Day 4
James Sales’ maiden first-class fifty helped Northamptonshire salvage a draw with Durham in their LV= Insurance County Championship Division Two clash at Wantage Road.
All-rounder Sales, the 18-year-old son of former Northamptonshire batter David, struck a sublime 53 off 120 deliveries on his second red-ball appearance to lead a gritty final day rear-guard.
Luke Procter scored 44, while unbeaten Simon Kerrigan ate up a heroic 135 balls as they edged into a lead with 10 overs to spare, to make sure their side avoided defeat.
Durham had taken wickets throughout the day, with Matthew Potts taking four for 48 – to return career-best match figures of eight for 90 – but he nor his attack partners could find a complete set as Northamptonshire reached 230 for nine at the close.
After a washed-out day three, Durham required 10 wickets, Northamptonshire needed to bat out the day or wipe out a 217-run deficit and not leave enough time for any chase.
Emilio Gay survived a spill at third slip and a strong lbw appeal but was snatched at second slip when trying to work Potts into the legside.
Ricardo Vasconcelos edged behind to give Rushworth his 55th Championship wicket of the season – the sixth time he has reached that figure– before Rob Keogh was adjudged lbw to Ben Raine.
The resumption from lunch saw a showcase of quick bowling from Potts and Rushworth on a largely unresponsive pitch as three wickets fell in 40 minutes.
Potts secured a nick behind when he angled across the left-handed Saif Zaib and then produced a gem to kiss the surface and Adam Rossington’s outside edge, with David Bedingham clutching on at first slip.
Harry Gouldstone was caught on the crease as Rushworth cannoned into the top of off stump – with 106 still needed to make Durham bat again.
Throughout the quick succession of wickets Luke Procter had stood firm, as he had for his 76 in the first innings. But after a half an hour lookout with James Sales, he was plumb lbw to a full Raine delivery for 44.
Sales and Simon Kerrigan set up camp and added 68, with a volley of boundaries off the former’s bat flying after tea, while equally importantly eating up 187 balls.
Sales was dropped at mid-off where Raine shelled a dolly before reaching a maiden first-class fifty with a three through midwicket off 99 balls.
Potts struck with his second delivery with the second new ball when Sales toed a pull to mid-on.
Kerrigan and Sanderson took the hosts into the red but with 54 balls remaining the latter was leg before to Scott Borthwick but Kerrigan marshalled Jack White to a thrilling draw.
Day 3, no play possible rain
Durham’s pursuit of victory against Northamptonshire in the LV= Insurance County Championship was delayed by a washed-out day three at Wantage Road.
Rain overnight and throughout the day created a grim vista in Northampton.
Umpires Ben Debenham and Peter Hartley scouted out the conditions during a 3.15pm inspection, but despite the hard work of the groundstaff, the day’s proceedings were called off at 3.30pm without a ball bowled.
Durham, thanks to a 149 run ninth-wicket partnership between Matty Potts and Liam Trevaskis, managed to build a 217 run first-innings lead.
The hosts had reduced that by 10 runs in four overs late on day two and will have been content that the rain somewhat reduced the pressure on them to bat out for over two days – although the time taken out the game all but killed off any chances of a remarkable victory.
It means that the final day will be a simple mission of taking 10 wickets – on a slow unresponsive pitch – for Durham, while Northamptonshire will be aiming to take as much time out the match as possible while wiping out the deficit.
The weather is forecast to be cloudy on Wednesday but no rain is currently expected.
Day 2; Northamptonshire 183 & 10/0 trail Durham 400 by 207 runs
Matthew Potts and Liam Trevaskis both collected half-centuries recording first-class career best scores in a superb ninth-wicket partnership as Durham gained complete control at Wantage Road.
Tailenders Potts and Trevaskis added 149 for the penultimate wicket – a Durham record against Northamptonshire and one shy of the outright best against any county.
For both the 22-year-olds it meant their highest First-Class scores – Potts scored 81 while Trevaskis was left unbeaten on 77.
Their contributions, coupled with Scott Borthwick’s 73 and 40-odds for Graham Clark and Coughlin, gave Durham a 217 run first-innings lead, which Northamptonshire knocked down to 207 during a nervy four-over spell under the floodlights.
