Day 4 Durham 580-6 declared and 170-1 declared; Worcestershire 309 and 262-3
Worcestershire batter Jack Haynes scored his maiden first class century as he and Azhar Ali batted through the majority of the final day to secure a defiant draw with Durham in the LV=Insurance County Championship match at New Road.
Worcester-born Haynes’ moment to remember came when he edged Matthew Potts for his 17th four before jumping in the air with delight and being embraced by Club Captain, Brett D’Oliveira.
It came from his 227th delivery and was also greeted by a standing ovation from supporters and his team-mates on the dressing room balcony.
There was no denying the 21-year-old on this occasion, having come close last summer and his and Azhar’s efforts completed a recovery act by the home side after Durham had dominated the opening two days.
From 41-4 in reply to Durham’s 580-6, the Worcestershire batters battled away in both innings to earn themselves what had seemed unlikely 12 points
Pakistan Test batter Azhar also showed all his quality in making a fine 92 and his experience in shepherding Haynes towards three figures would have been invaluable to the youngster.
He has had a testing start to his career with his adopted county but successfully coped with a probing morning spell from new England captain Ben Stokes in some of the most absorbing cricket of the day.
Stokes tried to unsettle Azhar with a succession of short-pitched deliveries and had a leg slip and two players in position for the hook but the batter with 94 Tests under his belt was unfazed.
Stokes did not return to bowl after tea by which time the final outcome was all but determined.
Haynes and Azhar put on 195 and used up 74 overs in largely untroubled fashion on a still true pitch and were only parted shortly before tea.
It was the highest stand by a Worcestershire pair for any wicket against Durham. Durham will be disappointed not to have pressed home their dominance after Stokes’ magnificent hitting and Matthew Potts first innings heroics with the ball.
But a combination of the pitch and sheer defiance from a Worcestershire side now showing more resilience left them frustrated.
Azhar and Haynes safely negotiated 30 overs during the morning session in adding 76 runs. Chances or half chances were at a premium. Haynes on 61 attempted to cut Trevaskis but David Bedingham was wrong-footed at first slip and was unable to get his hand to the ball.
It was a rare sniff of a wicket but a blatant chance was squandered by the visitors when Azhar on 82 was dropped in the gulley off Matt Salisbury.
Haynes moved to within two of his century with a cut for four off Trevaskis. But before he went to three figures, Azhar’s fine knock ended in the first over with the second new ball when he edged Chris Rushworth to second slip.
After tea, Club Captain Brett D’Oliveira and Haynes safely negotiated a second spell of the day from Stokes before the two sides shook hands with 16 overs remaining. Haynes ended on 120 not out from 276 balls with 20 fours.
Day 3 Durham 580-6 declared & 170/1 dec; Worcestershire 169-6 & 85/2*
Sean Dickson completed a century in each innings as Durham continued to dominate Worcestershire on the third day of their LV=Insurance County Championship match at New Road.
Dickson, who scored 104 in the first innings, smashed 105 (73 balls) second time round as the visitors chased quick runs to set up a victory charge on the final day.
After bowling the home side out for 309 (Joe Leach 62,105 balls, Matty Potts six for 62), Durham declined to enforce the follow on, instead sending out openers Dickson and Alex Lees with licence to attack.
Dickson responded with a 69-ball century, the second-fastest first-class century for Durham behind only Ben Stokes’ 64-ball ton in the first innings, before a declaration at 170 for one left Worcestershire a target of 442 in a day and 22 overs.
They were 85 for two at the close, Chris Rushworth having dismissed both openers.
After the spectacular fare of day two, when sixes rained from the bat of Ben Stokes, the third morning brought the opposite extreme. Forty minutes passed without a run off the bat at one point as Worcestershire’s lower order defended doggedly.
Stokes opened the bowling upon the resumption but remained wicketless as Leach added 54 in 15 overs with Ben Cox and 62 in18 with Josh Baker. After Cox edged Potts behind, Baker batted with impressive composure to put the previous day’s mauling by the England captain behind him. The 18-year-old made 27 from 64 balls before falling to smart slip catch by David Bedingham off Matt Salisbury.
