Result: Northamptonshire (198 & 65/3; Patel 2/18) beat Durham (129 & 133; Steel 50; Sanderson 4/34, Buck 3/15) by seven wickets
Northamptonshire have claimed a convincing seven-wicket win over Durham inside two days in their Specsavers County Championship Division Two clash at Emirates Riverside.
Durham gave themselves hope after a disappointing display on day one, claiming the four remaining Northants first-innings’ wickets within 22 balls for the cost of an extra nine runs from their overnight score of 189-6, restricting the visitors to a lead of 69.
However, Northamptonshire’s bowlers were outstanding for the second day on the bounce with the ball.
Ben Sanderson claimed four wickets, taking his tally for the match to 7-80. Richard Gleeson and Nathan Buck provided the support with three strikes apiece to bowl Durham out for just 133.
The visitors knocked off the 65 runs needed before the close on day two.
Northants began the day on 189-6 after the late wicket off Saif Zaib off the final ball of the previous day & Durham wasted no time in cleaning up the tail as Chris Rushworth claimed three. Matt Salisbury notched his fourth strike when Sanderson clipped a shot straight to Barry McCarthy, ending the innings on 198.
Sanderson put Durham on the back foot immediately as he dismissed Alex Lees and Gareth Harte in the same over. Gleeson bowled his first overs with the red ball since April and he did not have to wait long for his first wicket, finding Graham Clark’s outside edge allowing Brett Hutton to take the catch at first slip.
Gleeson then removed Michael Richardson and Axar Patel ripping through the middle order to leave the home side in huge trouble at lunch.
Cameron Steel stuck to his task in the middle to reach his half-century off 112 deliveries, before Buck ended a decent stand between the opener and Paul Collingwood, bowling the veteran for 27 before Sanderson returned to produce a fine delivery to dismiss Steel.
In pursuit of 65, Ben Curran fell for 11 when he was caught by Steel off Rushworth. Patel notched the wickets of Luke Procter and Ricardo Vasconcelos, but Alex Wakely and Richard Levi were able to knock off the winning runs.
Close, Day One: Northamptonshire (189/6; Wakely 60, Rossington 47*; Salisbury 3/38) lead Durham (129; Poynter 28; Procter 5/33) by 60 runs
Northamptonshire edged day one of their Specsavers County Championship contest against Durham, taking a 60-run lead into day two at Emirates Riverside.
Luke Procter starred with the ball for the visitors, claiming figures of 5-33 to put his side in command. Ben Sanderson and Brett Hutton were also on point to bowl Durham out for 129.
In response Northants battled their way beyond the home side’s first-innings total. Captain Alex Wakely was dropped twice early in his knock & made Durham pay, scoring a brisk half-century, while Adam Rossington notched 47 to leave them on top after the first day.
The toss was uncontested as the visitors opted to send Durham into bat. Their decision proved to be the correct one as Sanderson made immediate inroads to send Cameron Steel and Gareth Harte back to the pavilion.
Hutton produced an accurate spell of bowling to keep the pressure on and was rewarded when he pinned Graham Clark lbw for three.
Alex Lees attempted to combat the moving ball with an aggressive approach after seeing off Sanderson and Hutton. However, a straight delivery from Procter halted his innings at 25.
Axar Patel scored 95 on his Durham debut, but there was to be no repeat performance as he was bowled by Procter. Richardson continued the procession edging a Sanderson delivery on to his own stumps.
Paul Collingwood and Stuart Poynter offered resistance, but that came to an end when the Durham skipper was out on the stroke of lunch to Procter. The tail was wrapped up quickly after the interval, with Poynter falling for 28 as the home side posted 129 all out inside 40 overs.
Northamptonshire made a steady start as Procter opened the innings with Ben Curran. The all-rounder made 21 before Matt Salisbury pinned him lbw, while Curran lofted a shot straight to Steel at mid-wicket off Rushworth.
Although Salisbury notched the scalp of Ricardo Vasconcelos & Richard Levi played a poor shot to lose his wicket to Barry McCarthy, Wakely used his fortune to take the attack to the home side. He crashed 10 boundaries to put Northants ahead of Durham’s first-innings score, reaching his fifty off 70 deliveries in the process.
Patel produced a good delivery to remove the visitors’ skipper for 60, but Rossington kept Northants on course for a significant first-innings lead, despite the late wicket of Saif Zaib.