Behind closed doors triumph
Durham v Warwickshire at Chester-le-Street. 29, 30 April, 1 May 2021, Warwickshire 87 (BA Raine 5/9) and 177 (BA Carse 5/49) Durham 391-9 dec. (AZ Lees 129, WA Young 124), Durham won by an innings and 127 runs
Durham 21 points, Warwickshire 1 point
With the country still slowly emerging from Covid-19 restrictions, this match was played behind closed doors. The County Championship was played with a conference format.
Play was delayed by an hour on the first morning and not surprisingly Scott Borthwick chose to bowl first. Mark Wood, playing his first red-ball match for Durham since 2018, and Ben Raine destroyed the Warwickshire batting. The combination of Wood’s pace and Raine’s nagging accuracy was too much for the visitors who slipped to 30 for eight. Although batting was not easy, the fact that Craig Miles and Liam Norwell added 52 for the eighth wicket confirmed that it was a combination of poor batting and excellent bowling which had led to Warwickshire’s lowest total against Durham.
It was hard going for the Durham openers, Ales Lees and Will Young, but the slow pitch held few demons for them, even if scoring required great patience. Their stand of 208 remains a record Durham opening partnership against Warwickshire. Lees’ century took 283 balls and Young’s 248, but their perseverance paid off as Durham amassed a huge lead. It was Young’s first substantial innings during his four matches for Durham and he followed it with a century in the next match against Worcestershire. Brydon Carse demonstrated his all-round credentials with an unbeaten 40.
Batting again, Warwickshire fared a little better but never looked likely to make Durham bat again. They were outdone this time by the pace of Carse and by Chris Rushworth. Surprisingly wicketless in the first innings, Rushworth passed 500 County Championship wickets for Durham.
It was Durham’s first first-class victory since September 2019. Within a month spectators were allowed back into the ground after nearly two years away.