Gritty recovery from Stoneman
Durham v Surrey (LV County Championship) : Day One
IT WAS not the sort of morning
when a captain prays to win the
toss at Riverside yesterday, and
after he gambled by choosing to
bat Dale Benkenstein saw his
Durham side reduced to 13 for
three either side of a long break
for rain.
But with the help of Mark
Stoneman the captain refloated
the ship on the season's first day
of championship action against
Surrey as both reached 58 in an
unbroken stand of 131.
Only 19 balls were bowled before
rain prevented a resumption
until 3.30, but Durham lost
Michael Di Venuto in the first
over.
The man who scored 155 and 83
in the first match at Worcester
last year, and followed up with 204
not out in the first home match
against Kent suffered the misfortune
to be run out for one.
Stoneman played the ball to
silly mid-off and ran, evidently
unaware of the athleticism of
West Indian bowler Pedro Collins,
who easily outpaced Di Venuto in
his follow through to pick up and
hit the stumps with the batsman
well short.
Such incidents can be a test of
a young batsman's mettle, and
Stoneman remained unruffled.
Defensively solid, he also drove
sweetly through the off side and
played superbly off his legs to
build on the encouraging
progress he made at the end of
last season.
He lost Kyle Coetzer two overs
after the resumption when the
Scot seemed to make a late decision
to go for a punchy drive wide
of off stump off left-armer
Collins.
The ball flew off the edge to
third slip, where Jimmy Ormond,
looking a little trimmer than last
year, proved surprisingly nimble
in catching it by his left boot.
Neil McKenzie was quickly off
the mark with an off drive for
three, but without addition he
was lbw two overs later aiming to
play Collins through mid-wicket.
Conditions were similar to the
Riverside match last season
against Hampshire, which became
famous for Ottis Gibson's
ten-wicket haul. On that occasion
Benkenstein justified his decision
to bat first by making 114 after
seeing his side reduced to 22 for
four. He will not be able to pray
for an all-ten from Liam Plunkett,
the man whose all-round talent
makes him best equipped to fill
Gibson's boots, as he was ruled
out by his side injury.
After missing last week's game
against Durham UCCE because
of the problem, Plunkett bowled
impressively against Yorkshire
on Sunday. But Durham are now
giving him ten days to recover
fully as there is no game next
week until Friday.
With Neil Killeen preferred to
Ben Harmison, it meant Paul
Wiseman would be batting at
number seven, so a period of consolidation
was needed at 13 for
three.
But Benkenstein quickly cut
Collins for four and hit two more
boundaries in reaching 20 off 34
balls at tea.
He was beaten a few times by
pacy 19-year-old Chris Jordan, a
Barbadian with a British passport
whose ambition is to play for
England. His tactic, however, of
posting two men back on the leg
side was never likely to tempt
Benkenstein into an indiscretion
and simply fed him a few runs.
After an over of off-spin before
tea from Saqlain Mushtaq, who
also now qualifies as English, Ormond
came on at the Finchale
End and Stoneman played the
shot of the day with a perfectlytimed
clip through square leg.
He hit four other boundaries in
completing his third first-class
half-century off 137 balls, while
Benkenstein reached the target
off 95 deliveries with eight fours.
SCORECARD
Durham v Surrey
At Riverside. Durham Won Toss
Durham First Innings Close
M J Di Venuto run out 1
M D Stoneman not out 58
K J Coetzer c Ormond b Collins 1
N D McKenzie lbw b Collins 3
D M Benkenstein not out 58
Extras (b1 lb6 nb16) 23
Total 3 wkts (47 overs) 144
Fall: 1-1 2-9 3-13
To Bat: P Mustard, P J Wiseman, G Onions, M
Davies, S J Harmison, N Killeen.
Bowling: Collins 15-4-49-2. Nicholson 12-4-20-
0. Jordan 8-0-25-0. Saqlain Mushtaq 4-0-17-0.
Ormond 8-1-26-0.
11:08am Thursday 24th April 2008
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