Durham 2nd XI broke even in a double-header against Lancashire 2nd XI with Scott Borthwick hitting back-to-back fifties at Ropery Lane in the ECB North group.
Ben McKinney skippered Durham’s fourth round of T20 fixtures in the North group, with Luke Doneathy missing out on the first encounter. The fixtures at Chester-le-Street Cricket Club also saw Scott Borthwick return to Durham action.
Opposition captain Will Williams won the toss and chose to bowl, a decision which proved to be advantageous in the opener. Durham lost Jonny Bushnell in the first over but saw their innings stabilised thanks to a 51-run partnership between McKinney- who made 13, and Borthwick.
Borthwick finished on Durham’s top score of 57 from 48 balls, with Harry Crawshaw later going on to make 33. Durham’s innings stuttered during the middle overs as they failed to score another partnership of more than 27.
Crawshaw struggled for partners with Mitchell Killeen’s 15 proving to be Durham’s only other double figure score. Once the pair’s partnership ended, Durham could only make 13 from the final two overs, finishing 139 for eight. Thomas Aspinwall starred with the ball for Lancashire as he collected figures of three for 18 from four overs.
In response, Lancashire saw Durham’s total off with relative ease with Rob Jones making 73 from just 35 balls. Luke Robinson, Scott Borthwick and George Drissell all claimed a wicket apiece for Durham but could not prevent a convincing Red Rose victory. Lancashire secured victory with seven wickets remaining.
Durham went about setting their second total at a faster tempo with Bushnell as Borthwick’s partner this time around following Mckinney’s dismissal for 14. Bushnell and Borthwick shared a 95-run second wicket stand in the space of nine overs to take Durham to 116 for two.
Bushnell was dismissed for a positive 46, striking seven boundaries and saw a large part of Scott Borthwick’s 74 from the non-striker’s end. Borthwick’s innings was comprised of 10 boundaries with 4 of those being maximums.
Liam Trevaskis came in at number four and provided some firepower, hitting two sixes in his innings of 23 with Tom Mackintosh also hitting one over the ropes pushing Durham up to finish on 197 for seven. Jack Blatherwick shone with the ball as he took four for 24 from his four overs.
The match turned out to be a nervy encounter towards its climax with the Red Rose requiring 13 runs from the final over. Durham’s attack was led by Cumbrian pair Stanley McAlindon and Liam Trevaskis as they shared five wickets between them.
It was an action-packed powerplay as Lancashire finished on 48 for three with McAlindon, Trevaskis and Robinsons all claiming one wicket. The visiting side produced partnerships of 44 and 52 for the fourth and sixth wickets but were ultimately stunted by Trevaskis’s dismissal of Blatherwick for 38 from 22 balls.
McAlindon looked to hit the pitch hard at the death and it paid dividends as he collected the key wickets of Will Williams and Cian Dickinson before running out Keshana Fonseka off his own bowling as the visitors finished 190 for nine, falling seven runs short.
This was Durham’s fourth of five double headed T20 fixtures with the 2nd XI North Group ending in Derbyshire on Tuesday 6th June. Durham have won three of eight fixtures during this campaign.