Durham spinner Callum Parkinson ripped through Northamptonshire’s batting line-up, claiming remarkable figures of six for 20 as the hosts were skittled for just 50, their lowest ever score against the northeast county.
Chasing 204 to win against the Division Two table toppers, Northamptonshire lost all 10 wickets within 22.2 overs on the final morning of this Rothesay County Championship match at Wantage Road, losing by 153 runs with over two sessions to spare.
Matthew Potts again showed why he is the country’s leading wicket-taker as he built pressure from the other end with express pace and claimed two wickets for just 13 runs in seven overs.
A brilliant Parkinson, meanwhile, who at times found some sharp turn, benefited as Northants attempted to take on his left-arm spin with some rash strokeplay. Ben Stokes wrapped up the innings with two wickets for nine. No batter made it into double figures in a morning of utter mayhem.
The result consolidates Durham’s position as Division Two leaders with three games remaining.
Earlier Northamptonshire had made short work of Durham’s tail with leg-spinner Yuzi Chahal taking the last three wickets for 15 runs to finish with figures of five for 84.
Resuming on 246 for seven this morning, Durham soon lost Matthew Potts, bowled by a Chahal delivery which turned across him and hit off-stump. Chahal then removed Ollie Robinson lbw and had Parkinson caught at mid-on.
Ricardo Vasconcelos started the chase by punching Potts down the ground but was smartly stumped by Robinson when he danced down the wicket to Parkinson. Soon after Northants skipper Luke Procter fell to Potts for the second time in the match when he was trapped lbw.
The Durham quick made life difficult for the right-handers too, moving the ball back in and issuing several vociferous lbw appeals but it was Parkinson who struck next when Nathan McSweeney swept round the corner to Kasey Aldridge. Saif Zaib followed next over when he nicked behind off Potts to leave the hosts’ innings in tatters.
A double-wicket strike from Parkinson in the 12th over further extinguished Northamptonshire hopes. First Calvin Harrison drilled one to Potts at short cover who parried the ball before holding the catch, then two balls later George Bartlett nicked behind.
Stokes got among the wickets in his opening over when Lewis McManus chopped on to his stumps before Parkinson completed his five-fer by bowling James Sales with an absolute ripper of a delivery which darted back in.
The end was almost in sight. Louis Kimber slog swept Parkinson straight to deep midwicket before Chahal hit Stokes to second slip to finish an abject batting display from the home team.
Day 3: Durham 205 and 246 for seven (74 overs) v Northamptonshire 263 all out (88 overs). Durham lead by 188 runs.
Northamptonshire captain Luke Procter struck twice in two balls as Northamptonshire v Durham is set up for a thrilling day four.
Durham lost three wickets at the end of an absorbing, hard-fought third day of this Rothesay County Championship Division Two match at Wantage Road to take a 188-run lead into stumps.
After skipper Alex Lees made 80, Stokes (37) and Mayank Agarwal (48) had combined in a fifth-wicket partnership of 89 in almost 24 overs as Durham started to build a sizable lead.
But with just six overs remaining, Procter returned to claim his 200th first-class wicket when he trapped Stokes lbw and then picked up Colin Ackermann first ball. Agarwal then fell just before the close of play, Yuzi Chahal and Calvin Harrison both taking two wickets on a pitch offering prodigious turn.
In the morning, Northamptonshire secured a handy first-innings lead of 58 before they were bowled out for 263, Lewis McManus finishing unbeaten on 29. Matthew Potts claimed the final three wickets to finish with figures of four for 49, while Stokes took three for 58.
Earlier, resuming on 225 for seven after a delayed start due to rain, Northamptonshire soon lost Louis Kimber when he shouldered arms to Potts and was bowled.
McManus and Ben Sanderson, though, counterattacked, adding 36 for the ninth wicket as they earned their side a precious batting bonus point. McManus square-drove Stokes for four while Sanderson struck a pacy full delivery from Potts down the ground, before Potts wrapped up the innings in the space of two balls. First Sanderson hit low to mid-off, while Chahal was done for pace and bowled.
Ben McKinney played a few lusty blows, Lees meanwhile looked composed, driving both Luke Procter and Chahal through the covers.
Durham had almost wiped out the deficit when McKinney misjudged the length and went back to one that spun sharply from Harrison and was bowled off the final ball before lunch.
After the interval, as Northamptonshire rotated their spinners, Durham played watchfully with Lees and Will Rhodes marking a stand of 64 in 24 overs.
Lees though did take on Chahal, driving through cover and striking him for a straight six into the upper tier of the Spencer Pavilion.
Amid a series of confident lbw appeals from Harrison, the leg-spinner instead effected the breakthrough with a sharp bit of fielding at backward point as Rhodes was run out for 27.
David Bedingham could only add 5 to his first-innings 81 before he was trapped plumb lbw by Chahal. The Indian international then removed Lees just before tea with one that drifted away before spinning back to hit middle stump.
Both sides went toe-to-toe after tea with neither able to dominate for the first 90 minutes. Chahal had a strong lbw shout turned down against Stokes before Agarwal pulled him through midwicket.
Stokes smashed Sanderson straight to bring up the 150 and reverse swept Chahal behind square. But for the most part, the experienced Northants bowling pair kept the Durham batters honest and were largely treated with respect in return.
