County Championship: Durham make solid start after Lyth century for Yorkshire

Alex Lees has now scored 1,152 runs in the Championship for Durham this season

Former Yorkshire opening partners Adam Lyth and Alex Lees shone for their respective sides on day two at Scarborough as Durham responded in kind to the home side's first-innings 340 all out.

Lyth made his way from 75 not out overnight to 111 off 188 balls before fellow left-hander Lees dominated after tea with 65 not out in Durham's reply of 106-1 from 33 overs.

The pair won two Championship titles together for Yorkshire in 2014 and 2015 before Lees fell out of form and left his home county for Durham to reignite his career in 2018.

He has since played Test cricket for England and is currently on a run of four hundreds in his last five Championship innings. Number five could follow on day three of this fixture.

Lees is the only player to have topped 1,000 runs in either division of the Championship this season, while Lyth is now inside the top 10 scorers in Division Two with 757.

He was the cornerstone of Yorkshire's total and was supported in thrilling fashion by Jordan Thompson's 54 off 52 balls, including four fours and as many sixes.

As Yorkshire advanced from 142-2 overnight, Matthew Potts and Ben Raine finished with 4-93 and 4-111 respectively, but Durham will have been frustrated at dropping a couple of slip catches.

Just when it looked like Durham had created an opening, the lower order frustrated them. Raine trapped Ryan Rickelton lbw as Yorkshire reached an early lunch on 211-3, with rain preventing play between 12.35pm and 2:00pm.

He then had Lyth caught behind cutting before wicketkeeper Ollie Robinson helped Potts remove Matthew Revis, but at the second attempt.

When Jonny Tattersall dragged a pull at Bas de Leede onto his stumps, Yorkshire were 236-6 in the 69th over, having lost three wickets for 24.

But a trio of handy contributions, led by Thompson, helped them reassert their authority as another 104 runs were added.

Ben Coad made 19 and Matthew Fisher 24, ably supporting Thompson's freewheeling innings. He crashed four leg-side sixes off de Leede and Raine, one of them going out of the ground into the gardens surrounding the venue.

Thompson was the last wicket to fall, caught at long-leg on the stroke of tea pulling against Potts.

Lees is doing everything he can to add to the 10 Tests he played last year and hit all of his first seven boundaries down the ground or through cover off front and back foot, added to a lofted straight six off Coad.

Having lost opening partner Michael Jones, who was caught behind off Thompson, leaving the score at 42-1 in the 10th over, he went on to reach his latest 50 off 64 balls.

Lees shared an unbroken 64 for the second wicket with captain Scott Borthwick, who will begin day three unbeaten on 29.

Report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network.