Leach completed his 21st first-class half-century but fell to the second ball after lunch when he edged Chris Rushworth to Scott Borthwick at second slip. That was 280 for nine but last pair Adam Finch and debutant Ben Gibbon added a valuable 29 in 19 overs before the latter was bowled by Rushworth.
Durham chose to give their bowlers a rest and sent out Lees and Dickson in T20 mode. They rattled up 102 in 14 overs before tea and Dickson struck eight sixes on his way to his fourth century of the season and third in successive innings. He is the fifth Durham player to achieve the feat of scoring two centuries in a championship match.
Worcestershire started briskly with 30 in four overs but then Rushworth struck twice in seven balls. He bowled Ed Pollock through the gate and trapped Jake Libby lbw with one that kept low. Azhar Ali and Jack Haynes prevented further damage with an unbroken stand of 50 before the close as Stokes delivered another five wicketless overs.
Day 2 Durham 580-6 declared; Worcestershire 169-6.
Ben Stokes returned to action in astonishing fashion for the first time since being named England’s new Test captain with a record-breaking century for Durham in the LV=Insurance County Championship match with Worcestershire at New Road.
The all-rounder struck SEVENTEEN sixes, a century before lunch, and 34 off an over from Josh Baker on his way to 161 from just 88 deliveries.
Stokes’ number of maximums was a record for a Championship innings, beating the 16 achieved by Andrew Symonds (1995) and Graham Napier (2011) for Gloucestershire and Essex respectively.
His efforts enabled Durham to declare on 580-6 shortly after lunch and then a five wicket haul from Matthew Potts reduced Worcestershire to 169-6 by the close despite a century stand between Brett D’Oliveira and Ed Barnard.
Fittingly, Stokes’ exploits were witnessed by Durham Chair, Sir Ian Botham, whose own career was legendary for such performances.
It was brutal, clean hitting from Stokes that attacks around the world stronger than Worcestershire’s have been powerless to halt during the past decade.
But from England’s point of view it was a delight to see Stokes in such destructive form before he takes over from Joe Root against New Zealand in the Lord’s Test on June 2.
This was his first knock since England’s 10 wicket setback against the West Indies in the third Test in Grenada.
He entered the playing area to a warm reception and returned to a standing ovation from a decent sized crowd privileged to have witnessed such carnage.
Durham resumed on 339-3 and Ben Gibbon picked up his second scalp of the innings when Scott Borthwick, on 89, was lbw to a delivery angled back in.
Stokes initially played himself in while scoring just 12 runs from his opening 30 deliveries.
But then came the sort of fireworks that have made Stokes one of cricket’s box office attractions during the past decade.
By any standards it was an extraordinary display and even wild geese flying across the ground looked in danger of being hit by the missiles launched from Stokes bat!
His first maximum was a huge hit off Ed Barnard over mid-wicket and set the tone for the remainder of the morning.
England Under-19 spinner Baker in particular bore the brunt of the slaughter in one over where he was in acute danger of being hit for six sixes. The first five deliveries cleared the ropes, three over long on and one apiece over long off and mid wicket as Stokes century came up from 64 balls.
There was a conference between Baker, Club Captain D’Oliveira and other players before the final ball.
Stokes smote the ball down the ground but it bounced once before clearing the boundary much to his annoyance and he waved his bat in frustration.
But he did not let it affect him and launched another six onslaught against Worcestershire’s long-serving talisman in Joe Leach.
In the middle of this carnage, David Bedingham completed an excellent hundred of his own from just 120 balls, his second in the Championship this summer.
The morning session produced a staggering 210 runs from just 27 overs.
Stokes completed his 150 via the very first ball after the interval with six over long on off Gibbon and the record for the most maximum blows in the Championship was achieved with a straight hit off D’Oliveira.
An unforgettable innings finally ended when he holed out to Jack Haynes on the mid wicket boundary off D’Oliveira.
Anything after that almost felt like an anti climax but that would be an injustice to Bedingham whose knock of 135 ended shortly before the declaration when he drilled Baker to long off.
Potts produced a superb spell with the new ball under increasingly leaden skies to reduce Worcestershire to 41-4.
