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.
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