Day 4 Lancashire 2nd XI 311 (77.4) & 242/7 (67.3) beat Durham 2nd XI 384 (107.2) & 168 (55)
Daniel Hogg takes two late wickets but is unable to prevent Durham 2nd XI falling to a final day defeat to Lancashire at Burnopfield, who maintain their place at the top of the table of the ECB Second XI Championship.
Durham began the day requiring five wickets to win against the Red Rose, who needed 112 runs to make it to their target of 242.
Harry Singh and Thomas Aspinwall were at the crease and looked as though they were going to carry the visitors to victory, bringing up a 100 stand in 150 balls.
The pair took their side to 236 before Durham found a breakthrough, Hogg displacing Singh’s off stump for 66 in the 63rd over.
Hogg picked up a second wicket later in the over as he had Calvin Dickinson out lbw with a yorker for zero to put some late doubt into the visitors’ minds, at 236 for seven.
Durham increased the pressure on Lancashire but were ultimately unable to claim victory, despite Lancashire taking a further four and a half overs to knock off the final six runs.
Aspinwall finished unbeaten on 79 as the visitors were victorious by three wickets, Daniel Hogg and Brandon Glover claimed a pair of wickets apiece for Durham in the final innings.
Day 3 Durham 2nd XI 384 (107.2) & 168 (55) vs Lancashire 2nd XI 311 (77.4) & 130/5 (40)
Durham require five wickets on the final day of their ECB Second XI Championship match against Lancashire thanks to wickets from Brandon Glover, George Drissell and Sebastian Hughes-Piñán.
Durham began day three needing just one wicket to end Lancashire’s first innings and found it within five overs; Daniel Hogg cleanly bowled Harry Birkman to claim his fourth wicket and give Durham a 73-run first innings lead.
Durham had another positive start with the bat, bringing up a 50-run opening partnership within 13 overs. This partnership was put to an end at 72 on the final ball of the 17th over as Danny Lamb found Harry Crawshaw’s edge, with Matthew Hurst catching him on 35.
Lamb had a second breakthrough in the 23rd over when he pinned Ben McKinney, the opener departing for 44. Jack Morley had Ross Whitfield dismissed in the next over with Lamb catching on the leg side, leaving Durham 87 for three.
Jonathan Bushnell and Callum Gaffney attempted to disrupt the flow of wickets sharing a measured 27-run partnership before Jack Morley trapped the former in front for his second wicket of the innings.
Morley made it two wickets in two balls as he span one past Haydon Mustard’s bat onto the top of off stump, Durham were 114 for five. Gaffney shared 23 runs with George Drissell before he fired a Morley delivery to Lamb at mid-off.
Lancashire grabbed another wicket in the following over as Stanley McAlindon feathered Lamb’s delivery through to wicketkeeper George Bell. Daniel Hogg was next to come and go for Durham, Morley having him caught and bowled.
Morley took two wickets in an over for the second time in the innings, having Sebastian Hughes-Piñán caught at short leg on the penultimate ball of the 46th over; giving him six wickets in both innings.
George Drissell- who finished 33 not out, put on 25 runs for the last wicket with Oliver Gibson. This left Durham 168 all out when Calvin Dickinson had Gibson out leg before wicket, setting the visitors a total of 242 runs to win.
Keaton Jennings and George Balderson put on 39 for the first Lancashire wicket before falling within three overs of each other. Jennings departed first for 14 as he was out lbw when attempting to sweep.
Balderson followed when caught by Ross Whitfield off Brandon Glover’s bowling for 25, leaving the Red Rose 45 for two. Glover soon had his second, having George Bell caught by Crawshaw, putting Lancashire on the back foot at 46 for three.
A mix-up between the wickets cost George Lavelle his wicket as he was run out for seven with the visitors on 68. Durham’s next breakthrough came courtesy of Hughes-Piñán as Matthew Hurst skied to Brandon Glover for 21, leaving Lancashire 127 for five.
Lancashire finished day three on 130 for five, leaving the game in the balance with Durham requiring five wickets and the visitors requiring 112 further runs for victory.
Day 2 Durham 2nd XI 384ao (107.2) vs Lancashire 2nd XI 301/9 (73)
Daniel Hogg starred on day two for Durham 2nd XI as he took three Lancashire wickets to help reduce the visiting side to 301 for nine, keeping Durham ahead by 83 runs.
