Match summary of Day Two at the Emirates Durham ICG: Durham 213(Pringle 99) and 126-6, Hampshire 251(Hastings 4-49, Onions 4-60). Durham are 88 runs ahead with four wickets remaining.
Points: Durham 4, Hampshire 5.
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It was a day of mixed fortunes for Durham and Jon Lewis’ side now need Ryan Pringle to repeat his first innings heroics if they are to set Hampshire a challenging target in their LV County Championship clash.
At stumps on day two, Durham ended 88 runs ahead of the visitors, but with only four second innings wickets remaining. One of them though is Pringle, who is 10 not out overnight and is in a rich vein of form having scored 99 on Tuesday, his highest ever first class score.
Accurate seam bowling from Graham Onions and John Hastings restricted Hampshire to 251 all out, a lead of just 38 runs, but Durham subsided to 126-6, with South African paceman Ryan McLaren spearheading the Hampshire attack on his debut with four wickets.
The contest is still very much in the balance, but Hastings told www.durhamccc.co.uk that another 100 runs could tip the scales towards the home side.
Hastings said: “Ideally we would want a 200 runs lead and in a perfect world it would be 350, but I think if we can scrap and get another 100 on the board that will give the bowlers something to aim at. With our bowlers, I would back them every day of the week to get them out.”
Hastings is closing in on the 500 runs/50 wickets ‘double’ – which he admits was an aim at the start of the campaign. “I set out to get that at the start of the year and in terms of wickets I could have had a lot more. I feel like I have had a fairly solid season. I want to end it on a high with good performances and hopefully another win here to get us up the table.”
Liam Dawson and former Durham skipper Will Smith elevated the score from 47-3 to 105 before Dawson chased a steepler down the leg side off John Hastings and was acrobatically caught by keeper Michael Richardson.
Smith had been barnacle-like during his stand with Dawson but the departure of his partner seemed to trigger a momentary loss of concentration as he top-edged a hook off Hastings and was caught at fine leg by Chris Rushworth.
With two new batsmen at the crease and the visitors 110-5 Durham certainly smelt blood, but Sean Ervine and Adam Wheater grabbed hold of the initiative by scampering the singles and finding the boundary ropes with unerring accuracy from anything marginally off line.
Ervine was dropped on 31 by Gordon Muchall in the slips off Graham Onions, but the paceman soon got his reward, and his fourth wicket of the innings, as umpire Jeremy Lloyds lifted the finger on Wheater, who was LBW for 25.
Ryan McLaren survived some worry early moments, but the South African then got smartly into his rhythm until Hastings produced a corker to bowl him for 30.
Gareth Berg didn’t last long for his single, as Scott Borthwick took a neat catch at second slip off Hastings, making it 207-8. Durham’s Aussie powerhouse was on a hat-trick with Hampshire still six runs adrift of parity, but Ryan Stevenson safely negotiated it.
Ervine and Stevenson took the Hampshire score past Durham’s, but at 219, Ervine took a huge sweep and became James Weighell’s first victim in first class cricket.
Just six ahead, Hampshire held a minor advantage, but the last pair put on 38 with Stevenson choosing his shots adroitly. Fidel Edwards carted Weighell over mid off, then Rushworth watched as Weighell dropped the West Indian at mid on. It was not a costly mistake as next ball Stevenson charged and looped another catch towards Weighell, who on this occasion snapped up the chance.
Hastings and Onions were the pick of Durham’s bowlers with four wickets apiece, while Rushworth and Weighell chipped in with one victim each.
Hampshire’s first innings lead was only 38, but by the time Durham reached that total they had lost three wickets.
First to go was Jack Burnham, who edged through the slips for four and got away with it, then in Ryan McLaren’s next over the Durham youngster edged again to an identical place, only this time Dawson gobbled up the opportunity.
Mark Stoneman hit a couple of eye-catching drives before he nicked Edwards to gully, where Smith took a fine catch.
It was 34-3 when Borthwick also found Smith in the gully, as McLaren’s unerring length continued to make inroads.
Durham edged ahead of the visitors when Paul Collingwood guided the ball down to the third man boundary, but the skipper lost his partner on 56 as Michael Richardson had little chance to one which kept low from Edwards.
Muchall decided the best form of defence was attack and laid into Stevenson, flailing him for three fours in an over as he and Collingwood grew in confidence. They took the score on to 98 only for the Durham captain to fall LBW for 37, with the ever-reliable McLaren picking up his third wicket.
Ryan Pringle and Weighell took the score on to 126-6, a lead of 88 runs when bad light stopped play at 6.15pm.