Day 3: Durham 277 and 159 v Somerset 172 and 267-3
Durham 4pts, Somerset 19pts
A superbly judged unbeaten century by Tom Lammonby helped Somerset to a seven wicket win over Durham in the in the Rothesay County Championship match at the Banks Homes Riverside.
Resuming on 71 for one and needing 194 more runs to clinch their third victory in succession, Lewis Gregory’s batsmen encountered few problems on a pitch where 31 wickets had fallen in two days.
Instead, they reached their target in mid-afternoon having lost only two wickets on this third day. Lammonby finished on 104 not out and Tom Abell, with whom he had put on an unbroken 139 for the fourth wicket, was unbeaten on 73.
Yet Durham had enjoyed the perfect start to the morning when Gregory, was caught behind by Ollie Robinson off Ben Raine for 38 in the second over of the day. But Lammonby and the new batsman, James Rew made light of that setback by adding 55 runs in 15 overs and seizing on some wayward bowling by the callow Durham seamers.
Just before noon, Alex Lees brought on Colin Ackermann to bowl his off-spin from the Lumley End and this change brought a much needed breakthrough for the home side when Rew, who had looked in little trouble while making 31, chipped a half-drive straight to Lees, himself, at short extra cover.
That wicket left Somerset on 128 for three but it did not halt the visitors’ steady progress towards their target.
Lammonby became only the second batsman in the match to make a half-century, reaching that landmark off 70 balls and having hit five boundaries, and Durham’s need for further wickets was made plain when Raine and Mitch Killeen were brought back into the attack around 40 minutes after they had been taken off.
Those bowling changes made no difference. Lammonby and Abell continued their steady accumulation, maidens were rarities and Somerset reached lunch on 174 for three, 91 short of their target, with Lammonby on 65 not out and Abell unbeaten on 20.
Five overs into the afternoon session Durham threw away a faint chance to salvage the game when Lammonby was dropped on 69 by James Minto off Daniel Hogg at deep square leg, the 17-year-old shelling a chance after the ball had been pulled straight to him.
That escape seemed to energise the Somerset batsmen and the remaining 70 runs came quickly. Lammonby took three fours off a Minto over and soon after reached his century off 149 balls, having hit a dozen fours.
Shortly afterwards, Abell reached his fifty off 122 balls and victory was confirmed when Abell clipped Killeen through midwicket for a final boundary.
On a tough day for Durham’s bowlers, Raine finished with one for 50, Ackermann one for 40 and Killeen one for 67.
Mitchell Killeen claims maiden first-class five wicket haul as the Rothesay County Championship match between Durham and Somerset looks set for an absorbing three-day finish after 18 wickets fell on the second day of the game at the Banks Homes Riverside.
Replying to Durham’s 277, Somerset mustered only 172 but then dismissed the home side for 159, thus leaving the visitors with a victory target of 265.
When bad light ended play five overs early, they had reached 71 for one, still 194 short of their target but with nine wickets in hand.
However, the day was also memorable for Durham’s 20 -year-old Championship debutant, Mitch Killeen, who had received his county cap on Friday morning and took five for 36 in Somerset’s first innings this morning.
Somerset resumed on 63 for three but Ben Raine took the first wickets of the day when he had James Rew lbw for eight in the third over of the morning and Jack Leach superbly caught in the gully by Emilio Gay for a 30 that had included six fours.
But the remainder of the morning session belonged to Killeen, who took four wickets in 16 balls as Somerset collapsed to 128 for nine. Tom Abell was lbw to one that nipped back off the pitch for five and Andy Umeed was dismissed in similar fashion for 14 when hit on the back leg.
Craig Overton was out to his first delivery when his attempt to work the ball on the leg side merely leading-edged a comfortable catch to Gay in the gully, and Killeen completed his five-wicket haul in his next over when Archie Vaughan pushed forward but only edged a catch to Colin Ackermann at second slip.
There was a reminder of cricket’s ability to bring players down to earth when Matt Henry hit Killeen for three fours in his next over and that brief assault was the foretaste of a last-wicket partnership that yielded 44 valuable runs for the visitors. Codi Yusuf ended the fun when he bowled Migael Pretorius for 20, leaving Henry unbeaten on 23 and giving Durham a first innings lead of 105.
That brought an end to one period of helter-skelter cricket. In less than 90 minutes , Somerset had scored 109 runs and lost seven wickets in 21.4 overs. It also concluded Yusuf’s part in the match. After being hit on the helmet on Friday evening, he was diagnosed as suffering from concussion at lunchtime and replaced by Daniel Hogg.
