Result: Northants 2nd XI (94/4; Main 3/21; 2 points) beat Durham 2nd XI (Akram 4/20; 0 points) by six wickets
Durham’s Second XI dropped to a disappointing six-wicket defeat in their first Trophy match of 2017 at Northants.
After being invited to bat first by the hosts, captain Adam Hickey & Michael Jones made a steady start in putting 30 on for the first wicket.
The skipper made 18 while Jones, who scored 173* against the Seconds for Scotland ‘A’, made a steady 21.
But Jones’ score ended up being the highest of the innings as they went from 30/0 to 64/8.
Liam Hurt made 13 at number ten but a score of 93 was always going to prove difficult to defend, even despite Gavin Main’s three-wicket haul.
The wickets of openers Max Holden & Rob Newton gave Durham a glimmer of hope before he then removed Home, caught behind by Irfan Karim.
Hurt then added the wicket of Saif Zaib but with few runs on the board, Northants eventually cruised home.
The sides will play over the next three days for the start of the Seconds’ defence of their Championship title.