County Championship: Matthew Potts strikes twice after Durham declare against Worcestershire
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Matthew Potts' two wickets doubled his tally for the season
LV= County Championship Division Two, Seat Unique Riverside, Chester-le-Street (day two): |
Durham 425-9 dec (112.3 overs): Bedingham 118, Raine 71, Lees 70; Gibbon 4-92 |
Worcestershire 96-2 (25.5 overs): Pollock 41; Potts 2-41 |
Durham 4 pts, Worcestershire 2 pts |
Two wickets from England paceman Matthew Potts allowed Durham to make inroads into the Worcestershire batting line-up before rain ended play prematurely on day two in Chester-le-Street.
The home side declared on 425-9 after Ben Raine's impressive 71 to build on David Bedingham's century and Alex Lees' first-day 70, to add on two more batting bonus points.
Ed Pollock then got the Worcestershire reply off to a typically blistering start, scoring 41 from just 26 balls before he was bowled by Potts.
Potts then produced a timely peach to remove Azhar Ali just before the close, signalling that he is well prepared to fill the void of Chris Rushworth's departure.
The visitors will resume day three 329 runs behind the hosts with eight first-innings wickets in hand.
Resuming on their overnight 363-7, Raine continued his rich vein of form against Worcestershire, following on from a century in last season's contest with the Pears at the Riverside.
He sent a cut through backward point to the boundary to register his 14th fifty in first-class cricket.
Raine and Paul Coughlin tormented Worcestershire with a record-breaking stand of 213 last season, and proved to be a thorn in the visitors' side again by reaching another century stand.
But Coughlin then fell for 42 and Raine was caught on the fence before Scott Borthwick declared.
Left-hander Pollock bludgeoned nine boundaries to bring up the visitors' fifty in only the sixth over but Potts then took great delight in dismantling his stumps.
Azhar and Jake Libby were more sedate in their approach as the sunshine was gradually replaced by cloud cover.
The elements allowed Potts, Raine and Coughlin to control the run-rate while beating the bat on several occasions.
Azhar was put down by Ollie Robinson for 29 down the leg-side in a rare error from the wicketkeeper. However, his reprieve lasted only two balls before Potts pinned the former Pakistan international lbw just before rain ended the day prematurely.
Match report supplied by the ECB Reporters' Network.