Stoneman and Borthwick rattle up a record second-wicket stand

TABLE-TOPPING Middlesex may have arrived at Chesterle- Street confident of wresting the title away from Durham, but their bowling was cannon fodder for the reigning champions yesterday.

Mark Stoneman scored 187 and Scott Borthwick also made a career-best 164 not out as they shared Durham’s record second-wicket stand of 276 and the scoreboard ticked merrily along to 411 for four.

With selectors James Whitaker and Angus Fraser on the ground, it was a good time to impress and, while not in the frame for Test selection, Stoneman will now be pencilled in for an England Lions chance this summer.

Borthwick, back in the team after two minor fractures in fingers on his right hand, will also need to bowl well if he is to hang on to the place he won in the winter’s final Ashes Test in Sydney.

While Monte Panesar appears to have burned his boats after being disciplined by Essex, another of Borthwick’s rivals, Moeen Ali, also scored a century yesterday.

The selectors were probably more interested in Ben Stokes, who got to the crease with 13 overs left after Michael Richardson was run out when he called for a run to cover, which was declined by Borthwick. Stokes made 23 before he was bowled just before the close by a ball from Steven Finn which kept low.

Leading the table by 15 points thanks largely to the success of their seamers, Middlesex probably expected to add three more bowling points swiftly to their tally when they chose to field.

The decision could only have been based on previous experience of the Riverside ground, having been dismissed for 185 and 196 in the first innings on their last two visits.

The fact that Yorkshire scored 589 for eight in the last game here must have escaped their attention and the decision was all the more baffling as it was a sunny morning.

When Stoneman survived a straightforward chance to first slip on seven the die was cast.

On the day when John Hastings made his debut, two Durham records involving his fellow Australian Martin Love were passed in quick succession.

He and Gordon Muchall had shared the record stand for any wicket against Middlesex of 251 since the occasion of Muchall’s maiden ton at Lord’s in 2002. And the previous year Love had set the second-wicket record of 258 with current coach Jon Lewis at home to Nottinghamshire.

Although Borthwick contributed more than half the runs to the stand, he took 27 balls more than his partner to reach his century, largely because he hadn’t got to the crease before Stoneman had raced to 50 off 47 deliveries. Both of last season’s 1,000- run men timed the ball superbly on the placid pitch, taking full advantage of the width offered by the Middlesex seamers.

The watching Fraser would not have been impressed with the number of times they were cut and pulled, and Steven Finn confirmed that he is not yet ready for an England recall.

He bent his back in a postlunch spell, firing in a good few bouncers, only to concede 13 in one over, including exquisite drives through mid-on and extra cover by Borthwick.

It took the introduction of young left-arm spinner Ravi Patel to apply any kind of brake as he bowled eight overs for 19 runs before Borthwick pulled him for four.

Although Tim Murtagh was the bowler when Stoneman was dropped by Dawid Malan on seven and wicketkeeper John Simpson on 116, the opener profited hugely from cutting the errant seamer during his flying start.

Murtagh reached his own century – of runs conceded – in his 20th over.

With two overs to go to lunch Stoneman was on 91 but had to settle for three more runs before the break.

It is believed no-one has scored a century for Durham in the first session of a championship match.

He reached his century off 105 balls shortly afterwards when he clipped Toby Roland-Jones off his legs for his 17th boundary. Borthwick pulled the same bowler for the day’s only six and hit 16 fours in his 132-ball hundred.

There was a slightly sticky patch for both batsmen when Middlesex employed an allspin attack. Irishman Paul Stirling’s off breaks caused a few problems as between them the two batsmen survived three difficult chances to the two short legs.

As he passed his previous best of 131, scored against Yorkshire in the last home match, Stoneman went ten overs without hitting a boundary as his third 50 occupied 88 balls. He finally fell to Stirling, caught by Chris Rogers at leg slip.

Borthwick, whose previous best was 135 at home to Surrey last year, went to 150 with a dismissive pull off Roland- Jones for his 20th four.

SCOREBOARD

At Emirates Durham ICG. Middlesex Won Toss

Durham First Innings Close
M D Stoneman c Robson b Stirling .187
K K Jennings b Roland-Jones .............. 16
S G Borthwick not out ........................164
M J Richardson run out........................... 4
B A Stokes b Finn ..................................23
M A Wood not out.................................... 0
Extras (b1 lb8 nb8 pens 0) 17
Total 4 wkts (96 overs) ..... 411
Fall: 1-82 2-356 3-366 4-411
To Bat: P D Collingwood, G J Muchall, P
Mustard, J W Hastings, C Rushworth.
Bowling: T J Murtagh 21-1-106-0. Finn 19-2-
82-1. Roland-Jones 13-0-63-1. Dexter 15-2-71-
0. Patel 16-4-42-0. Stirling 11-2-35-1. Denly
1-0-3-0.