Day 4 Nottinghamshire 662/5 dec & 121/2 dec beat Durham 207 & 114 by 462 runs
Durham closed the 2022 LV= Insurance County Championship season at Trent Bridge with a 462 run defeat to Division 2 Champions Nottinghamshire.
England’s Stuart Broad, in his first appearance for his county since May, finished with three for 36, left-arm spinner Liam Patterson-White took three for 41 and South African seamer Dane Paterson two for 27.Durham, for whom David Bedingham was unable to bat because of a dislocated shoulder, were dismissed for 114 to lose by 462 runs.Barring defeat here, Nottinghamshire were effectively champions already after seven first-innings bonus points meant they could no longer be overtaken in the Division Two standings, yet they had wanted to end on a winning note and gave spectators free admission to witness their triumph.Resuming on 14 for two after Nottinghamshire, who stacked up a formidable 662 for five declared, had declared their second innings on 121 for two, Durham suffered their first loss in the fourth over of the day as Broad angled one in to have Scott Borthwick leg before.Skipper Steven Mullaney, one of four centurions in the first innings, sprang something of a surprise when he did not enforce the follow-on after Durham were dismissed 455 behind on first innings, yet his decision seemed to be justified as a rested attack made life difficult for their opponents in conditions freshened up by overnight rain.Patterson-White claimed the second scalp of the morning in his first over as Liam Trevaskis’s top-edged sweep looped gently to slip.Chris Benjamin, the wicketkeeper on loan from Warwickshire, took a positive approach, hitting five boundaries in his 33, but came a cropper when Broad returned for his second spell, edging to second slip.Patterson-White bowled Ben Raine, Paterson had Matthew Potts edging to second slip, where Matt Montgomery, whose magnificent 178 had been the largest component of Nottinghamshire’s 662, took his second catch of the innings. Before Patterson-White enjoyed the decisive moment as Jonathan Bushnell, sweeping off balance, was leg before, as Durham were bowled out for 114.
Day 3 662/5 dec & 121/2 dec lead Durham 207 & 14/2 by 563
Nottinghamshire secured promotion to Division One of the LV= Insurance County Championship after continuing to dominate this County Championship fixture at Trent Bridge. They bowled Durham out for 207 just 10 overs after lunch in reply to their mammoth 662 for five declared. Yet they eschewed the chance to win the title with a flourish – and perhaps a day to spare – by not enforcing the follow-on, to the bemusement of some spectators.In the event, after bad light kept the players off for the best part of an hour, Nottinghamshire declared their second innings on 121 for two, with Haseeb Hameed 49 not out, and Joe Clarke on 48.It left Durham, now 576 behind, with 14 overs to face when they re-emerged, of which eight were possible before the light closed in again.They finished 14 for two, having lost lost Sean Dickson, caught at third slip fending at Stuart Broad for a duck, and nightwatchmen George Drissell leg before to Luke Fletcher for six.With a lead of 455 and Durham a key batter short after David Bedingham dislocated a shoulder in the field, Nottinghamshire were odds-on to win by an innings and quite possibly before the end of the day.That cannot now happen, although at least spectators will be able to witness the last-day denouement at no cost, the club having announced that tickets for Thursday’s play would be free of charge.Earlier, two down for 53 and still 609 behind overnight on first innings, Durham were in dire straits at 155 for six at lunch.Scott Borthwick, who struck three positive early boundaries despite protecting an injured finger, cut Fletcher straight into the hands of backward point. George Drissell, the nightwatchman, looked capable of hanging around but then gave a tame catch to midwicket.Nic Maddinson went on the attack, smiting three sixes off Liam Patterson-White’s left arm spin.Yet his violent innings ended with a tentative push at a ball from Broad, giving first slip a regulation catch. New batsman Chris Benjamin was snapped up at short leg in the next over, giving Patterson-White his second wicket.It left Durham in a sorry state, which worsened immediately after lunch when Ben Raine was leg before to Dane Paterson. Jonathan Bushnell batted nicely for his 37 in only his fourth first-class match before he nudged the spinner to slip.Matthew Potts decided on the Maddinson approach and Patterson-White conceded two more sixes, but after two boundaries in a row off Paterson matched Maddinson’s 40, Potts holed out to deep wicket, ending the Durham innings and giving Nottinghamshire a third batting point, securing promotion. Paterson finished with three for 50, Patterson-White three for 72.After Nottinghamshire’s decision to bat again, Potts picked up his 58th wicket of the season as Ben Slater edged to first slip, before Matt Montgomery fell for nine following his first-innings 178, giving a similarly straightforward catch to second slip.Bad light – the bane of late September – cricket, descended at 4.35pm, which meant Nottinghamshire probably would not have had time to bowl Durham out again in any event. The loss of overs prompted the Nottinghamshire declaration, which among other things denied Clarke his last opportunity to score that elusive first hundred of the season.