During a slow-paced morning, Clark earned two lives in successive deliveries off Jack White when on 23, as Ricardo Vasconcelos at first slip and then Simon Kerrigan at third slip spilt regulation chances.
Tight bowling was rewarded soon after, however, when Kerrigan managed to land the ball in the footmarks to generate significant turn to bowl Scott Borthwick – who departed for 73 following a 93-run stand with Clark.
Clark had showed his patience on a pitch that largely required hard graft to score, with only two offside boundaries, before he was bowled around his legs for 42 when attempting to paddle sweep Kerrigan.
Durham claimed their lead shortly before lunch as Coughlin and Raine bedded in using the time-honoured tactic of waiting for bad balls – typified with 44 of their shared 80 runs coming as a result of boundaries.
They fell in fairly quick succession against a newish second ball; Coughlin nicked to first slip two shy of a half-century, where Vasconcelos held on, and Raine was bowled on the angle by Ben Sanderson.
After tea, Potts and Trevaskis showed intensity, with regular quick singles upping the scoring rate before Potts twice lifted over deep midwicket and into the gardens of the Wellingborough Road houses.
Trevaskis moved to the fourth half-century in 21 first-class innings in 74 balls before moving past his previous high of 64.
Potts also reached the milestone, with a flick off his legs to the boundary, in 103 deliveries, while making a mockery of his previous high of 53 with another six – this time straight back down the ground.
He was castled by Sanderson to end the epic stand – which was comfortably better than the 87 Dean Jones and Simon Hughes had amassed in 1992 – before Chris Rushworth chipped to mid-on as the away side were bowled out for 400.
Day 1
Northamptonshire 183, Durham 108 for four
Scott Borthwick fought back with an excellent half-century to regain the initiative for Durham after the loss of early wickets on day one of this LV= Insurance County Championship fixture against Northamptonshire.
Borthwick was unbeaten on 54 at the close after Durham had slumped to 49 for four against some tight Steelbacks bowling under floodlights with Ben Sanderson claiming two scalps. The visitors finished the day on 108 for four after a 59-run stand between Borthwick and Graham Clark.
Earlier Chris Rushworth struck three times in his opening spell to put Northamptonshire on the back foot.
Luke Procter though made a gutsy 76, combining in a partnership worth 66 with an aggressive James Sales in the afternoon session. Matthew Potts who was expensive early on responded well to take four wickets and wrap up the tail as Northamptonshire were bowled out for 183.
Although Northamptonshire’s batsmen found the boundary frequently during their innings, several were guilty of lack of judgement outside off-stump and lost wickets at regular intervals.
Showing his trademark metronomic accuracy, Rushworth found plenty of movement to beat the bat. He removed Ricardo Vasconcelos early who edged behind to give keeper Ned Eckersley the first of five catches. Emilio Gay too was caught behind but off his glove down the leg side. In-form Rob Keogh gave Rushworth his third wicket when he edged to Paul Coughlin at third slip who took a good low catch.
Saif Zaib also edged behind playing a loose drive off Ben Raine in what was becoming a familiar story. Adam Rossington played a couple of aggressive boundaries but was adjudged lbw after leaving a ball from Potts with Northamptonshire 91 for five at lunch.
Proctor though was unbeaten at the interval. He had played some crunching drives and was particularly harsh on Potts, smashing him down the ground and driving him to the long-on boundary before rocking back and pulling a short ball dismissively through midwicket.
Potts removed Harry Gouldstone soon after lunch but Sales, who hit the winning runs against Surrey on debut last week, got into his work quickly with a string of boundaries. He pulled Potts confidently through midwicket for four and drove Raine through extra cover.
Procter dispatched spinner Liam Trevaskis over wide long-on for six, but his vigil came to an end after 136 balls when he nicked the spinner behind.
Northamptonshire then lost their last three wickets for just one run in nine balls with Potts claiming two in one over.
Sanderson struck in the first over of Durham’s reply, bowling Alex Lees without scoring. He then had Michael Jones lbw before Rob Keogh brilliantly ran out David Bedingham with a direct hit. The Durham right-hander had just reached 1,000 Championship runs for the season. When Sales had Eckersley lbw, Durham’s scoring had started to dry up.
Borthwick who had ferociously cut Procter through cover for four early on looked to regain the initiative by taking two boundaries off an over from Sales and started the fightback aided by Graham Clark who too found the ropes reaching 23 at the close.