Worcestershire 112 & 231/4 beat Durham 190 & 152
Durham suffered their first home red ball defeat under head coach Ryan Campbell as half-centuries from Kashif Ali and Adam Hose led Worcestershire to a six-wicket win against Durham at the Seat Unique Riverside, their first win of the Vitality County Championship season.
Ali (76*) and Hose (50) came together when the visitors were 65 for three and combined for a partnership worth 129, which took the game away from the hosts, who will be left scratching their heads after they were firmly in the ascendancy prior to the lunch break on day three.
Worcestershire wrapped up the Durham second innings early on, with the Pears needing 231 to break their winning duck.
Gareth Roderick batted positively early on and set a platform for Ali and Hose to guide the visitors to a vital win in the Division One relegation battle.
Ali, a graduate of the South Asian Cricket Academy, has been a bright spark in a difficult season for Worcestershire and picked up his second half-century of the match to give his side that all-important first win of the season, while Hose, who has now got fifties in back-to-back matches, was also imperative to the win.
For Durham it is a first home defeat in the County Championship since April 2022, but it drags them back towards the bottom end of the table, with the North East county now just 11 points ahead of today’s victors, who occupy the second relegation spot.
Resuming on 148 for nine, the job for Bas De Leede and Ben Raine was to get as many runs as possible for the hosts, but they only added four to the total, as Ben Allison got De Leede for three when the Dutch international edged to second slip.
Beginning their chase of 231, the Pears’ opening duo of Roderick and Jake Libby had the job of giving the visitors a good start with a difficult chase on their hands, as the pitch had given the bowlers plenty of assistance in the previous two days.
While Roderick initially struggled against Raine, he started to go through the gears and punched one from Matthew Potts down the ground for four, which was followed by a glorious cover drive in Ben Stokes’ opening over.
Despite the visitors making a good start to their chase, there was a sense that a wicket was coming as Libby survived an LBW appeal from Peter Siddle and Roderick nearly chopped a Stokes delivery onto his stumps.
Durham then made the breakthrough with Stokes getting Roderick for 38, as he attempted a pull shot from a short ball but he feathered it through to Ollie Robinson behind the stumps.
Wickets came like buses for Durham as a second arrived soon after as Libby went for 19 after he whipped a Siddle ball to mid-wicket to swing the momentum back to the hosts. Stokes then dismissed Rob Jones with an absolute beauty as he bowled him for one to leave Worcestershire 65 for three.
First innings top scorer Ali and Hose then came together and saw the visitors through to lunch without further loss.
Ali and Hose looked to consolidate after lunch and withstanded a lot of short-pitched bowling from the Durham attack.
The pair then took 12 from a De Leede over to reach the 50 partnership, with Ali taking a liking to the all-rounder’s bowling.
The number three then followed this up with a perfect cover drive for four from a Potts ball and then former Warwickshire man Hose played a great straight drive for four.
Ali survived an LBW shout on 33 as Siddle was convinced he had his man, but the umpire thought there was an inside edge, while an erratic over from Stokes went for 15 to only add to Durham’s woes.
Hose continued to cash in on the England captain’s bowling and got back-to-back fours including a delightful cover drive.
Ali then reached his half-century from 77 balls, with Hose reaching his milestone soon after from 86 balls.
Raine finally broke the partnership when Hose was caught behind for 50, but the excellent Ali finished unbeaten on 76 and guided his side home.
Day 2 Durham- 190 & 148/9 vs Worcestershire- 112
A battling innings of 40 from Colin Ackermann helped Durham build their lead to 226 after finishing day two on 148 for nine to remain ahead of the eight ball in their clash against Worcestershire.
Fantastic four-wicket returns from Tom Taylor and Nathan Smith gave Worcestershire a fighting chance in a rain-affected second day of their Vitality County Championship clash with Durham. The pair had the ball on a string at the Seat Unique Riverside and picked up key wickets.
With plenty of rain around, there was no play at Chester-le-Street until just after one o’clock and the visitors took two wickets in a seven over spell before being forced off by the weather once again.
Wickets continued to fall in the evening session, but Ackermann adapted to the conditions and helped his side build a challenging lead.
Smith, who is yet to be capped at international level for New Zealand, has been a fantastic addition to the Pears’ team, with the overseas star adding to the two second innings wickets he took late on in a chaotic day one, finishing with figures of four for 52.
Meanwhile, Taylor picked up four for 46 including the vital wicket of England captain Ben Stokes with the last ball of the day.
Durham resumed on 33 for three after the start was delayed by more than two hours due to rain.
Nightwatchmen Matthew Potts and Peter Siddle resumed on nought and two respectively after the late spurt of wickets on day one.
Potts, who has received a recall to the England Test squad for the West Indies series, looked to be positive and kept the scoreboard ticking over.
