Durham v Lancashire at Chester-le-Street 15, 16, 17, 18 June 2014
Durham 338 (MD Stoneman 51, P Mustard 70, P Coughlin 85, KW Hogg 6-70) and 267 (SG Borthwick 92, TM Smith 5-42) Lancashire 266 (Usman Khawaja 86) and 312 (SJ Croft 72, JC Buttler 100*, C Rushworth 4-45)
Durham won by 27 runs
Durham 22 points 5 points
Durham showed great resilience and secured their first Championship win of the season after an exciting match which swung one way then another. Having been asked to bat first, openers Mark Stoneman and Keaton Jennings added 55 before Jennings was dismissed in the eleventh over. After that, batting was hard work for Durham who were 184 for eight when Paul Coughlin, making his Championship debut, joined the experienced Phil Mustard. They batted for the rest of the first day and into the second adding 150 for the ninth wicket before being parted. This remains a Durham record ninth wicket partnership and Coughlin’s 85 is still the highest score by a Durham batsman coming in at number 10.
Lancashire’s innings was a contrast to Durham’s as they were in a strong position at 205 for two with Usman Khawaja, on his Lancashire debut, at the crease. Coughlin then made the breakthrough by dismissing Khawaja and taking two further wickets. With John Hastings and Ben Stokes, who earlier had struggled with multiple no-balls, quickly sharing the remaining five wickets Lancashire conceded a first innings deficit of 72 when they had been eyeing a lead.
When Durham were 62 for four, Lancashire appeared to have got themselves back in the match, but Scott Borthwick and Paul Collingwood then added 99 before John Hastings contributed a valuable 40. Lancashire required 340 to win in just over a day and the match was to continue to fluctuate.
Three early wickets for Chris Rushworth reduced Lancashire to 42 for three, but Durham then had to work hard for the remaining wickets. Steven Croft and Jos Buttler added 129 for the fifth wicket. At 269 for eight victory for Durham was in touching distance, but with Buttler at the crease nothing could be taken for granted. He and Kabir Ali added 40 before Simon Kerrigan came in with 31 still needed. Chris Rushworth took the new ball and after Buttler had completed his century Rushworth trapped Kerrigan leg before to seal the win.