side on 254.
Yates added seven more before he fell to George Drissell and Arjun Nahal made 48 before becoming de Leede’s second scalp.
The hosts added 50 for their eighth wicket before losing a pair of wickets in quick succession, Paul Coughlin claiming his first and Conners his fourth.
Coughlin then wrapped up the innings as he had Olly Hannon-Dalby caught at slip; Conners ended with standout figures of 4/37 from 13 overs.
The Ds faced one over on day one, ending the day without scoring for no loss.