The Second XI have defeated MCC YCC by 2 wickets in a 40-over match at Brandon Cricket Club yesterday.
After losing the toss and bowling, Durham got off to a good start with a wicket to Harrison and a nice bit of fielding to Atkinson gave him a run out and had the visitors 36-2 after 6 overs.
More wickets tumbled and MCC found themselves 67-6 ten overs later with Bousefield taking 2 wickets, Buckley one wicket and another piece of good work in the field with Singh this time getting a run out.
Ryan Buckley picked up two more wickets to take his tally to three and Captain Arshad also got in on the wickets alongside Ryan Buckley who took the final wicket to bowl MCC out for 109.
Chasing a low total the pitch looked as though it was aiding the bowlers after Durham lost both openers without the score in double figures and quickly found themselves 27-4.
Struggling to stay at the crease the news didn’t get any better as Durham slumped to 62-6 with Pringle (22) and Atkinson (10) the only ones making it into double figures at this stage of the match.
Durham lost another two wickets and the match looked as though it would go right down to the wire. With plenty of overs in hand it was left to poised duo Arshad and Harrison to stay at the crease and get the remaining 39 runs required for victory.
The pair did just this with a terrific Captain’s knock from Arshad leaving him on 28* whilst Harrison contributed a very handy 13* to give Durham the two wicket win.
Coach Jon Lewis said:
“It was good to get the win but we still need our batters to take more responsibility, particularly on difficult pitches. Arshad led from the front and just about dragged us over the line with good support from Harrison.
“Our bowling was a good display without being perfect. The pitch offered assistance to our spinners and they all bowled very well to make use of it.
“Our fielding at times was very good with two run outs but is still an area we need to improve on and we gave them 15 extras which in a low score is quite big”.