Close, Day three: Durham MCCU (191/4; MacDonell 81* Steel 56) drew with Durham (350/3d; Richardson 115*, Stoneman 83, Jennings 54, Burnham 50*).
Day three of Durham’s three day friendly against Durham MCCU fell victim to the volitile spring weather but it did offer the Durham bowlers a brief runout prior to their Specsavers County Championship opener against Somerset on Sunday.
Fresh from his new two-year contract extension Chris Rushworth opened the bowling from the Lumley End and grabbed a wicket with his sixth ball as the university’s Eben Kurtz was caught at gully by Usman Arshad.
Four overs later, the Durham seamer dispatched the students’ captain Jack Clark after the batsman was caught by Borthwick in the slips.
At 35/2 Durham looked set to skittle the university side but a spirited performance from the visitors saw them dig deep and a diligent partnership between Cameron Steel – who has played regularly for the Middlesex second side – and Charlie MacDonell saw them frustrate the Riversiders and they finished on 106/2 at lunch.
The pair reemerged at the crease after a long rain delay and both reached 50 as well as recording an 130 partnership before Steel’s (56) resistance was broken, edging Graham Onions’ delivery to first slip.
While MacDonell continued with his elegant innings reaching 81 not out, Ed Pollock nicked Keaton Jennings’ delivery not long after entering the crease and was caught behind.
With storm clouds looming and both sides agreeing to bring play to a close the match ended as a draw.