Lancashire are in driving seat at the Riverside
Bob Willis Trophy: Durham v Lancs
LANCASHIRE are on top after day one of their Bob Willis Trophy match against Durham after bowling out the home side for 180 at Emirates Riverside.
Richard Gleeson was the standout bowler for the visitors, claiming figures of 3-32, while the rest of the wickets were shared around the attack. Alex Lees provided the only meaningful resistance for the hosts with a patient half-century, while Ben Raine was left stranded on 24 not out at the end of the innings.
The Red Rose had a tricky spell to negotiate before stumps, but they closed the day 33-0, trailing the home side by 147 runs heading into day two.
Despite their struggles in the first innings against Yorkshire last week, Durham skipper Ned Eckersley opted to bat first on a glorious summer’s day at Emirates Riverside. However, the home side’s top-order problems continued, with Sean Dickson falling to a fine one-handed catch from Alex Davies behind the stumps from a swinging Tom Bailey delivery.
Cameron Steel was then pinned lbw, leaving a straight delivery from Luke Wood. David Bedingham scored an impressive half-century against the White Rose, but on this occasion he gave his wicket away, playing a loose cut shot to a wide delivery from Gleeson and Davies claimed a simple catch behind the stumps.
Resistance came from Lees, who displayed the same patience at the crease as he did last week scoring a century against Yorkshire. The lefthander and Gareth Harte put on 52 for the fourth wicket, which was only ended by a run out. Harte’s hesitation cost him his wicket when George Balderson connected with a direct hit from backward point. Lees maintained his poise and notched his halfcentury from 151 deliveries.
After Lees reached his milestone, a clatter of wickets ensued. Jack Burnham fell lbw to Gleeson after narrowly surviving an outside edge that bounced short of Keaton Jennings. Lees was put down by Jennings on 61 after Wood found his outside edge. It only cost Lancashire five runs as Lees became the second run-out victim of the session. Dane Vilas and Davies combined to run out the opener for a well made 66. Eckersley then knicked off to Balderson for eight, leaving Durham seven down before the 150-run mark.
Raine provided aggression before being penned back by the Lancashire attack. His attempt to cut loose off Liam Hurt resulted in an edge that just looped over Liam Livingstone at second slip. Hurt’s persistence paid off when Brydon Carse pulled a short ball straight into the hands of Vilas.
Gleeson’s return from the Finchale End yielded the wicket of Matt Salisbury lbw for one before Liam Livingstone wrapped up the Durham innings by removing Chris Rushworth caught behind.
Lancashire enjoyed a solid start to their reply with Jennings and Davies blunting the new-ball attack of Rushworth and Carse. The latter struggled to find his rhythm following his return from England’s white-ball squad earlier this month. It allowed Jennings and Davies to settle and leave the visitors unscathed from a nine-over burst at the close.
Durham’s Ben Raine said: “Alex Lees batted well. It’s a good pitch so we’re disappointed with the score that we put on the board. We’ve got to look forward and if we know our bowlers can perform like we can we can get ourselves back into the game and look forward to a good third innings.
“I think it’s only a matter of time before we see runs from the lads. They did bowl very well, but you’ve got to be putting up bigger scores than that after winning the toss.”