Nottinghamshire v Durham County Championship Div1 April 4-7

Neil Whitaker reports

Day 1
DURHAM’S Colin Ackermann hit  the first Rothesay Championship century of the season, the perfect birthday present for the 34 year-old South African.

It was his second birthday present at Trent Bridge.  On, 80 the Nottinghamshire players and crowd thought he was  bowled by Lyndon James. But  to the disbelief of the Nottinghamshire players and crowd, the bails  had jumped out off the groove and then fell back into the groove.

When he came into bat Durham, after they had been told to bat, had lost two wickets in two overs from Aussie Fergus O’Neill on Championship debut for Nottinghamshire.  Ackerman top edged a pull off James and the ball flew over the slips to the third man boundary.   In  James’ next over he clipped him off his toes over the  Bridgeford  road boundary for a six to bring up the fifty partnership with his skipper Alex Lees which came from 72 balls.

Ackermann reached his 50 which came from 88 balls when he squirted Josh  Tongue out to third man for a couple.  His 50 included seven fours and a six.

He reached his third Championship century for Durham when he drilled Tongue to the long-on boundary.  His ton came from 174 balls and included 15 fours and a six.

His 265 minute innings ended when he pushed forward at Farman Ahmed who found his outside edge and Matt  Montgomery at slip took a low one-handed.  He said: “t was an awesome day. I think we would have bowled with the pitch offering plenty of seam movement early on. It was a  great day for us. We’ve got 370 on the board so we’re very happy.  Graham Clark batted  as we know he can  and we had a valuable partnership.  I think I'm playing nice at the moment, everything seems to be working nicely.”

Nottinghamshire’s Aussie signing O’Neill was another who had a dream day taking four wickets and taking a catch.  Playing the first of four matches with Nottinghamshire he got his first wicket in his third over when the giant opener Ben McKinney tried to force him off the back foot and edged him to stumper Joe Clarke.

He got his second wicket in his next over Emilio  Gay edged him and  Clarke took  his second catch.  In the afternoon session O’Neill showed his strength and stamina when came back for his third spell and it only took two overs to get another wicket.  Again it was the O’Neill/ Clarke combination when the  stumper took a brilliant low catch to his left after being wrong footed to dismiss former Warwickshire captain Will Rhodes.

Durham skipper Lees should have joined McKinney in the hutch  the over after his fellow opener was dismissed when he edged Dillon Pennington to James at first slip but James dropped the regulation chance.

Josh Tongue  making  his Championship debut for Nottinghamshire had  his first two balls pulled by Lees to the short mid wicket boundary.

Tongue  got his first Championship wicket for Nottinghamshire in the fifth over after lunch when Robinson flashed at him, got a thick outside edge and James at first slip this time took a comfortable catch.

He said: “I had a tough year last year with  my hamstring, but fingers crossed that's all gone now and I want to play as many games I can for Notts. Today it was a very proud moment getting my cap and fitting into the team.”

Farhan Ahmed floated one up and Lees’ eyes must have lit up thinking he was going to hit a six to go with his 10 fours but he tamely chipped it to O’Neill at wide mid-on.  His 52 came from 70 balls and with Ackermann they added 78 in 17 overs. He reached his 50 when he rocked back to Farhan Ahmed and drove him into the covers for a couple.

Clark got off the mark when he elegantly drove O’Neill to the extra cover boundary. He  glanced Pennington off his legs to the fine leg boundary to bring up the 50 partnership with Ackerman off 72 balls.  The partnership was broken when Tongue squared Clark up and took his outside edge and Freddie McCann at second slip took the catch tumbling to his right.

George Drissell and Ben Raine stubbornly defied the Nottinghamshire bowlers for 53 minutes taking  the score past 300 and their partnership beyond 50.  They regularly found the boundary particularly the shorter one. The partnership was broken when Pennington yorked  Raine and knocked his middle stout of the ground.

Drissell fell five runs short off his 50 when he became O’Neill’s fourth victim when he played a nothing shot and Clarke picked up his fourth catch of the innings.

The Nottinghamshire flag was flown in memory of former groundsman Ron Allsopp who died recently

Day 2
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE opener Ben Slater fell eight runs short off his century when on Grand National day he looked odds on to reach his 11th century for Nottinghamshire.

When he  raced through the 80’s,  it looked like he would reach his century  before tea as Durham wanted the tea break to have a meeting.  After driving Will  Rhodes to the extra-cover boundary Slater pulled the next ball to Emilio Gay at backward square leg.  He hit 19 fours in his 92 and faced 147 balls.  With Freddie McCann the pair added 95 in 26 overs.

He said: “I would have taken 92 at the start of the day but to get out eight short off a century it’s disappointing, I’ve been kicking myself for the past few hours. I'd rather the less we talk about  my dismissal  the better.  But I think the match is evenly balanced.

Durham thought opener Slater had tickled Matt  Potts to stumper Ollie Robinson on 35 and as the Durham raced to celebrate with Potts they were stopped in their tracks when they saw that umpire Graham Lloyd was unmoved. 

