A career best batting performance from Dynamo Will Smith has seen Durham cruise to victory over Surrey in their final Yorkshire Bank 40 match today.
Smith’s prolific and entertaining knock captivated the healthy crowd which had gathered for the Bank Holiday. Smith compiled 120no off just 79 balls and smashed 15 boundaries in a display which is sure to stick with Durham fans for years to come.
Smith combined with Gordon Muchall to put together a record 163-run stand, just days after he and Scott Borthwick made the record books against Surrey in the LVCC match.
Earlier in the day Durham skipper Mark Stoneman won the toss and decided to bat on a warm and sunny day at Emirates Durham ICG but the home-side got off to a shaky start when opener Phil Mustard was dismissed in the 2nd over without making a score. The visitors struck through Edwards with Solanki taking the catch.
Captain Mark Stoneman looked in good touch early but after making a quick-fire 31 off 25 balls he, like his opening partner found himself back in the pavilion after Linley cleaned up his stumps on the last ball of the 5th over.
Scott Borthwick and Paul Collingwood then got the scoreboard looking a bit healthier with some nice shot making with the pair adding 31 before Borthwick (15) drove to Solanki in the 12th over giving de Bruyn his first wicket for the day leaving Durham 71-3.
Borthwick’s wicket brought Ben Stokes to the crease but the big hitter who was returning from England Lions duties only managed one boundary before falling victim to a good delivery from Curran who bowled the all-rounder in the 15th over as Durham slumped to 81-4.
Collingwood and Smith then steadied to see Durham at 105-4 at the half way mark with the two putting on 31 before Collingwood chipped to Solanki to depart for 29 in the 23rd over.
Smith carried on at the crease o make a half century with his 50 coming off 52 balls and then paired up with Gordon Muchall to destroy the Surrey attack.
The pair got Durham past 200 with Smith hitting his second six of the day to bring up the 200 with just under five overs to go.
The duo put on a brutual hitting display with their 100 run partnership off just 86 balls.
Smith was particularly dominant with some big hitting as well as excellent running between the wickets with his partner in crime Muchall.
With two overs to go Smith brought up his 100 in style with yet another boundary to see his century come off just 73 balls.
It wasn’ t long after when his partner Muchall raised his bat for a well-deserved half century which came off 52 balls including 4 boundaries.
The pair continued to punish the Surrey bowlers in the final stages of the Durham innings with the partnership finishing on 163 from just 110 balls with 18 boundaries to get Durham to mammoth 275-5 off their 40 overs.
Ben Stokes was welcomed back into the Durham side after a week away with the England Lions with the first wicket as he struck in the second over to remove Harinath with Scott Borthwick taking the catch to get Durham off to a good start.
Just five overs later Chris Rushworth got his name on the wicket takers list as Roy found Michael Richardson who took a straight forward catch to have Surrey 26-2.
The wickets continued to tumble when Scott Borthwick came into the attack getting two in quick succession, firstly Solanki who was caught by Breese in the 16th over and then de Bruyn caught by Rushworth in his next over.
The spin continued to trouble the visitors with Gareth Breese getting his first for the day three overs later as the resilitlent Sibley (37) was caught by Stokes as Surrey struggled their way to 76-5.
The following over Scott Borthwick picked up his 3rd wicket of the day when Burns found Richardson at the half way mark and when Breese struck again the next over bowling Curran who didn’t trouble the scoreboard Surrey were 7 wickets down.
Spin continued to be a problem for Surrey with Ryan Pringle coming into the attack and successfully dismissing another batsman, this time Batty as Stokes took another catch.
Breese then took the final two wickets in two balls as he took his match figures to 4-33 and Durham wrapped up the game in the 31st over to hand them a comprehensive 133 run victory in their last 40 over match with the format changing to 50 overs next season.