NORTHEAST CENTURY FRUSTRATES DURHAM
WOOD SHINES WITH BAT, AND ONIONS WITH BALL, BUT KENT BATSMAN IS DEFIANT
Kent skipper Sam Northeast scored more than half of his side’s runs before he was last out for 110 in the Specsavers County Championship match against Durham at Chester-le-Street.
Graham Onions 6-62 as the hosts bowled out Kent for 206. That gave Durham a first-innings lead of 11 and they had reached 57-2 in their second by the close.
Durham were also indebted to the all-round efforts of Mark Wood on his comeback from the heel injury which had sidelined him since England’s second Test against South Africa in mid-July.
His career-best 72 not out rescued Durham from 77-7 in the morning and he followed up with 3-48.
Wood shared an eighthwicket stand of 106 with James Weighell (55) before Mitch Claydon took the last three wickets.
Onions was on the mark from the outset, pinning Sean Dickson lbw then beating Joe Denly’s forward defensive push to take out the off stump.
Northeast went in at 142 and got off the mark with an edged four when trying to withdraw his bat. But at tea he had propelled his team to 134-3 from 26 overs.
He sped to 50 off 45 balls with ten fours, despite losing Daniel Bell-Drummond, who grafted hard for his 26, only to surrender when he tried to pull Wood and lobbed a catch to mid-on.
After tea, Kent lost five wickets for 13 runs. Zak Crawley was lbw to Wood and three balls later Darren Stevens edged behind. Calum Haggett had off and middle rattled by Onions and Adam Milne edged a lavish drive behind.
Sam Billings, suffering from a migraine, went in at 147-7 and departed first ball, having his leg bail trimmed.
Claydon clubbed some boundaries and made 16 before driving to deep midoff to give Onions his sixth wicket.
On 81 when last man Imran Qayyum joined him, Northeast farmed the strike on the way to his 102-ball century.
He finally fell when he edged a forcing back-foot shot off Weighell.
With Billings resting, Kent emerged with BellDrummond behind the stumps and he held the catch off Haggett which removed Keaton Jennings for 13. Haggett also brought one back a long way to bowl Cameron Steel for nought.