They did break the partnership between Haseeb Hameed and Slater in Potts' next over when Potts hit Haseeb Hameed on his back pad.

Slater drove Potts off his back foot to the cover boundary to bring up his 50 which came from 89 balls with 10 fours.  He cut the off-spinner George Drissell to the point boundary to bring up Nottinghamshire’s hundred and finished the over by hitting him for another two boundaries.

19 year old  McCann like Slater got himself out when a century looked on the cards and he knew he had thrown it away the moment he hit it. He chased after a wide ball from Paul Coughlin, got a thick edge and stumper Robinson took a comfortable catch.  As he walked off McCann was disgusted at himself for playing that shot when he should have left it alone.

McCann reached his second Championship 50 against Durham when he  drove Coughlin straight to boundary at the Stuart Broad end. His 50 came from 93 balls and included seven fours.

On 120 for one the Durham fielders went up for a catch behind off McCann, this time the bowler was Ben Raine and the umpire  again was Lloyd and  again he was unmoved.

When it looked like McCann and Joe Clarke would bat the day out the former  Nottinghamshire player Coughlin woke the crowd up when he sent Clarke’s middle stump cartwheeling out of the ground.  The pair  added 68 in 20 overs.

With three overs left in the day Jack Haynes ducked a short ball from Raine but the ball didn’t rise and Haynes was hit on the backside given out leg before.

Coughlin said:“I feel pretty happy with the way we played today.  Considering we’ve got a few players missing from the seam attack. I thought  Drissell did an unbelievable job from that far in, 20 overs as a spinner first innings to go at  two an over or whatever he did just give us a chance just to rest and just keep rotating from either end. He was pretty consistent. He had an unbelievable preseason and throughout the winter, so I think that's pretty much exactly what we expected from how well he's been going.”

Play was delayed for 45 minutes first because Pennington had noticed a puddle near the pitch, the ground staff were called out to repair a leak. By turning the system off   four sprinklers were activated and everyone left the field.  Four overs were lost. 

13 minutes after  the restart the players were back in the hutch when O’Neill got his fifth wicket when he trapped Coughlin plumb  leg before. Fergus O’Neill finished with five for 81.

Day 3
LYNDON James hit his third first class century against Durham and his fifth in total as Nottinghamshire got a first innings lead of 201 on the third day.  He came into bat at the fall of night watchman Farhan Ahmed’s wicket but he was in a hurry from the moment he reached the crease.
 
 He said: “I just  played how I normally play. With the short boundary I think it's hard it's difficult to defend. and you can score pretty freely because even inside edges end up going for four.”James reached his century when he got an outside edge to Will Rhodes which flew to the boundary. His century came from 135 balls in 213 minutes with 14 fours.On 121 he skied a big hit off Paul Coughlin and it looked like Matt Potts on deep mid-wicket boundary would take the catch.  He caught it  but he was unsure about ‘where his feet were. As he looked he dropped the ball. James  added: Even if I hadn’t made an hundred,I  would have tried to smack a few, so I thought I’ll try and enjoy it.

 To be honest it went that  high that it was a  difficult chance.”But James was soon on his way back to the hutch when hewent down the pitch to Colin Ackermann got an outside edge and the ball flew out to Graham Clark who ran in from the cover boundary to take a sprawling catch.

James smashed Rhodes to the cover boundary to draw level with  Matt Montgomery and bring up the 50 partnership with him which came from only  44 balls. He nudged George Drissell out on the offside for a single to bring up his 50 which in contrast to Montgomery ame from 54 ball with the same number of fours.

  After lunch he drove his first ball  from Coughlin to the extra cover boundary to bring up the 100 partnership with  Montgomery.Montgomery reversed swept Drissell through point to take Nottinghamshire into the lead. He brought up his 50 when he drove Drissell to the cover boundary to bring up his 50 from 114 balls with eight fours.After a long delay while Emilio Gay got his helmet and pads to field at short leg he claimed a catch off Montgomery.  Gay threw the ball in the  air and claimed a catch but umpire Nigel Llong was unmoved as the ball had thudded into thigh pad.

In the next over Montgomery had his furniture damaged by Potts losing his middle and off  stumps. Montgomery had made Durham pay for dropping him on Saturday night when he was on four.  His 75 came from 146 balls and included 11 fours and with James they added 118 in 28 overs.Next ball Fergus O’Neill was leg before to Potts for a duck to a ball that kept low.Josh Tongue followed his two wickets with the ball with an enjoyable  time by hitting his first Championship 50 on his Championship debut with Nottinghamshire.  His 55 beat the 45 he made for Worcestershire ironically against Nottinghamshire at Worcester in 2022.  He came in facing Potts on an hat trick with Nottinghamshire on 437 for eight. 

