Hampshire v Durham (County Championship) : Day Three

JUST when it looked as though Callum Thorp's bubble had burst, he swept back with a sensational five-wicket spell to hasten Durham to their first win at the Rose Bowl by 227 runs yesterday.

Dale Benkenstein chipped in with three as hapless Hampshire lost five wickets in 11 balls with their score on 83 in the middle of an astonishing slump from 71 for one to 104 all out.

Phil Mustard missed a sharp chance off Thorp's first ball when he came on with the score on 35 for one, and John Crawley played him comfortably on his way to 31.

But Thorp couldn't be kept out of the action and he took the catch at mid-on off Benkenstein which started the rot, getting rid of James Adams for 32.

After a brief rest he then switched ends and moved one away from Crawley to have him caught low down at second slip by Jimmy Maher.

After that Hampshire crumbled in spineless fashion, although there was a quite brilliant leg-side stumping by Mustard off Benkenstein to see off left-hander Sean Ervine.

Thorp had Chris Benham caught at short leg off bat and pad then found steep bounce with the next ball to have Dimitri Mascarenhas caught off the shoulder of the bat at gully.

Shane Warne wafted 12 runs before Thorp bowled him swinging across the line and his final wicket came when Nic Pothas slashed a catch to Gareth Breese at first slip.

After Durham made 353 in their second innings, leaving Hampshire a victory target of 332, the match still looked in the balance when the hosts were 71 for one. But an hour later, when Graham Onions yorked last man Chris Tremlett, it was all over at 6.20 on the third day.

The much-maligned Rose Bowl was looking true to type when Durham were 60 for five in their first innings, but the first morning's moisture was obviously designed to help it last during the dry weather.

It played well for two days after drying out, but there were increasing signs of variable bounce in yesterday's final session and once the rot set in Hampshire had no stomach for the fight.

Other than Warwickshire, Durham were previously the only side not to have won any kind of game at the Rose Bowl, but they were given plenty of assistance yesterday.

With James Bruce off the field with a chest muscle injury, Hampshire must have wished that their other man who was unfit to bowl, Ervine, had also stayed in he dressing room.

He put down three slip catches, two of them offered by Ottis Gibson on three and 31 on his way to 37 not out.

Substitute fielder Shaun Udal also failed to hang on to a chance over his head at mid-off with Benkenstein on 25 and the Durham skipper was his side's top scorer on 61.

His opposite number, Warne, is reported not to have been happy to find a pitch prepared for the seamers, prompting him to leave out Udal.

Warne tried four overs of medium pace himself yesterday before reverting to leg spin. Nothing worked for him and he rarely looked threatening in taking one wicket in a match in which the locals perceive him to be less vibrant than usual.

Gary Scott continued to play well when Durham resumed on 165 for three, but after reaching 40 he played outside a straight ball from Mascarenhas and was lbw.

Breese drove a majestic four through extra cover but then played back to a short ball from Tremlett, which trickled on to the stumps via inside edge and pad with just enough force to remove a bail.

Mustard led a charmed early life with a couple of edges evading the slips before Ervine dropped him on 17.

Benkenstein, clearly determined to grind down the depleted hosts, took 32 overs to move from his overnight 14 to his half-century, which came off 120 balls.

He reached the landmark with a beautifully-timed on-drive for four, but after being 269 for five at lunch Durham lost the sixth wicket pair in the first two overs after the break.

Mustard had just driven Tremlett through the off-side for four to reach 43 when he pushed forward and edged to Warne, the only slip.

Then a ball from Dominic Thornely kept low and had Benkenstein lbw for 61, but at 284 for seven Thorp and Gibson played freely to put on 55.

On 19 Gibson went down the track to drive Mascarenhas for a huge six, while Thorp played a couple of high-class strokes in his 28 before becoming over-confident and skying a slog to mid-off.

Despite his back trouble, Mark Davies looked sprightly as he came out to bat, but he played down the wrong line to a gentle swinger from Mascarenhas and lost his off stump.

A ball from Tremlett just shaved Onions' off stump as he tried to work it away on the off side, leaving Gibson stranded on 37.

It always looked likely to be enough, and Durham have now earned an extra day off before attempting to qualify for their first Lord's final on Sunday.

Scorecard

Hampshire v Durham at The Rose Bowl

Overnight: Hampshire 256 (J P Crawley 93; C D
Thorp 6-55). Durham 234 (C D Thorp 75) and
165-3 (J P Maher 57).

Durham Second Innings
G M Scott lbw b Mascarenhas 40
(played down wrong line, balls109, 3-4s)
D M Benkenstein lbw b Thornely 61
(ball kept low, b135, 7-4s)
G R Breese b Tremlett 5
(played on, ball trickled on to stumps, b8, 1-4)
P Mustard c Warne b Tremlett 43
(pushed forward, edged to slip, b87, 8-4s)
C D Thorp c Carberry b Mascarenhas 28
(skied slog to mid-off, b35, 5-4s)
O D Gibson not out 37
(b50, 5-4s, 1-6)
M Davies b Mascarenhas 0
(missed away swinge, b8)
G Onions b Tremlett 4
(attempted off-side push, b5)
Extras (b6 lb10 w1 nb22 pens 0) 39
Total (113.1 overs) 353
Fall: 1-50 2-86 3-128 4-192 5-197 6-278 7-
284 8-339 9-344
Bowling: Mascarenhas 32-5-93-4. Tremlett 28.1-
5-101-3. Ervine 8-2-23-0. Thornely 24-10-61-2.
Adams 4-0-13-0. Warne 17-1-46-1.

Hampshire Second Innings
J H Adams c Thorp b Benkenstein 32
(top-edged pull, skied to mid-on, balls74, 5-4s)
M A Carberry c Muchall b Onions 12
(edged off-side push to third slip, b19, 2-4s)
J P Crawley c Maher b Thorp 31
(pushed forward, edged low to second slip,
b68, 4-4s)
D J Thornely b Benkenstein 4
(airy drive, b9, 1-4)
C C Benham c J J B Lewis b Thorp 0
(bat-pad at short leg, b3)
S M Ervine st Mustard b Benkenstein 0
(missed leg-side ball, b3)
N Pothas c Breese b Thorp 7
(slashed outside off stump, edged to first slip,
b13, 1-4)
A D Mascarenhas c Scott b Thorp 0
(steep bounce, lobbed to gully, b1)
S K Warne b Thorp 12
(swung across line, b9, 2-4s)
C T Tremlett b Onions 0
(yorked, b6)
J T Bruce not out 0
(b3)
Extras (b1 lb2 w3 pens 0) 6
Total (34.4 overs) 104
Fall: 1-35 2-71 3-83 4-83 5-83 6-83 7-83 8-
97 9-104
Total Bonus Pts: Hampshire 5 Durham 4
Bowling: Gibson 11-5-27-0. Onions 6.4-1-16-2.
Thorp 12-3-42-5. Benkenstein 5-2-16-3.
Durham (18pts) beat Hampshire (5pts) by
227 runs