Bowlers work hard on day three at Durham
Sun 6 May 2018
SCORE | Day 3 of 4, Specsavers County Championship: Durham CCC 184 & 233 for 1 (f/o) v Leicestershire CCC 440
SCORECARD | Available through ESPN Cricinfo
REACTION | Callum Parkinson spoke to BBC Radio Leicester’s Richard Rae at stumps
HIGHLIGHTS | In-play highlights are available throughout the 2018 season
REPORT | Leicestershire CCC had to be patient on day three as Durham CCC’s batsmen dug in after being asked to follow-on at Emirates Riverside.
Gavin Griffiths collected a career-best 4 for 34 as Durham CCC was dismissed for 184 in their first innings before the hosts ended the third day at 233 for 1 after openers Aiden Markram (94) and Cameron Steel (79*) shared 152.
The attack persevered on a flat pitch on another hot day in the north-east with Callum Parkinson impressing in the second innings.
Leicestershire CCC will be feeling positive going into the final day. There are a minimum of 96 overs remaining in the game, Durham CCC is still in the red to the tune of 23 runs, and County will be boosted by the immediate availability of the new ball tomorrow morning.
County took just six overs to make their first breakthrough of the third day. Varun Aaron set Nathan Rimmington up with a series of deliveries outside his off stump and used his in-swinger to good effect to trap the batsman lbw for 23.
Aaron and Ben Raine opened the bowling and bowled unchanged for the first 40 minutes before Gavin Griffiths and Neil Dexter took over with the ball. Dexter struck in his first over as he had Barry McCarthy caught behind with another delivery that swung back in.
Leicestershire CCC completed the job of taking the final three wickets within the first hour. Graham Clark, who had made a composed 64 while wickets fell around him, was the last man to fall, becoming the fourth batsman to be bowled by Griffiths.
Durham CCC was sent out again after falling 107 runs short of the follow-on target, still trailing Leicestershire CCC's total by 256 runs. Markram breathed a sigh of relief after notching his first runs for the north east outfit in his fourth innings for the club.
Markram and Steel were unbeaten at the end of the first session at 36 without loss, although Durham still trailed by 220 at that point. The duo continued to frustrate the Foxes after the interval and the duo brought up their first fifty partnership of the campaign in the 21st over.
Markram found his rhythm at the crease and reached his half-century off 75 deliveries (9x4) as he showed the good form that saw him become the fastest South African batsman to reach 1,000 test runs.
The 100 partnership arrived at a decent pace as Markram maintained his poise to gradually whittle down the deficit.
Captain Michael Carberry utilised six bowlers in a bid to make the breakthrough, including introducing himself at the Finchale End towards the end of the second session.
At tea, Durham CCC was 116 runs away from forcing Leicestershire to bat again with Markram 10 runs away from a century, while Steel - as his name suggests - remained hard to shift at the other end, and was unbeaten on 40.
Parkinson made a vital breakthrough at the start of the final session, trapping Markram in front of the stumps with a full delivery.
The wicket did not bring further joy as another stand developed. Steel passed 50 while Will Smith (43*) was positive, looking to sweep Parkinson’s slow left arm in a bid to knock him off his length, and putting away anything loose off the seamers.
TEAM | Carberry (capt), Horton, Ackermann, Cosgrove, Eckersley (wk), Dexter, Hill, Raine, Parkinson, Griffiths, Aaron.
FIGURES | 1st innings: Aaron 17-2-72-2, Raine 15-3-39-3, Griffiths 12.3-3-34-4, Dexter 6-3-9-1, Parkinson 4-0-13-0.
2nd innings: Aaron 14-0-65-0, Raine 18-4-35-1, Griffiths 10-2-26-0, Dexter 11-3-30-0, Parkinson 25-10-63-1, Carberry 2-0-7-0.
PHOTO | Thanks to John Mallett for the photo of Gavin Griffiths bowling.
* It's been a good start to the season for the Foxes and now is the perfect opportunity to join Team Leicestershire as a Member for the 2018 season. You can sign up for Membership online HERE