 Tongue reached his 50 when he drove Potts to mid-on for a single.  His 50 came from 81 balls with eight fours. Durham finally broke the partnership when He reached his 50 when he drove Potts to mid-on for a single.  His 50 came from 81 balls with eight fours.  Durham finally broke the partnership between Tongue and James when Tonhje tried to turn Rhodes to leg but the ball kept low and was plumb leg before. With James he added 96 in 24 overs for the ninth wicket.

James said: “Tongue played beautifully,  I had full faith in him to go about his business. He  scored freely and scored quickly as well. At the start of play night  watchman Farhan Ahmed guided Potts through the slips for three to bring up the Nottinghamshire 300.  He went on to add 13 to his overnight score and looked confident enough to add more  when he edged Potts to Gay at third slipTrailing by 201 Durham lost the first second innings wicket when skipper Alex Lees played around one from O’Neill and was leg before. Lees had survived a leg before appeal the previous ball.  Two balls later Gay got a pair when O’Neill knocked his off stump out of the ground.

Ben McKinney and Ackermann managed to get the Durham score to 100 without any further loss but then Tongue struck when McKinney nibbled at one and stumper Joe Clarke took a good low catch diving forward.
Potts said: “It was a tough old slog for us on a pitch that was a bit slow. Once the heavy roller went on it took the sting out of it a bit but I felt our bowlers stuck at it pretty well through a gruelling 150-odd overs and I was proud of them for that.

 Nottinghamshire had several partnerships down the order but we kept plugging away. We tried to bowl a full length because we felt that was the best way of probing. We risked being driven but at the same time went past the bat a few times and created chances. On a different day things could go your way. But we are still in the game and tomorrow we’ll just take it hour by hour, try to build a lead and see where we are.

I felt in good rhythm and to come away with four wickets I was quite pleased with that.  I guess it is a big summer with what is coming up on the horizon in terms of the Ashes. It would be easy to focus on the  end goal but what I want to do is to play as well as I can to put Durham in positions to win games. It is a big year for the team because we want to build on what we did last year and be as competitive as we can in the First Division.”

Day 4

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE beat Durham by eight wickets at Trent Bridge but Durham nearly took the game into the final hour after losing two early wickets in the morning session.

First to go was Ollie Robinson caught at first slip by Lyndon James off Dillon Pennington when Robinson didn’t move his feet. Will Rhodes played around one from Pennington and was leg before.

When it looked like Nottinghamshire were going to steam roll Durham they were held up by Graham Clark and Colin Ackermann with a stand of 145 in 39 overs.  The partnership was broken when Clark drove over one from Tongue.   That opened the floodgates for Nottinghamshire as they took the remaining  four  wickets for 19 runs in six overs with Tongue taking three of them for his first five wicket haul for his new club.

Five  balls later Georg Drissell drove inside one and was leg before.  Ben Raine was yorked by Tongue that sent his middle stump cartwheeling out of the ground.  Ackermann hit his second century of the match hitting 124, eight more than in his first innings, played around one that was hitting his leg stump.

Tongue took seven wickets for 158  and hit his maiden 50 said: “As a debut, it was a dream come true, especially getting my maiden first-class fifty and getting a five-for today topped it off.  Injuries happen when you are a fast bowler but to be out for so long was tough, obviously, and to get a five-for on your comeback is a great feeling.

I wasn’t really thinking about my body, just concentrating on getting wickets. I’ve bowled 40 overs in this game and I’ve pulled up quite well. I’d like to play as many games as I can. I’m sure Nottshire  and England will be talking to each other about that but I’m not thinking too far ahead. I’m just focussed on doing well for Nottinghamshire 

Today Ackermann and Clark batted before and after lunch but as a bowling unit we just needed to hang in there because we knew a bit of bounce or a bit of movement could make things happen. 

“Me and skipper Haseem Hameed talked  about whether we should take the new ball but getting the ball to come back in from wide of the crease was working.  I didn’t really change anything in my approach, just tried to hit the pitch hard because that’s when I’m at my best and it paid off today.”

Four overs later Fergus O’Neill wrapped the innings up when he took a return catch from Matt Potts. Nottinghamshire lost two wickets in getting to 88, Ben Slater was leg before for a duck but Haseeb Hameed and Joe Clarke both made 30’s.

Durham skipper Alex Lees said:“It was disappointing to lose. When you lose the toss on a bowler-friendly wicket in April you are always going to be up against it and the way we batted in the first innings was pretty encouraging.

We didn’t bowl horrendously badly in their first innings. I think there were 70 plays and misses in their innings. Was it a 580 pitch? Maybe not. But over the course of the four days they outplayed us and sometimes you just have to give the opposition some credit.

Having been 200 behind on first innings we would have been happy to come away with a draw and I thought Ackermann and  Clark played amazingly well, but then that spell from  Tongue just blew the game wide open. But he is a bowler with that match-winning capability, which is why Notts signed him from Worcestershire and why he has played international cricket.

But it is the first game of the season but the last time we lost the first game of the season we won Division Two with no one anywhere near us, so the first game is not the be-all and end-all.”

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