Last-wicket Durham duo stand firm to deny Notts
A FRUSTRATING last-wicket partnership of 45 between Brydon Carse and Ben Raine ensured that Durham earned a draw from their Bob Willis Trophy match against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.
When the pair came together Durham had a lead of 156 over their hosts, with around 30 overs still remaining in the contest. Carse’s eventual dismissal, for 31, meant that the target had jumped to 202 from 17 overs.
Nottinghamshire, through the powerful hitting of Peter Trego and the deftness of Ben Duckett, gave it a go before agreeing to call off the chase on 82 for one, with only 7.4 overs left.
Trego twice cleared the ropes in hitting 34 from 22 balls and Duckett was unbeaten on 36 from 28.
Earlier, the visitors were eventually bowled out for 329 in their second innings, with Michael Jones top-scoring with 82. Samit Patel claimed four for 80 for the hosts, with Trego taking three for 34.
The home county were held up for more than an hour by Chris Rushworth at the start of the day, with the nightwatchman eventually falling for 25 to a catch at short leg off Matt Carter.
Jones, a 22-year old Scotland international playing in only his fifth firstclass fixture, defied Nottinghamshire for 248 minutes in making his highest first-class score.
Following a duck in the first innings, Jones played a chanceless knock, hitting eight fours in his 224ball stay before nicking Jake Ball behind soon after the second new ball had been taken.
Trego struck twice after lunch, getting David Bedingham lbw for 29 and then forcing Stuart Poynter to misjudge a leave that ricocheted back onto his stumps.
Carter had Gareth Harte caught at short leg by Haseeb Hameed for 34 before Paul Coughlin nicked Patel behind.
Ned Eckersley only made eight but took 75 minutes out of the game, eventually falling to Patel after facing 73 deliveries.
Carse and Raine then played their punchy cameos to put any thoughts of a victory charge for Nottinghamshire back on ice.
Requiring around 12 runs an over from the start Trego started as if it could be achieved, slog-sweeping Rushworth over the ropes before launching Raine even further.
The first six overs produced 66 runs, with Duckett helping himself to four boundaries but the fall of Trego’s wicket and the sight of nine Durham fielders hugging the boundary prompted the early finish.
Nottinghamshire take 16 points from the contest, propelling them up to fourth in the final North Group standings but their wait for a first red ball victory since June 2018 goes on.
Durham, with 13 points, sit at the foot of the table, having also finished with two defeats and three draws from their Bob Willis Trophy campaign.
Durham’s Michael Jones said: “I really enjoyed my time out there. It was nice to spend some time in the middle in a first-class game, which I haven’t been able to do up until now.
“There was a lot of turn and bounce, which we don’t usually see at the Riverside, so for a first away game it was a bit of a challenge.”