Ben Stokes took four second-innings wickets to add to the four he took in the first to help Durham to an innings victory over Somerset at Chester-le-Street.
The England Test captain put to bed any concerns about his return to bowling after a knee operation last year, finishing the match with eight for 77 from 25.1 overs as Durham registered their second win of the season to move to fourth in the Division One table.
The Somerset team had to rejig their batting order because of illness within the camp, although they had a good start to the day with the ball after Durham had resumed on 177 for six. Jake Ball, coming into the team as a concussion substitute, completed a five-wicket haul as Durham were bowled out for 265 — a lead of 94. A combination of strong bowling, Somerset’s illnesses and the absence of Tom Banton resulted in Durham skittling Somerset for just 88 in 33.4 overs by mid-afternoon. (The scorecard is at the bottom of this article.)
Elsewhere, Hampshire have put themselves in a dominant position against Surrey. They lead by 368 runs with six first-innings wickets in hand thanks to classy centuries by Toby Albert (114 from 305 balls) and Nick Gubbins (103 from 227) after their bowlers had rattled through Surrey on the opening day.
Surrey provided an update on Ben Foakes’s fitness: the England wicketkeeper is suffering from back spasms, which is a concern before the Test summer. The county have said he will bat if necessary in the second innings.
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Elsewhere in Division One, Essex made 591 for seven declared on a flat pitch at Canterbury, with a double century by Jordan Cox on his return to his old ground. Kent are 118 for four, with the nightwatchman, Matt Parkinson, at the crease with Joe Denly. At Old Trafford, Oliver Hannon-Dalby helped Warwickshire into a solid position. His two for 19 in seven overs left Lancashire on 66 for three, trailing by 218 runs.
In Division Two, Sussex piled on the misery for Middesex. Cheteshwar Pujara made his tenth century for the county, with 129, and the wicketkeeper John Simpson, in his first outing against his old club, scored 167 from 336 balls as Sussex piled up 554 for nine declared. Ollie Robinson, fresh off the back of a seven-wicket haul last week, struck early in Middlesex’s reply, dismissing Mark Stoneman for four. Middlesex trail by 492 runs.
Tough day for Worcestershire on first day of play at New Road since Baker’s death
When this season began, Worcestershire’s cricketers faced the tough but familiar challenge of retaining their Division One status (Paul Edwards writes). As of three weeks ago, they must deal with the infinitely harder and almost uncharted task of playing professional sport while coping with the death of their team-mate.
Josh Baker, the slow left-armer of considerable promise and great charm, was found dead on the morning of May 2. He was 20 years old. On Friday Worcestershire were due to play at New Road for the first time this season after the winter’s floods had forced them to move April’s Championship matches to Kidderminster but the opening three sessions of the game against Nottinghamshire fell victim to the midweek rain that had saturated the bowlers’ run-ups.
So things got under way on Saturday and fittingly, of course, there were tributes to Baker: the players warmed up in t-shirts bearing his number, 33, and the public address announcer Dave Bradley’s moving encomium was followed by a minute’s applause.
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But the coaches and players at New Road know their own grief is one element of the deep well of emotion affecting everyone at the club.
“No one’s suffered anything like as much as Josh’s parents, Paul and Lisa, and their whole family have,” Ashley Giles, the Worcestershire chief executive, said. “But some of the players knew Josh when he was a young boy and great credit should go to them for the way they’ve pulled together.
“Paul and Lisa are part of our family and they will be for ever. We want to keep them close, wrap ourselves around them, and that’s what we want to do with the players as well. I think it’s only time that will ease the pain. The first day of the game against Kent was incredibly tough for everyone but they’re going to need to continue to be there for each other, because this isn’t something that’s going to go away overnight.
“Cricket is the place where they all come together and the dressing room has been a safe place for them. There’s not that awkwardness with anyone asking questions because they’re all going through the same thing. Even now, if players need time to deal with it, they will get time. ”
For now, though, the battle to stay in English cricket’s top tier continues for Brett D’Oliveira’s players and day two’s play reminded them how brutal the fight is likely to be.
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Having been asked to bat in conditions that may occupy the pleasanter dreams of Nottinghamshire’s bowlers, Worcestershire were dismissed for 80 in 31.1 overs with old boy Dillon Pennington taking three of the wickets.
D’Oliveira’s new ball bowlers then strove in vain to respond with early breakthroughs but Haseeb Hameed and Ben Slater put on 77 before Nathan Smith dismissed Slater, for 41, and Will Young, bowled for two, in successive overs.
Instead of capitalising on those successes, though, Worcestershire dropped another former player, Joe Clarke, on zero, and Hameed, on 36, errors for which they paid late in the day when Nottinghamshire’s lead exceeded 150 and Hameed reached his second century of the season. The former England opener fell for 100 from 219 deliveries to Matthew Waite.