Agarwal got one away through the covers off Nathan McSweeney, but the Australian found sharp turn and bounce to trouble Stokes as Northants persisted with spin.
Stokes broke the tension by reverse sweeping Harrison square for four before Procter’s double-strike. After he trapped Stokes lbw, Ackermann was caught at slip before Agarwal was adjudged caught by George Bartlett at short-leg off Harrison, although replays suggested the ball had come off pad, not bat.
Day 2: Northamptonshire 225-7 v Durham 205, Northamptonshire lead by 20 runs
Fourteen wickets fall on day two at the cinch County Ground but half-centuries from James Sales and Saif Zaib give Northamptonshire the edge.
Sales top-scored with 69 at Wantage Road, while Zaib registered his third consecutive Championship 50 as their side closed on 225 for seven, a slim advantage of 20.
That followed Durham’s last seven wickets falling for 48 as they were dismissed for 205 despite David Bedingham’s 81, with leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal taking four for 36.
Ben Stokes was the pick of the bowlers when Northamptonshire replied, returning figures of three for 40 across three accurate spells.
With overseas duo Bedingham and Mayank Agarwal firmly entrenched at the end of the first day’s play, Durham would have been eyeing a sizeable total when they resumed on 129 for three.
The pair continued to look comfortable until Ben Sanderson nipped one back to hit the top of Agarwal’s stumps and Louis Kimber’s part-time off-breaks accounted for Bedingham, trapped in front by one that pitched and turned.
Having swept Chahal to the boundary, Stokes pushed forward to the spinner’s next delivery and was bowled between bat and pad, while Colin Ackermann’s decision to take a single to mid-off backfired when he was run out by Luke Procter’s direct hit.
Calvin Harrison collected the 100th wicket of his first-class career, bowling Ollie Robinson around his legs and Chahal soon mopped up the tail, bamboozling Matthew Potts with a ball that turned sharply to hit off stump before Kasey Aldridge holed out to long-on.
Procter lasted only three balls of the Northamptonshire reply, dabbing Potts to third slip, although the in-form Ricardo Vasconcelos started well with a crisp cover boundary prior to lunch.
Deploying a seam-spin combination through most of the afternoon, Durham soon had their hosts in trouble as Harrison miscued Callum Parkinson to backward point and Stokes struck with his fourth delivery, bringing it back to hit Nathan McSweeney’s pads.
Stokes’ initial eight-over burst also brought him the wicket of Vasconcelos, who swung to leg and lost control of his bat, which went flying – and the opener had to leave the square himself next ball after feathering behind.
However, Zaib looked in control as he cover-drove and hooked Stokes for boundaries and established a solid partnership of 72 with Sales, who started slowly but gradually got on top of Durham’s attack as the pair whittled down the deficit.
Zaib reached 50 from the final ball of the afternoon session – but his return to the crease after tea was brief, adding two more runs before a top-edged reverse-sweep off Parkinson soared into the hands of slip.
Sales took on the spinners, coming down the track to pump Parkinson for six and another leg-side boundary signalled a 50 partnership with George Bartlett, who was then castled in Stokes’ second spell.
Lewis McManus dug in to help steer Northamptonshire into the lead, but the visitors made a vital breakthrough before stumps as Sales, setting off for a straight-driven single, was sent back and left stranded by Alex Lees’ return to the wicketkeeper.
Durham’s David Bedingham again proved the thorn in Northamptonshire’s side as he scored an unbeaten 57 on the opening day of this Rothesay County Championship clash at Wantage Road.
Division Two leaders Durham slumped to 16 for two after seven overs before the South African international set to work. He picked up where he had left off during his match-winning century against the Steelbacks at Chester-le-Street in June and passed 1,000 first-class runs for the season along the way.
Fellow promotion hopefuls Northamptonshire claimed their first bowling bonus point as Durham closed on 129 for three on a day limited to 30.5 overs by bad light and rain. Former Indian international Mayank Agarwal, playing his first game for Durham, finished unbeaten on 25.
Earlier, Durham won the toss and elected to bat and amid a rain-interrupted morning, Luke Procter struck early when he jagged one back to knock two of Ben McKinney’s stumps out of the ground. Will Rhodes followed next over when he was run out by a sensational direct hit from James Sales.
Durham rebuilt as Bedingham joined skipper Alex Lees in a stand of 59 in almost 15 overs either side of lunch. Bedingham played fluently against the seamers, clipping off his legs and driving crisply through the covers, but Northamptonshire’s slow bowlers started to pose problems before lunch, finding some sharp turn.
Leg-spinners Yuzi Chahal and Calvin Harrison bowled in tandem after the interval with Chahal striking immediately to trap Lees lbw for 24.
Agarwal collected boundaries from the first two balls he faced from Chahal, driving through midwicket and dabbing down to deep-third, but scoring dried up as the two spinners exerted control.
Agarwal eased the pressure momentarily when he struck Harrison straight back over his head for six before rain forced the players to leave the field until 5pm.
Soon after the resumption, Bedingham brought up his 50 when he played Chahal into the off-side for two, while Agarwal swept Harrison behind square for four.
But after just over 10 minutes of play, the skies clouded over again and the umpires took the players off for the final time.