Sunday 12 May 2013

Visitors close in despite rain



Durham’s bowlers have put their side into a winnable position heading into the final day of the game tomorrow, with Surrey facing an uphill battle to save the game.

After being bowled out for 286, 3 wickets from Scott Borthwick helped restrict the home side to 164-6 on a rain hit day at the Oval, with the lead only standing at 115 heading into Monday’s play.

We did the first job right this morning, getting the final Durham wicket quickly, with Gareth Batty trapping Buckley LBW for his 5th wicket. A superb effort from the captain, who carried us through that innings, with Durham taking a lead of 49.

Our poor opening partnership record continued though, as Jason Roy played down the wrong line to a Thorp delivery and was bowled for 4. The 11 that he and Burns put on was actually our second highest opening stand of the season, the highest being 32 against Middlesex, with 5 of the 7 partnerships this campaign being below 10. Our long term problems in that position haven’t yet been resolved.

Arun Harinath didn’t hang around long, as he was adjudged LBW for 11, but on second viewing it looks like the ball may have missed off stump. Burns was looking solid, but in the last over before lunch, he was also out LBW on 38 this time to Borthwick, as we struggled into the interval on 65-3.

Not long after the break, Paul Collingwood had Solanki LBW for 20 with a ball that kept low, as we were 4 down for 87, a lead of just 40. Zander was joined by Davies, who looked to be positive as always, and the pair started to put together an important partnership, taking our lead into the eighties. However, de Bruyn never looked comfortable at the crease, and he fell LBW for 20, once again from a Borthwick ball that kept low.

The last recognised batsman Wilson joined Davies, with a big job on their hands, but Davies got out in the worst possible circumstances. He pulled a short ball from Borthwick straight to Stoneman on the midwicket rope when on 46. Not a shot that was needed in the situation, and with a lead of 115 and 4 wickets remaining at tea, a much better effort from the tail than in the 1st innings was needed.

However, the rain came and completely washed out the final session, meaning we head into the final day on 164-6.

Once again, batsman who got themselves in have failed to kick on and get a sizable score. Burns was looking good until he got out at just the wrong time. Solanki has got a start in every Championship innings for us, but has failed once again to make that start count. Davies’ dismissal was very poor, his second of the match, and that could ultimately lead to our first defeat of the season.

The forecast for tomorrow looks much better, which means that Durham will have plenty of time to knock over our last 4 wickets and chase down whatever lead we can muster. We just have to hope that Wilson and Batty can hang around for some time tomorrow morning, because the batsman to follow have only mustered 4 runs in 6 innings between them this season, not something that fills you with confidence.

If Wilson and Batty can somehow muster up a lead of around 180-200, then anything can happen, but as it stands, that looks unlikely.

No comments:

Post a Comment