Day 2 662/5 dec lead Durham 53/2 by 609
Nottinghamshire added a new line in their county record books as they put one hand on the Division Two trophy by racking up a massive 662 for five declared against Durham on day two of the final match of their LV= Insurance County Championship season.The seventh highest total in their 181-year history was only the second to contain four individual hundreds, matching the achievement of the team that made 656 for three declared against Warwickshire at Coventry in 1928.After Haseeb Hameed and Matt Montgomery posted centuries on day one – Montgomery extending his maiden ton to a magnificent 178 – Lyndon James, with a career-best 164 not out, and skipper Steven Mullaney, who made 136, further turned the screw against a chastened Durham attack, although Matthew Potts (three for 83) and Ben Raine (two for 98) both went for under three an over.Durham’s batters then had to face a Nottinghamshire attack boasting England pace bowler Stuart Broad for the first time since April. They closed on 53 for two, still 609 behind, fading light forcing an early close for the second day running.A draw from this match – which already looks assured – will clinch promotion for Nottinghamshire regardless of results elsewhere. A win secures the title.After Nottinghamshire had started the day on 276 for two, they lost Joe Clarke in only the third over, caught at second slip fending a ball from Potts. Dropped on 27 on Monday evening, he didn’t add to his 28 overnight.The South African-born right-hander, standing in while Ben Duckett is away with England, looked the part again. Unruffled by a blow to the body from Potts at the start of the day, he turned his hundred into 150 from 304 balls after hitting 22 fours. He and the impressive James added 161 for the fourth wicket.Montgomery’s marathon innings ended after he had ended a curious passage of two hours without a boundary by hitting fours in consecutive overs. Weary after more than six and a half hours’ batting, he jabbed at one outside off stump from Potts and inside-edged on to his leg stump.At 438 for four, next man Mullaney had licence to assert himself and did so, hitting sixes off Potts and Liam Trevaskis (twice) on his way to a 49-ball half century. James, meanwhile, completed the third century of his career – all this season – from 158 balls after collecting 13 fours.Having not offered a chance before then, the shot that took him to the 100 mark was oddly rash, a slash at a ball from seamer Jonathan Bushnell that left wicketkeeper Chris Benjamin, standing up, in some pain and needing treatment after being hit on the hand. Mullaney’s century – his third of the season – came off 91 balls with four sixes, which he had increased to seven by the time he was caught behind for 136 off Raine with the third new ball, at which point he declared.James overtook his previous best of 155, accumulating 19 fours in almost five hours at the crease.As if things could get no worse for Durham, who are without top scorer Michael Jones – away with Scotland – another frontline batsman, David Bedingham, suffered an injury in the field and did not field after tea.Liam Trevaskis, sent in as an emergency opener, fell leg before to Broad in the sixth over. As the light faded, prompted by the umpires, Mullaney turned to his spinners to keep playing on a day already extended to compensate for time lost on Monday.That should have made it easier for Durham to negotiate what remained. Instead, Sean Dickson – in his last match for the county before moving to Somerset – took a huge swing at the left-armer Liam Patterson White and sent the ball off a leading edge to mid-on.
Day 1 – Nottinghamshire 276/2
Hundreds for Haseeb Hameed and Matthew Montgomery helped Nottinghamshire put together exactly the opening day they had hoped for as they seek to clinch promotion to Division One in their final LV= Insurance County Championship match of the season.Hameed’s 115 and Montgomery’s 101 not out – his maiden first-class century – helped Nottinghamshire close on 276 for two against Durham, knowing that a draw will guarantee they go up and that a victory wins the Division Two title.Montgomery, a 22-year-old right-handed batter who is covering for England’s Ben Duckett in the No 3 slot, is in only his fourth first-class match for the county, but already looks an outstanding prospect.Hameed’s reputation is long established. This was his fourth century of the season and his 12th all told, his 1,186 runs this summer almost matching the 1,198 he made for Lancashire in his sensational first full season in 2016.The difference between the Hameed of today and his 19-year-old self of textbook correctness six years ago is that his runs this year have come from almost 40 per cent fewer deliveries. Given the torrid time he suffered on the Ashes tour last winter, it has been a hugely impressive comeback.Nottinghamshire’s plans had the perfect start when the toss allowed them the choice to bat first and a largely comfortable morning session on a pitch tailored to their ends saw them progress to 94 for one at lunch. Ben Slater punched the opening delivery of the match through the off side for four and the contest between bat and ball therefore was dominated by the former.The Durham seam attack, led by Ben Raine and England’s Matthew Potts, induced a few streaky moments with the new ball but only one wicket. Slater, who had been dropped on 18 at second slip off Ollie Gibson, was caught behind for 23 off Raine, via what looked like an inside edge.Otherwise, there was very little doing for any of the bowlers, including spinners Liam Trevaskis and George Drissell. As Hameed drove Trevaskis handsomely through the extra cover area for his ninth boundary, taking a single next ball for an 89-ball fifty, a substantial total already looked on the cards.The next 30 overs did nothing to change that assessment. Indeed, it strengthened it, Hameed completing his fourth hundred of the campaign off 145 balls.There had been 14 fours, no chances offered and few deliveries troubling him much, although as it happened the one from which he reached the milestone took him by surprise as Jonathan Bushnell, the 21-year-old Durham had picked as their fourth seamer, dropped one in short. It required Hameed, with his weight shifting on to his front foot, to readjust and play the ball from in front of his face, yet he did so adroitly, playing it into the ground and clenching a celebratory first even as he set off for a comfortable single.There had been no reason to believe he would not still be there at tea, yet he failed two overs ahead of the break as Potts, six overs into his third spell of the day, found a bit of life in a 63-overs-old and moved it enough to square Hameed up a touch and find the outside edge, Scott Borthwick diving to his left at second slip to take a very good catch.The second-wicket partnership added 180, a record for that wicket for Nottinghamshire against Durham. Montgomery, batting with maturity and assuredness in only his fourth first-class match for the county, had been no junior partner.He had 12 fours to his name in his 84 at tea – already his highest first-class score – and moved into the 90s a couple of overs later, after which, after showing no signs of nerves or impatience in the 10 overs that followed, completed the hundred by cutting Trevaskis for an easy single. He had hit 14 fours and faced 198 balls.Against the second new ball, Joe Clarke survived a chance to the wicketkeeper off Potts on 27 before bad light forced an early finish, with 11.3 overs remaining.