The start of Durham’s second innings continued the morning drama as Matt Henry took two wickets in three balls in his second over. Ben McKinney was caught behind and Gay taken by Lewis Gregory at first slip, both for ducks, to leave the home side on nine for two, and they had only advanced to 18 for two when the luncheon interval gave everyone an opportunity to take a deep breath or two.
Rain delayed the start of the afternoon’s play for 20 minutes but the interruption only compounded the batsmen’s problems. David Bedingham was caught at slip by Overton off Josh Davey for eight and the modest recovery represented by Alex Lees and Ollie Robinson’s 31-run stand ended when Lees was lbw to Pretorius for 35 and Ackermann was caught down the leg side off Overton for four.
Durham’s lead was only 193 when Robinson was caught in the gully by Umeed off Pretorius for 35 and Raine could add just nine more runs before he slapped Henry to Abell at cover.
But James Minto joined Clark and this pair batted sensibly to add 26 before Clark was lbw to Pretorius four balls after tea. Minto and Hogg then added 21 for Durham’s last wicket before the home side were bowled out for 159, Pretorius taking three for 46 and Henry three for 51, giving him match figures of seven for 111.
Despite being faced with a daunting target on a spicy pitch, Gregory and Davey batted sensibly against an inexperienced attack to put on 35 before Killeen knocked out Davey’s off stump. That brought Tom Lammonby to the crease and he and Davey had added a further 36 runs before the gloom closed in.
Mitch Killeen’s late strike helped Durham just shadethe first day of the Rothesay County Championship match at the Banks Homes Riverside despite four wickets for Matt Henry.
Despite Ollie Robinson’s 52 and a half-century stand for the last wicket, the home side were dismissed for 253 in their first innings in a match between teams who possess identical records and are currently separated by a handful of bonus points in the Division One table.
Having accounted for three top -order batsmen, Henry returned figures of four for 60 but Somerset were 63 for three in reply at the close with the wicket of Tom Lammonby falling to Championship debutant Killeen for 24 just seven balls before the close.
The day’s cricket began in atrocious fashion for the home side when their captain, Alex Lees, inside-edged Henry’s first ball of the game onto his off stump ands departed for a golden duck.
Ben McKinney and Emilio Gay then repaired the home side’s innings with a 65-run stand in 20 overs before McKinney was caught behind by James Rew for 30 when he played outside a ball from Josh Davey that was angled in to him from around the wicket.
Gay had already been dropped on 26 at midwicket by Jack Leach off Migael Pretorius when McKinney’s wicket fell but the former Northamptonshire batsman could not capitalise on his escape. Instead he was dismissed for 41 a quarter of an hour before lunch when he top edged a pull off Henry to Tom Abell at long leg.
Having seen Lewis Gregory lose the toss, Somerset’s bowlers were probably satisfied with a lunch score of 96 for three. And they would have been ecstatic a few minutes after the resumption when the palpably dangerous Bedingham shuffled across his stumps, looked to work the ball to leg and was lbw to his fellow South African, Pretorius, for 17.
Robinson responded to that reverse by taking hitting three fine fours in four balls of an over from Craig Overton and all this seemed to set the tone for a session in which quick runs were traded for wickets. Having made 51 runs off 45 deliveries since his lunch and reached his half-century in 61 minutes off 52 balls in all, Robinson was caught by Rew off Henry when he nicked a ball of full length towards first slip. only to see the diving keeper complete a fine catch.
Graham Clark then made 15 in 21 minutes before apparently snicking Josh Davey down the leg side to Rew and his departure left Durham on 185 for six in the 50th over. Colin Ackermann was bowled by Overton for 30 and five balls later, Raine was leg before to Pretorius for 25. Tea arrived with Durham on 227 for eight, 131 runs having been scored and five wickets taken in the session’s 34 overs.
Five balls into the evening session, Mitch Killeen’s first innings in Championship cricket ended when he was caught by first slip Lewis Gregory off Henry for a 15-ball nought but Codi Yusuf and Minto then batted as calmly and sensibly as most of the top order to take Durham to their first bonus point of the innings.
And not content with adding the 23 runs necessary for that landmark to be reached, the pair put on exactly 50 before Minto, who made 67 as a nightwatchman-opener last week, was caught by Lammonby at square leg off Pretorius for 34. Yusuf was unbeaten on 16 and Pretorius finished with three for 63.
Somerset’s first innings also began poorly when Gregory was bowled by Minto for five when his attempt to let the ball go only diverted it into his stumps but Davey and Lammonby added 42 before Davey was caught at slip off Yusuf for 24 and Lammonby was caught behind off Minto for 18.