Result: Durham (197; Poynter 43; Tongue 4/41; 8 points) drew with Worcestershire (367; D’Oliveira 122, Ali 58, Wood 5/54, Pringle 4/73; 12 points) by 170 runs
No play was possible for the second day running at Emirates Riverside as Durham’s match with Worcestershire in the inaugural day/night Specsavers County Championship ended in a draw.
Durham managed to post 197 all out on Day One, which ended up being the only full day’s cricket to be played as a 10th wicket stand of 50 between Barry McCarthy and Chris Rusworth showed some resistance at the end of the innings.
In reply, the Pears were bowled out for 367 in mid-afternoon on Day Two as Mark Wood enjoyed a five-wicket haul for 54 runs while Ryan Pringle picked up 4/73.
Brett D’Oliveira starred for the visitors while Moeen Ali added 58 supported by 43 from Ross Whiteley down the order to give Worcestershire a lead of 170.
5:25pm on Tuesday evening was the last time a ball was bowled in the fixture, meaning Durham take 8 points, with the visitors taking 12 back to the West Midlands.
Next up for Durham is an away fixture at Chesterfield to take on Derbyshire, which gets underway on Monday morning at 11am.
Close, Day Three: Durham (197; Poynter 43; Tongue 4/41) trail Worcestershire (367; D’Oliveira 122, Ali 58, Wood 5/54, Pringle 4/73) by 170 runs
No play was possible on the third day of Durham’s Specsavers County Championship match at home to Worcestershire.
Persistent rain meant there was no chance of Michael Richardson and Tom Fell stepping into action as the replacements for Keaton Jennings and Joe Clarke, who are now on England Lions duty.
day and a half has now been lost, play being abandoned after 43 overs on Tuesday, when the rain arrived just in time to prevent Durham starting their second innings 170 runs adrift.
Close, Day Two: Durham (197; Poynter 43; Tongue 4/41) trail Worcestershire (367; D’Oliveira 122, Ali 58; Wood 5/54, Pringle 4/73) by 170 runs
Rain prevented any further play on Day Two at Emirates Riverside after Mark Wood struck with 5/54 to bowl Worcester out for 367.
A frustrating first half an hour for the home side saw Brett D’Oliveira add the nine required to his overnight score to bring up his century from 159 balls.
Moeen Ali rode his luck in the session too, edging Wood to the boundary to bring up his half century in 60 balls.
A fifth wicket partnership of 136 from D’Oliveira and Ali dominated early afternoon play, but the introduction of spin from Ryan Pringle saw D’Oliveira caught in cover for 122 after launching the spinner’s first two balls of the over for maximums.
In the space of four overs, Pringle picked up his second and third wickets, dismissing Ali LBW for 58 from 83 balls shortly followed by George Rhodes going caught behind for three from 17 balls, his 50th County Championship wicket.
A good period with the ball from Durham saw the Pears struggle to score runs with Pringle and Stokes on top, but a steady partnership of 51 between Ben Cox & Ross Whiteley left the visitors 323/7 at lunch.
A slog from Whiteley playing across the line saw his stumps tumble as Pringle grabbed his fourth of the day, breaking a eight wicket partnership of 73.
Paceman Wood returned to the action on the call of the 80th over as umpire Bill Taylor signalled the new ball & it took just seven balls to grab his first of the day as he cleaned bowled Ed Barnard for 9.
He bagged his 5th wicket as Callum Steel caught Joshua Tongue at short leg for six, returning figures of 5/54 from 18.4 overs with Pringle picking up 4/73 from 12 overs.
Once the Durham players headed off the field, the rain fell with no more play possible on Day Two of the inaugural day/night championship game at the Emirates Riverside.
Close, Day One: Worcestershire (213/4; D’Oliveira 91*; Wood 3/30) lead Durham (197; Poynter 43; Tongue 4/41) by 16 runs
Durham were thankful for another fifty partnership between Barry McCarthy & Chris Rushworth on Day One of the day/night game against Worcestershire at Emirates Riverside.
A stand of 50 for the final wicket, the pair’s third half-century partnership in as many matches, hauled Durham up to 197.
Brett D’Oliveira led the way in Worcestershire’s reply with an unbeaten 91 as they reached 213/4 at the close, a lead of 16.
After the visitors elected not tos toss & therefore put Durham in to bat, the floodlights were on from ball one as Keaton Jennings and Cameron Steel took to the field.
Steel the first to go, caught in the slips by Daryl Mitchell for 5 from 17 balls with former Durham overseas John Hastings bagging the first of the day.
Jennings followed shortly after as skipper Joe Leach cleaned bowled the Durham opener off an inside edge with a cracking delivery, leaving Durham 14/2 from 6.3 overs.
Burnham (3), Clark (1) and Stokes (0) were then all dismissed on 18 as John Hastings picked up 3/10 from his opening eight along with Leach, who managed 2/24 as the ball offered plenty of help to the bowlers.
A sixth wicket partnership between Ryan Pringle and Paul Collingwood of 46, offered something of a rebuilding process for Durham before Pringle was the sixth to go, dismissed LBW by Ed Barnard for 11 from 50 balls.
And one became two as Collingwood followed soon, edging Tongue to Ali for 25 from 40 balls, as Durham reached 97/7 at lunch with Poynter (16) and Wood (15) at the crease.
A 54-run partnership for the eighth wicket showed some resilience from Durham as Wood scored 21 from 47 balls, hitting four fours before he was caught in the deep by Whiteley to leave Durham on at 118/8, with Stuart Poynter also adding 43 from 68 balls.
Rushworth took advantage of Moeen Ali’s spin, taking 11 from his first over as the pair picked up where they left off from last week’s record stand against Glamorgan.
But they fell three shy of a bonus point & McCarthy was left unbeaten on 29 from 37 balls as Rushworth was caught in deep square leg for 30.
Mark Wood picked up Durham’s first wicket as he dismissed Worcester’s opening batsman Mitchell caught behind for three.
In a surprise move, Hastings was promoted up the order to three & provided an entertaining innings for the spectators, scoring 12 from 13 including a six and a four before edging behind off the bowling of Wood.
Leach, also a surprise addition up the order, came and went for 15 from 13 as Clark pouched an easy catch at deep mid off, Rushworth claiming his first wicket of the day to leave Worcestershire 59/3 from ten overs.
It took Durham another 17 overs before the fourth wicket fell as Clarke was Wood’s third victim bowling the right hand batsman for 45, breaking a set partnership of 77.
But opener D’Oliveira’s unbeaten knock of 91 from 132 balls frustrated Durham as they looked to take their fifth wicket of the evening.
He was supported by an unbeaten 36 from Moeen Ali, with Worcester closing proceedings with an unbeaten stand of 74 in 16.3 overs.