On a day when the sun broke through the cloud it started to resemble summer on day two of Durham’s season opener against Durham MCCU.
Despite the chill remaining in the air it was significantly warmer than day one and the Durham boys would have been delighted as they declared over night on 426-9. It was time for the bowlers to step up for their first run out at Emirates Durham ICG this summer.
Durham University faced a formidable bowling unit, with Graham Onions and Chris Rushworth opening up for Durham, a pair that achieved a collective 102 first class wickets in 2012.
It wasn’t long before Onions struck, removing Durham MCCU Captain in the first over. Chris Jones left a ball that pitched outside off stump but viciously jagged back to clip the pad, umpire Russell Evans raised the finger to give Onions his first wicket of 2013.
With wickets then falling at regular intervals the Durham seamers were making the most of early season conditions, keeping the scoring rates down and sharing the wickets around. Though Durham MCCU were not going out fighting, and with number five batsmen Chaitanya Bishnoi showing some real resilience the Durham attack had their work cut out.
A young batsmen who looked composed at the crease wouldn’t be intimidated by the opposition as he played some classy shots to move past 50.
However it was a spinner that proved to be Bishnoi’s downfall, with spinner Scott Borthwick fresh from his winter with the England Lions trapping the Durham MCCU batsmen lbw for 60.
It was the spin duo of Borthwick and Will Smith that saw off the remainder of the Durham MCCU batting line up sharing the final five wickets, with Durham dismissing their student counterparts for 176, a lead of 250.
With batsmen keen for some outdoor practice ahead of the new campaign, Durham decided not to enforce the follow-on and Keaton Jennings and Mark Stoneman had 23 overs to sharpen their skills before the close of play. Stoneman moved quickly on to 38, with some powerful hitting of short pitched Durham MCCU bowling. However, Matt Green had the last word as the young seamer brought a ball back from outside off to remove Stoneman’s off stump.
Durham ended the day on 101/1 with Will Smith and Keaton Jennings at the crease. The Durham side will be looking to wrap up victory on day three for the perfect preparation ahead of facing Somerset this Wednesday at Emirates Durham ICG in the LV=County Championship.