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25th May 2014

Nottinghamshire v Durham – Match Report

Day four at Trent Bridge was completely washed out as both teams had to settle for a draw.

After rain fell throughout the day, the players were forced to sit and watch before taking an early lunch.

The umpires were scheduled to conduct a pitch inspection at 3pm but after another rain shower, attempts to get play started were abandoned.

Jon Lewis’ team will now travel back up to the North East to prepare for the NatWest T20 Blast match with Lancashire Lightning on Thursday evening (5.30pm start)

 

STUMPS, DAY THREE. Nottinghamshire 377 v Durham 335-4 (Muchall 158*, Stokes 61). Durham trail Nottinghamshire by 42 runs with six first innings wickets remaining.

Points – Durham 6, Nottinghamshire 5.

Video Highlights – Click here

A magnificent 158 from Gordon Muchall helped Durham dominate in the 58 overs that were bowled on day three.

Muchall, making only his second Championship appearance since 2012, registered his third highest first class score and in doing so scored a first century in three years.

Having batted with fluency on day two, Muchall continued to find the gaps in the field regularly and struck 23 boundaries in his 189 ball innings.

Against one of the strongest bowling attacks in the country, this was a special knock from a player who has largely played limited overs cricket in recent seasons.

The 31 year old was ably assisted by Ben Stokes, as the pair put on 133 for the fourth wicket. Stokes, on his return to first team action, reached double figures in boundaries before he tried to clear the rope and was caught by the diving Michael Lumb at long-on.

It’s perhaps surprising that any cricket was played at all on day three. The morning session was completely washed out by more bad weather in Nottingham, but the ground staff worked quickly to get the ground ready as soon as the rain had abated.

Durham will be pleased that they did, as runs flowed throughout the afternoon and the visitors picked up three batting points before bad light eventually stopped play.

Keaton Jennings had reached 40 earlier in the day but then tried to leave a delivery from Andre Adams and unfortunately edged through to Chris Read. That only brought Stokes to the crease though, and Paul Collingwood’s side continued to attack.

After turning 38 the day before, Collingwood celebrated his birthday by smashing two sixes in a breezy unbeaten innings of 36, meaning he and Muchall will resume play on day four looking to bank maximum batting points.

Durham require 65 runs in 27 overs in order to do so, and at the rate of scoring so far, you imagine that they should complete that task comfortably.

 

STUMPS, DAY TWO. Nottinghamshire 377 v Durham 78-2 (Jennings 24*, Muchall 24*)

Video Highlights: Click here

Only 25 overs were possible on day two at Trent Bridge due to some heavy afternoon rain showers.

Durham lost two wickets before the teams took an early lunch, and they weren’t able to resume play afterwards.

As rain poured down in Nottingham, the umpires eventually abandoned attempts to re-start the action just after 5pm.

Play had started on time in the morning and Mark Stoneman (23) and Keaton Jennings had to be watchful against the hosts’ pace attack, which boasted four International bowlers.

Stuart Broad and Peter Siddle opened the bowling, although it was one of the change bowlers that accounted for Stoneman.

With just his third delivery, Ajmal Shahzad roared in and induced an edge from the left hander to give Chris Read a simple catch.

The in-form Michael Richardson hit the next ball for four, but those runs turned out to be his eventual total as he was bowled by Shahzad.

Despite being dropped twice, Jennings remains unbeaten alongside Gordon Muchall. Muchall was looking in good touch, striking 24 from just 20 balls, before the weather prevented any further progress.

 

STUMPS, DAY ONE. Nottinghamshire 377 (Patel 99, Taylor 88, Read 59*) v Durham.

Points – Nottinghamshire 4, Durham 3.

Video Highlights – Click here

Ben Stokes claimed three wickets on his return to Durham action and debutant Gavin Main also picked up a trio of scalps on an absorbing first day at Trent Bridge.

The visitors made a fine start after losing the toss, as the opening pair of Chris Rushworth and Usman Arshad removed the top three before the score had reached 30.

A fourth wicket stand of 192 between England pair James Taylor (88) and Samit Patel (99), and some late order runs from Chris Read (59*) and Peter Siddle (31), ensured that Nottinghamshire recovered well and nearly claimed maximum batting points.

Whilst the hosts’ experienced batsmen impressed, 19 year old Main (3-72) enjoyed a memorable first start in a Durham shirt.

The Scottish seamer has been a consistent performer for the 2nd XI and acquitted himself well at Trent Bridge after an expensive opening four over spell that went for 29 runs. Main dismissed Riki Wessels, before he yorked Stuart Broad for a duck and had Ajmal Shahzad caught in the deep.

On his long-awaited return to the field, Stokes (3-70) also performed well, although he was indebted to Gareth Breese for two excellent catches on the third man boundary to get rid of Taylor and Patel.

Durham’s opening pair of Mark Stoneman and Keaton Jennings will walk to the crease in the morning to start the Durham first innings, and the pair will have to be at their best against Nottinghamshire’s impressive pace attack.