Durham could only add nine further runs to an overnight score of 346 before Jack Morley span one past Stanley McAlindon’s defence into his off stump. Morley had another just two overs later as he similarly bowled Daniel Hogg.
Haydon Mustard reached his half century in the 103rd over, pulling Thomas Aspinwall for four. His knock was soon ended when he chipped to Rob Jones at long-on for 59, giving Morley a five-fer. Morley had a sixth wicket when he had Oliver Gibson trapped in front of his wickets, leaving Durham all out for 384.
Gibson was straight back into the action when he pinned Keaton Jennings to remove him for seven at the end of the third over. Lancashire then produced a 56-run partnership before McAlindon removed George Balderson for 27 in the first over after lunch, Harry Crawshaw taking the catch.
Lancashire were well placed at 181 for two with Josh Bohannon and Rob Jones sharing a valuable partnership before rain brought a 5-minute delay. Rob Jones went to fifty before the rain returned, leaving Bohannon on 96 at tea.
Bohannon made it to three figures shortly after tea before rain prevented play for a third time, almost an hour on this occasion. Shortly after play continued, Jones fell for 60 as he missed out on a full toss from Gibson, putting the visitors 224 for three.
Durham struck in consecutive overs as Daniel Hogg found George Bell’s outside edge, with Haydon Mustard catching comfortably behind the stumps. Hogg had another in his next over as Bohannon edged on to his own stumps for 106; the Red Rose left 240 for six.
Hogg dismissed George Lavelle for his third wicket as he forced his outside edge, falling to McKinney at slip. Brandon Glover then had Matthew Hurst out leg before wicket to leave the visitors 258 for seven.
George Drissell took the eighth wicket of Lancashire’s innings, trapping Aspinwall lbw. Hughes-Piñán then took Durham’s ninth as he spun one past the sweeping Harry Singh for 36.
Durham were unable to grab the final Lancashire wicket on day two, with Lancashire ending play on 301 for nine and trailing by 83.
Day 1 Durham 2nd XI 346/6 (97)
Captain Ben McKinney led from the front for Durham, as he scored 158 for the hosts to finish day one 346 for six in the ECB Second XI Championship fixture against Lancashire.
Durham continued their Second XI Championship campaign against table toppers Lancashire on July 3rd at Burnopfield, aiming to bounce back from defeat to Nottinghamshire at the Racecourse ground two weeks ago.
Durham skipper Ben McKinney won the toss and elected to bat, opening with Harry Crawshaw. The hosts started positively with McKinney’s third boundary bringing up an opening stand of 50 after 12 overs.
The morning session continued to be plain sailing for Durham with the 100-partnership coming up after 23.4 overs before they made it to lunch 138 without loss from 33 overs, both openers having made a half century.
Durham consolidated on a positive morning session with the bat, McKinney in particular as he took just 39 balls after lunch to progress from his interval score of 70 until achieving three figures.
The opening pair had brought their partnership to 218 when rain struck in the 52nd over to bring play to a halt for 23 minutes. It was just the fifth ball after the delay when the Red Rose finally found their breakthrough; left arm spinner Jack Morley found a way through the defence of Crawshaw for 80, who accumulated 15 boundaries.
Ross Whitfield’s time at the crease was short-lived as Thomas Aspinwall had him trapped in front of his stumps for one. Jonathan Bushnell prevented further quick wickets falling as he partnered McKinney for 20 overs, helping to see his partner reach 150 in the 75th over.
Bushnell’s patient innings of 17 was put to an end in the next over as he was dismissed leg before too, by George Bell. Bell soon had another wicket as McKinney was unable to punish his full toss, instead finding the hands of Morley as he departed for 158; an innings featuring 20 fours and a six.
Durham soon found themselves 280 for five, losing wickets in back-to-back overs as Callum Gaffney attempted to sweep Morley; instead, the ball struck his pad and ended his innings of 11.
Haydon Mustard and George Drissell looked to up the tempo as they shared a 30-run stand in just five and a half overs, with Drissell punishing Bell’s bowling appearing to prompt the visitors into taking the second new ball after 86 overs.
It took just over two overs for the change to take effect as George Balderson beat Drissell’s bat, removing him leg before wicket for 14. Haydon Mustard’s lively unbeaten knock of 39 brought Durham to 341 at the close with McAlindon having scored nine so far.