The first wicket of the day fell in the fourth over of the day when Taylor bowled Siddle for three with a brilliant piece of bowling.
Potts whipped a probing ball from Smith off his pads for four, a shot that any top order batter would be proud of, but he was soon back in the pavilion for 18 as Smith took two of his stumps out the ground.
The rain then returned and there was a lengthy delay before Ackermann and Bedingham, who was accompanied by runner Scott Borthwick due to a hamstring niggle, returned to the crease.
The pitch continued to offer plenty of assistance to the bowlers after the second rain delay, with the exceptional Smith getting the ball talking.
Despite his injury, Bedingham crunched a lovely cover drive to the boundary, which got him off the mark.
After a positive start to his innings, South African international Bedingham pulled a short ball from Smith straight to the hands of Amar Virdi on the legside boundary for 17.
Ackermann continued to bat sensibly along with Ollie Robinson as they added to Durham’s lead.
Robinson was then dismissed for nine in a similar fashion to Bedingham after he pulled a Ben Allison ball to Matthew Waite at fine leg.
That brought England captain Stokes to the crease, with the all-rounder putting in a dogged performance with the bat, but he also showed his boundary-hitting capabilities as he pulled an Allison ball for six.
Taylor got his third wicket of the innings, with Ackermann edging behind for a resilient 40 late on.
Stokes departed with the last ball of the day for 26 as Taylor bowled him with one that kept low, however the hosts have a lead of 226 heading into day three on a challenging pitch.
Day 1 Durham 190 & 33/3 vs Worcestershire 112
Ben Stokes top-scored with his first half-century of the season as 23 wickets fell on a day full of drama in the Vitality County Championship match between Durham and Worcestershire at Seat Unique Riverside.
Stokes made 56 in a welcome return to form for the home side in their innings of 190, but Nathan Smith impressed for the visitors by claiming figures of four for 36, while Ben Allison and Matthew Waite notched three and two wickets apiece.
Worcestershire looked to be making steady inroads in their reply at 71 for two but lost their final eight wickets for 41 runs as Matthew Potts claimed four for 29.
Durham entered their second innings with a 78-run lead, but lost three quick wickets after only extending their lead to 111 at the close.
Worcestershire made the most out of advantageous conditions after winning the toss on a gloomy Chester-le-Street.
Smith found his line and length immediately to pin Durham captain Scott Borthwick lbw with the fifth ball of the innings. Tom Taylor followed suit with a full length to find Colin Ackermann’s outside edge as Gareth Roderick claimed a fine diving catch in front of first slip.
Division One’s form player David Bedingham responded with a flurry of crunching boundaries, highlighting his pristine touch at the crease. The South Africa international reached 21 before making a rare lapse of judgement, leaving a hooping Ben Allison delivery that crashed into his off-stump. Alex Lees took the attack to Matthew Waite’s first over, scoring two boundaries, but the bowler won the duel as the Durham opener became the fourth wicket of the session.
Ollie Robinson and Stokes stemmed the tide of wickets with a stand worth 46. Robinson produced another classy innings, finding the off-side boundary with ease. He made his way to 35 and looked well set to add another score of fifty-plus to his tally, only to fall to a cracking inswinger from the returning Smith before lunch.
Stokes upped the ante after lunch, chancing his arm with booming drives down the wicket. The England skipper did have the odd element of fortune, but still worked his way to a timely half-century from 73 balls ahead of the upcoming Test series against the West Indies. However, Allison returned with a short ball that Stokes’ gloved behind on an attempted hook to fall for 56.
Durham’s innings unravelled after his departure courtesy of Smith and Allison to dismiss the hosts 10 shy of 200.
Potts made early inroads into the Worcestershire line-up by removing Roderick for nine, but the visitors made quick runs against the new ball to put Durham’s bowlers under pressure.
Borthwick turned to Stokes for inspiration and his introduction into the attack should have brought a wicket from his first ball, but Libby was dropped by Bas de Leede at point. Undeterred Stokes found Libby’s outside edge from the following delivery and Lees claimed a routine catch at third slip.
Kashif Ali defied Stokes and Peter Siddle in difficult conditions as the bad light halted play for 30 minutes. The break favoured the home side as the Worcestershire batting ranks collapsed from 71 for two to 112 all out.
Siddle started the rout by dismissing Rob Jones and Adam Hose before Ben Raine pinned Ethan Brookes lbw. Potts then took centre stage in his second spell, tearing through the lower order, including Taylor and Smith in successive deliveries.
Amir Virdi survived the hat-trick ball and his resistance allowed Kashif Ali to bring up his fifty with six over the leg-side boundary before the he was final wicket to fall to Raine.
Batting didn’t get any easier in the sunny twilight as Lees, Borthwick and Clark all fell for the hosts with Smith and Taylor amongst the wickets once more with the game very much in the balance heading into day two.