Lees in control
Durham v Gloucestershire at Chester-le-Street. 10, 11, 12 July 2023
Gloucestershire 316 (CDJ Dent 85, MAH Hammond 52) and 188 (MAH Hammond 86) Durham 453 (AZ Lees 195, G Clark 82, BA Carse 62) and 52-2. Durham won by nine wickets, Durham 24 points, Gloucestershire 5 points
Durham secured an emphatic victory in three days to maintain their pursuit of promotion. Gloucestershire were in a promising position at 170 for two, thanks to the steadiness of Chris Dent and strokeplay of Miles Hammond, before Matt Parkinson claimed three wickets which hindered the visitors’ search for a match-defining total. The last four wickets fell quickly on the second morning with Ben Raine and Brydon Carse claiming two each.
Alex Lees then took control as he continued the fine form which had brought him two centuries in the last match. He made batting look simple, but lacked significant support until Graham Clark joined him when the score was 109 for four. They proceeded to add 195 for the fifth wicket in a manner typical of the middle-order partnerships which played a vital role in Durham’s successful season. Lees’ 195 remains his highest score for Durham. Late afternoon hitting from Brydon Carse and Migael Pretorious, on his Durham debut, added a further 73 in 56 balls for the eighth wicket. Both partnerships are Durham records against Gloucestershire.
The next morning Durham batted on and claimed maximum batting bonus points. After an early lunch, Gloucestershire had a calamitous start facing a deficit of 137. Matthew Potts took a wicket in each of his first four overs, three clean-bowled, as they collapsed to 24 for four. Miles Hammond again batted well but none of his teammates were able to stay long enough as the Durham bowlers shared the wickets.
Durham needed to score only 52 runs to claim maximum points and increase their lead at the top of Division Two.