Close, Day Four: Durham (256 & 223/4; Jennings 105*) drew with Somerset (179 all out; Trego 45; Onions 4/62).
Another washed out day left Durham frustrated with a draw against Somerset in the opening clash of their Specsavers County Championship campaign.
Overnight rain left the ground sodden and more rain arrived this morning, shortly after the ground staff started their clear up operation.
The umpires came out as planned for a 11am inspection but it became abundantly clear a result would not be possible and they called a halt to proceedings rather than delay the seemingly inevitable.
It leaves the Riversiders frustrated after a solid first two days left them with a great chance of starting off with a win for 2016.
Instead they take ten points from the match and start to prepare for the visit of Middlesex, the four-day fixture that starts on Sunday, 24 April.
Close, Day Three: Durham (256 & 223/4; Jennings 105*) lead Somerset (179 all out; Trego 45; Onions 4/62) by 300 runs.
There was no play whatsoever on Day Three of the Specsavers County Championship match with Somerset, leaving Durham with a big effort to force a positive result on the fourth and final day.
The forecast predicted rain for large parts of the day and it duly delivered, raining solidly from mid-morning until 2:30pm, when the umpires called play off for the day.
It comes as an enormous frustration to Jon Lewis’ side as they looked to be in a commanding position after Keaton Jennings’ record-breaking exploits over the first half of the match.
And the Riversiders face another battle with the weather on Wednesday as more forecasted rain leaves them with a race against time to secure a win in their season opener.
Close, Day Two: Somerset (179 all out; Trego 45) trail Durham (256 & 223/4; Jennings 105* Stoneman 41) by 300 runs.
Keaton Jennings has entered the Durham County Cricket Club history books as the third player to score a century in both innings of a County Championship game.
The South African joins Dean Jones who achieved it against Pakistan at Chester-le-Street in 1992 and his current captain Paul Collingwood who did the double against Somerset at Taunton in 2005.
His performance has given the Riversiders a commanding 300 run lead with six wickets remaining against Somerset at the end of day two.
Some superb bowling by Graham Onions saw the Riversiders reduce the vistors to 102 for eight this morning and another marvellous innings from history maker Keaton Jennings gave Jon Lewis’ side a commanding 300 lead at the close of play.
Chris Rogers would have been disappointed to have lost three wickets in the 12 overs his side played at the end of yesterday’s session but the Cidermen bravely battled through Onions’ menacing early morning spell despite the challenging cloudy conditions.
James Hildreth’s (27) resistance lasted until the 21st over when Onions’ persistance finally found the edge of his bat and he was caught by Ryan Pringle at third slip. But, the England pace-bowler wasn’t finished and the very next ball he got Jim Allenby LBW leaving him on a hat-trick and Somerset on 73/5.
Four overs later – after Roloef van der Merwe successfully fended off Onions’ hat-trick ball – Somerset again lost two wickets in two balls. Van Der Merwe drove at Onions’ in-swinger, which took the inside edge and was well caught by Michael Richardson. After battling hard at the crease captain
Rogers was removed shortly after by a wonderful bit of fielding from Mark Stoneman whose direct hit ended the Australian’s gutsy innings.
A maiden wicket for championship debutant Brydon Carse followed when wicketkeeper Ryan Davies tried to fend a short ball to leg and lobbed it back to the exciting 20-year-old bowler.
Peter Trego (45) and tailender Lewis Gregory (27) – who took four wickets yesterday – dug deep to take the total to 143 at lunch.
Chris Rushworth picked off Gregory in the 44th over leaving Somerset all out for 177 and Durham’s openers sharply padded up.
79 runs in front, Durham raced to 109/1 at tea with Jennings once again playing with confidence despite Somerset’s poor bowling. It took the introduction of left-arm spinner Van Der Merwe to remove Stoneman (41) who was caught at short mid-wicket by Marcus Trescothick after playing some beautifully timed strokes.
After reaching 50 in 130 balls yesterday, Jennings’ half-century came in under half the amount of balls and the South African continued to play wonderful cricket, reaching his historic century in style.
The afternoon session was largely played under the brand new Emirates Riverside floodlights. Jennings lit up the ground with his wonderful shot selection that earned him another century and made him only the third Durham player to score a ton in both innings during a Championship match.
The next 20 overs brought only 46 runs for the loss of three wickets before Collingwood emerged in fading light and swiftly atoned for his first ball dismissal in the first innings with two imperious drives off Gregory.