9:38am Friday 3rd September 2010
By Tim Wellock
THE nagging doubt about whether Nottinghamshire will be worthy successors to Durham as county champions resurfaced as they again wilted under pressure yesterday.
The pressure was applied by Gordon Muchall and Dale Benkenstein, who put on 144 in 30 overs, with Muchall at his fluent best as he went on to complete his second century in four weeks.
He removed any doubt about his contract being renewed but was disappointed to be given out lbw for 111 when thrusting his pad well forward in attempting to sweep Samit Patel.
The fact that the left-arm spinner took three wickets might encourage Durham, with two spinners in their side. But with the pitch still full of runs they will not want to set Nottinghamshire any fewer than 350 on the final day.
Ian Blackwell completed his second 50 of the match in yesterday’s final over and will resume this morning with skipper Phil Mustard on 13 and the total on 279 for five – a lead of 308.
The leaders’ strength is that they have stroke-playing batsmen all the way down the order, although it can also be a weakness when the going gets tough.
Despite finishing second last season, Nottinghamshire twice lost by an innings to Durham and still give the impression that they lack backbone when things are not going their way.
Heads were down in the final session on Tuesday, when Mustard was taking them apart, and it was a similar story yesterday afternoon as the first 50 runs in the third-wicket stand came in only seven overs.
Nottinghamshire were handicapped by an injury to Darren Pattinson, who came into the match as Ryan Sidebottom’s replacement and limped off after his first ball ten minutes before lunch.
Pattinson’s ankle appeared to give way in his delivery stride and when he tried to bowl in mid-afternoon he conceded 26 runs in two overs and retired from the fray.
Muchall pulled and cut three fours in Pattinson’s first four balls then cut Paul Franks for his eighth boundary to reach 50 off 52 balls.
Benkenstein pulled Franks for six before the all-rounder resorted to bowling well wide of off stump to halt the carnage.
With Nottinghamshire turning to spin for the first time in the shape of Patel, the run rate dropped but the 100 stand still came up off 108 balls.
The only seamer to pose any threat, Andre Adams, returned and Muchall inside edged him for four on 76. But it was Patel who made the breakthrough, having Benkenstein stumped for 58.
Ben Harmison hit two welltimed fours but departed for 11 when he played on against Patel, leaving him with a top score of 18 in five championship innings this season.
Blackwell kept the runs flowing and survived a confident lbw appeal by Franks on 48. Ebullient when things are going well, downcast when they are not, Franks appeared to have a brief exchange with umpire Trevor Jesty.
The day began with a problem for the scorers. As Sidebottom had gone in as nightwatchman on Wednesday and was unbeaten on five, he had to be marked down as retired not out after going off to join the England Twenty20 squad.
Pattinson replaced him at the crease and made 19 before he was last out with the total on 343. He shared a frustrating last-wicket stand of 37 with Luke Fletcher, who levered his burly physique into some big hits in making 23 not out.
Pattinson saw three other batsmen depart before he was caught at third slip off Mitch Claydon, who had returned at the Finchale End following a lengthy spell by Liam Plunkett, who had Steve Mullaney caught at third slip in the first over.
Franks advanced comfortably to 26, prompting Mustard to bring on Ben Harmison for his first bowl of the match.
His first delivery was short and about three feet wide of off stump, but Franks chased it and edged to Mustard.
Adams blasted Harmison for two lofted fours but in going for another drive he edged to Michael Di Venuto at second slip.
Fletcher also got after Harmison, whose four overs cost 28 runs, and his failure with the bat leaves Durham no nearer to solving the dilemma about what to do with him.
Adams, swinging the ball into the left-handers, pinned both Di Venuto and Mark Stoneman lbw, although in the latter case the ball looked to have done too much.
With 58 championship wickets, Adams is now five clear at the top of the division one charts.
Durham v Nottinghamshire At Emirates Durham ICG
Overnight: Durham 372 (P Mustard 120, S G Borthwick 68, M D Stoneman67, I D Blackwell 59; A R Adams 5-92). Nottinghamshire 257-6 (C M W Read56, A D Brown 52).
Nottinghamshire First Innings
S J Mullaney c Benkenstein b Plunkett .25
R J Sidebottom retd out ....................... 5
D J Pattinson c Sub b Claydon .............19
P J Franks c Mustard b B W Harmison .26
A R Adams c Di Venuto b B Harmison ..10
L J Fletcher not out ...............................23
Extras (b4 lb15 w5 nb8 pens 0) ..32
Total (113 overs) ....................343
Fall: 1-5 2-23 3-71 4-146 5-196 6-252 7-259 8-296 9-306
Bowling: Claydon 21-2-78-2. Davies 15-11- 10-2. Benkenstein 7-2-31-0. Plunkett 25-5- 66-3. Blackwell 21-8-33-0. Borthwick 20-2- 78-1. B W Harmison 4-0-28-2.
Durham Second Innings Close
M D Stoneman lbw b Adams .................13
M J Di Venuto lbw b Adams ..................15
G J Muchall lbw b S R Patel ................111
D M Benkenstein st Read b S R Patel ...58
B W Harmison b S R Patel ....................11
I D Blackwell not out .............................50
P Mustard not out .................................13
Extras (lb5 w1 nb2 pens 0).......... 8
Total 5 wkts (69.5 overs)........279
Fall: 1-20 2-35 3-179 4-191 5-242
To Bat: S G Borthwick, L E Plunkett, M E Claydon, M Davies.
Bonus Pts: Durham 7 Nottinghamshire 6
Bowling: Fletcher 14-3-44-0. Pattinson 2.1- 0-26-0. Adams 15.4-2-76-2. Franks 13-1-51- 0. S R Patel 24-3-75-3. Voges 1-0-2-0.
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