LEWIS: DURHAM MISSING BATTLE-HARDENED PLAYERS
AFTER ANOTHER DEFEAT, COACH ADMITS WORK IS NEEDED TO GET YOUNG TEAM PLAYING CONSISTENTLY
Durham coach Jon Lewis admitted his side is suffering from a lack of experience after suffering their fourth defeat in five Championship games this season.
Northamptonshire sealed a dramatic two-wicket win at Chester-le-Street yesterday to leave Durham rock bottom in the Division Two table, on -21 points.
The points deduction handed to the club after their forced relegation did not help, but even so Durham are 49 points adrift of second bottom Leicestershire. “We were well aware of the size of the points deduction, so that’s not an excuse,” said Lewis. “The loss of personnel is a bigger factor. “We are a bit light on battlehardened campaigners and need to work on maintaining standards over four days.”
Visiting skipper Alex Wakeley led the way with 83 as Northamptonshire were allowed to defy the elements and seal victory with one ball left.
With the floodlights on for the last 10 overs and steady rain falling in the final 10 minutes, the visitors finished the task of scoring 100 in 17 overs by scampering a bye to the wicketkeeper.
Needing 161 with nine wickets standing, no play was possible until 3.05 and tea was taken after 35 minutes when 56 had been added in nine overs.
That meant a further 105 were required from 33 overs, but only one over was bowled after the break before the rain returned.
The 5pm resumption favoured the NatWest T20 Blast holders against Durham’s inexperienced attack, who were bravely led by Paul Coughlin, who finished with match figures of 10 for 134.
Rob Newton cut and pulled Gavin Main for two fours in the second over of the final chase to reach 50 but then miscued Coughlin to deep mid-on to end a stand of 123.
Wakeley, who had begun the day on 18 and raced to a 58-ball half-century before the break, continued to score at the required rate and had the target down to 47 when he was narrowly run out attempting a second run to deep point.
Rob Keogh skied a return catch to Coughlin and Rory Kleinveldt holed out at longoff.
But Barry McCarthy was denied a second wicket when, with 26 needed off four, Josh Cobb was dropped at long-on by Michael Richardson.
The last ball of the over soared over the same fielder for six and Cobb, the matchwinner against Durham in last year’s T20 final, had all but finished the job when he was caught at third man in the final over. Wakeley said: “We tried our best to lose it at the end, but we had the upper hand from the first day and it’s a good feeling to come away with a win we really needed. “The weather threatened to deny us, but we were always holding on to a hope that there would be an opening and we felt 20 overs at the end was all we needed.”