By Niall Hickman
Match summary from Day Three at the Emirates Durham ICG: Durham 213(Pringle 99) and 200, lost to Hampshire 251 and 166-3(Vince 76no) by seven wickets.
Points: Durham 4 Hampshire 21.
For full scorecard, click here
Durham captain Paul Collingwood insists it will be a case of “maximum effort and determination” in their final two LV County Championship matches following defeat by seven wickets to Hampshire.
Durham were beaten as the visitors successfully chased down a winning target of 163, losing just three wickets in the process.
It was a tough defeat to take against Hampshire, but Collingwood is adamant his players will bounce back at Trent Bridge next week and in the last county championship fixture of the season at home to Worcestershire.
Collingwood told www.durhamccc.co.uk “We are desperate to win the last two games and if we can do that we will have won eight matches in a season, which would be pretty successful. We will deliver maximum effort and determination in those games, as we always do.
“It is a hard time for the squad at the moment but there is still a lot of belief in the dressing room. We will fight hard in the next two games and to win eight matches in a campaign would be one hell of an achievement. That is still in our hands to win. In the final games we will dedicate ourselves to preparing as well as we possibly can do.”
Play started at 1.10pm following persistent rain in the morning at Chester-le-Street. A total of 24 overs had been lost due to the elements as the Durham batsmen made their way down the pavilion steps.
Skipper Collingwood was hoping Ryan Pringle could repeat his heroics from Tuesday when the 23-year-old all-rounder scored 99, his highest ever first class score.
It was not to be, as Pringle and James Weighell moved the score on by only eight runs when Gareth Berg struck at 134.
Pringle fell as he edged a beautiful ball from Berg to keeper Adam Wheater for 13. John Hastings was out first ball to Berg’s next delivery as a big shout for LBW was given the affirmative by umpire Jeremy Lloyds.
Chris Rushworth survived the hat-trick ball and was dropped later on in the over as Berg failed to cling onto a tough caught and bowled chance.
Ryan McLaren’s next over went for three boundaries as Weighell took the lead over 100 with a sliced top edge. Weighell responded to that piece of fortune by crashing a terrific shot past mid off and then Wheater let a straight ball escape his grasp for four byes.
It moved Durham up to 146 and Rushworth took the score past the 150-mark with a back foot cut down to the third man fence.
Edwards came back into the attack and with his first ball he bowled Weighell for 30, with the score now 164-9. After his next ball Edwards pulled up holding his hamstring and promptly left the field, with Liam Dawson finishing his over.
Last pair Rushworth and Graham Onions enjoyed themselves, with the former hitting Berg over the fence twice in the space of three balls. The first six sailed over long leg via a leg side hook, while the next landed over the ropes at long on.
Rushworth then crashed another four through the covers, only for Ryan Stevenson to celebrate his first ever first class wicket as Onions steered upishly to point, where Jimmy Adams took the catch.
The last duo had put on 36 runs, taking Durham up to 200 all out, a lead of 162 over the visitors. Fidel Edwards took 4-43 with his express pace and bounce, while Ryan McLaren and Gareth Berg ended with figures of 3-54 and 2-53 respectively.
Hampshire’s reply started shakily as Michael Carberry edged through the vacant fourth slip gap from Rushworth’s fifth ball.
Adams led something of a charmed life – he survived a close LBW appeal from Onions – before Rushworth re-arranged his stumps, but by that stage Hampshire were already on 35.
Carberry and skipper James Vince took the innings on to 75 only for the former to find a top edge with Michael Richardson taking a terrific running catch at square leg. Will Smith soon followed, edging an Onions snorter to the keeper, making it 84-3, with the visitors still needing 79 to win.
Vince and Dawson held their nerve and although they endured several worrying moments, Durham’s bowlers could not prize them apart. The pair put on 82 for the fourth wicket in a stand which finally brought Hampshire a much-needed win in their battle to avoid the drop.
At 5.15pm the visiting skipper slashed Weighell through the covers for four securing the victory for the visitors by seven wickets.