ANTIQUES SHOPS

Durham slump to season low

12:01pm Friday 25th May 2012 in Sport By Tim Wellock

DURHAM’S disastrous season hit a new low yesterday when they were bowled out by a bunch of talented teenagers and crashed to a five-wicket defeat at Taunton.

It underlined that relegation is a genuine threat and victory at home to fellow strugglers Lancashire next week is essential.

The match was continuing to unfold as the perfect fourday game until lunch, when Durham were 59 for one and led by 63.

By tea they had been dismissed for 167, leaving Somerset to score 152 to win with 35 overs remaining on the third day.

Of the four players out for nought Ben Stokes and Phil Mustard lasted four balls, Callum Thorp three and Liam Plunkett two.

It seemed Durham might still have a chance when Jamie Harrison had Alex Barrow lbw with the first ball of the Somerset innings.

It became 17 for two when Nick Compton tried to sweep Ian Blackwell and lobbed a catch to slip off bat and pad.

It could have been 25 for three had James Hildreth, on seven, not survived a very sharp chance to Will Smith, who was two yards from the bat at short leg.

Smith juggled the ball but couldn’t hang on and it proved a pivotal point as runs began to flow again shortly afterwards, Hildreth taking the score to 100 in partnership with Arul Suppiah, who went on to make 73.

Durham opened the bowling with Blackwell in the hope that he could emulate Somerset’s 19-yearold left-arm spinner George Dockrell, who took six for 27.

But in his first 11 overs Blackwell had one for 59.

He returned at the other end when the game was as good as over and claimed a second wicket when Joss Butler drove a catch to deep mid-off.

There was also a wicket to fall for Steve Harmison, who didn’t come on until the score was 89 for two.

He concentrated successfully on accuracy rather than pace in his first two overs, then let a bouncer slip and Hildreth tried to fetch it from outside off stump, only to lob a catch to Callum Thorp at mid-wicket.

Durham might want to reflect that the match has been a good advert for youth.

Harrison has enjoyed a very promising debut – he was last out for 20 in the Durham debacle – while Somerset’s teenagers took nine of the second innings wickets.

They all benefit from height with the Overton twins standing 6ft 6in and Dockrell 6ft 3in. He hails from Dublin and has already appeared in 28 one-day internationals for Ireland.

Blackwell had just hit the spinner for six and four when he weighed in with a spell of four for none in ten balls.

But the initial rot had set in after Durham had advanced to 69 for one, three wickets going down on the same total.

A murky morning had given way to a steamy afternoon, which helped the ball to swing. But it was extra bounce from Craig Overton which began the slide.

Mark Stoneman tried to withdraw his bat and edged to first slip, then Overton produced another good one to have Stokes taken at third slip.

Will Smith departed for 22 when he edged Alfonso Thomas to second slip then Blackwell counter-attacked, hitting four fours as he scored 18 off the first 12 balls he faced.

But he was clearly in difficulty when Dockrell came on and tried to knock him off his length by advancing to drive him over long-off for six.

He then cut the next ball for four, only to chip a return catch off the next to depart for 34, ending what threatened to be a reviving stand of 62 with Paul Collingwood.

Mustard was caught off bat and pad, Plunkett drove to mid-off and Thorp lobbed a catch to cover.

With only two wickets standing, Collingwood tried to slog / sweep Dockrell and edged to slip to depart for 32 and finally Harrison was caught at point.

It was a little unjust for Harrison to be on the losing side after his excellent debut. In the morning he produced a superb ball to halt Peter Trego’s charge, bowling him for 89.

Harrison finished with four for 112 as Somerset added 43 in 30 minutes before declaring as soon as they had secured the fifth batting point.

They were probably putting the ball in Durham’s court to set them a target on the final day. But such thoughts quickly vanished when Dockrell got to work.

SCORECARD

Somerset v Durham
At Taunton.
Overnight: Durham 384 (W R Smith 100, M
J Di Venuto 96, B A Stokes 60).Somerset
357-8 (P D Trego 67 no, N R D Compton
64, J C Hildreth 53, COverton 50).

Somerset First Innings
P D Trego b Harrison 89
G H Dockrell not out 11
J Overton not out 9
Extras (b4 lb4 w1 nb26) 35
Total 9 wkts dec (91.5 overs) 400
Fall: 1-6 2-66 3-138 4-199 5-203 6-209 7-
308 8-338 9-389
Bowling: Harrison 22-3-112-4. Thorp 21.5-
4-77-1. Plunkett 12-0-69-0. S J Harmison
11-2-60-1. Blackwell 25-7-74-3.

Durham Second Innings
W R Smith c Trego b Thomas 22
M J Di Venuto c Hildreth b J Overton 26
M D Stoneman c Hildreth b C Overton 13
B A Stokes c Barrow b C Overton 0
P D Collingwood c Hildreth b Dockrell 32
I D Blackwell c & b Dockrell 38
P Mustard c Trego b Thomas 0
L E Plunkett c C Overton b Dockrell 0
C D Thorp c J Overton b Dockrell 0
J Harrison c Buttler b Dockrell 20
S J Harmison not out 3
Extras (b4 lb8 w1) 13
Total (50.4 overs) 167
Fall: 1-36 2-69 3-69 4-69 5-131 6-131 7-131
8-131 9-158
Bowling: Trego 10-3-34-0. J Overton 11-2-
45-1. Thomas 11-4-22-1. C Overton 7-3-
25-2. Dockrell 11.4-4-29-6.

Somerset Second Innings
A W Barrow lbw b Harrison 0
A V Suppiah lbw b W R Smith 73
N Compton c Collingwood b Blackwell 8
J C Hildreth c Thorp b S J Harmison 31
C Kieswetter not out 22
J C Buttler c S J Harmison b Blackwell 7
P D Trego not out 4
Extras (b4 lb1 nb2) 7
Total 5 wkts (33.4 overs) 152
Fall: 1-0 2-17 3-100 4-129 5-138
Did Not Bat: A C Thomas, C Overton, G H
Dockrell, J Overton.
Bowling: Harrison 5-0-19-1. Blackwell 13-
0-68-2. Thorp 6-3-6-0. S J Harmison 4-0-
22-1. W R Smith 5.4-1-32-1.
Somerset (24pts) beat Durham (7pts) by 5 wkts