Jake Libby pushed forward and was caught behind for a first ball duck, the sort of dismissal that can happen to any opening batter. But there was no excuse for the way Pakistan Test player, Azhar Ali, clipped a leg stump delivery straight to mid wicket after also not troubling the scorers.
Jack Haynes went back and was lbw to delivery which nipped back and Potts claimed his fourth wicket when Ed Pollock, on 32, nicked a delivery through to Ned Eckersley.
Stokes came into the attack and almost broke through in his first over when Barnard on six chopped a delivery onto the base of the stumps but the bails were not dislodged.
Two of Worcestershire’s in-form batters this summer in D’Oliveira and Barnard again looked in good touch. Their century partnership came up from 194 balls and the pair looked relatively untroubled until being dismissed in successive overs.
D’Oliveira (41) played a slashing cut at Chris Rushworth and was one-handed by keeper Eckersley high away to his right.
Barnard reached an 86-ball half century in impressive style as he cover drove Potts for his ninth boundary.
But in the same over on 55 he left a delivery from Potts which clipped his off bail and was bowled as the pace bowler completed a five wicket haul.
Day 1 – Durham 339/3
Durham opener Sean Dickson continued his prolific form with a third LV=Insurance County Championship century of the season on the opening day against Worcestershire at New Road.
New England captain Ben Stokes watched on admiringly from the dressing room balcony as Dickson established a solid platform for his side.
The South African reached his century off 179 balls with one six and 14 fours as Durham took full advantage of a wicket offering little encouragement to the bowlers.
Stokes was due to bat at number six in his first appearance since his England role was confirmed last month.
But he was forced to sit with his pads on for much of the final session as Durham captain Scott Borthwick and David Bedingham cashed in on an attack that have enjoyed better days with the ball.
The all-rounder will now have his chance tomorrow at the fall of the next wicket.
For Worcestershire, left armer, Ben Gibbon, who has been working on a building side for the past three years, pickled up the wicket of Keegan Petersen on his first class debut.
Dickson joined Durham from Kent in 2020, initially on loan, after declining a contract extension offer and had made only spasmodic Championship appearances before this season.
Eight four-day games for the county before this season had yielded only one half-century but it has been a different scenario in 2022 for the South African. He struck 120 versus Leicestershire and 186 against Sussex
Worcestershire welcomed back all-rounder Joe Leach after recovering from a stomach bug and he and Gibbon replaced Dillon Pennington (hamstring) and Charlie Morris (illness).
Durham opted to bat first on a wicket which had the same moisture content and length of grass as for the victory over Sussex but different overhead conditions.
England opener Alex Lees edged Leach for four and then seeing an uppish cut against the same bowler fly just wide of the slip cordon. But the Durham first wicket pair managed to survive the new ball before Ed Barnard made the first breakthrough. Lees could only inside edge a delivery from the England Lions player onto his stumps after making 27 with 55 on the board.
Dickson immediately looked in the kind of good touch befitting a player who had started the season so well and produced a series of fine cover drives.
His second wicket stand with Keegan Petersen blossomed in the afternoon and was worth 123 in 37 overs when Gibbon picked up his first wicket.
Petersen completed a 116 ball fifty but had not added to his score when he edged a Gibbon delivery and keeper Ben Cox held onto a good low catch.
It was a reward for all the hard work put in by Gibbon to earn a professional career at New Road this summer after three years working on a building site.
He was brought into the side after impressing in pre-season and for the Seconds and could be content with figures of 17-4-50-1 from his day’s work.
Dickson went to tea on 99 for the second time this season after being in the same position against Leicestershire at Chester-le-Street.
He was fortunate on the resumption when his drive against Leach fell inches short of Finch at extra cover. But the 30-year-old he eventually went to three figures from 179 balls when he cut Barnard for his 14th four.
Barnard had his revenge in dismissing the former Kent player on 104 with a ball which bounced on him, found the edge and was snapped up by Ed Pollock at first slip.
Borthwick, on 80, and Bedingham, with 69, with flourished in the final session after safely negotiating the second new ball.
They completed 68 and 67 ball half centuries respectively during an unbroken stand of 117 before the close.