Paul Collingwood helped Durham out of trouble against Surrey. Picture: Owen Humphreys/PA Archive
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
9:33 PM
After waiting 11 games for their first win of the season in LV= County Championship Division One, Durham are on the brink of a second successive home victory against Surrey.
The visitors closed the second day at Chester-le-Street on 69 for five, still 112 behind, and are in danger of emerging from the match without a point.
The three they gained for dismissing Durham for 310 could be lost because their over-rate reads minus three and they are unlikely to have much opportunity to claw it back.
Paul Collingwood (78) and Dale Benkenstein (69) both made their best score of the season for Durham and it was their fifth-wicket stand of 132 which put the hosts in command.
Phil Mustard chipped in with 46 as Durham gained three batting points after totalling only two in the five previous home matches.
Only opener Rory Burns provided much resistance for Surrey, surviving for 36 overs to reach 28.
Collingwood, whose previous best was 50, has been searching for form all season and had to work hard in making his runs off 199 balls.
Benkenstein reached his first 50 of the season off 85 balls, compared with 134 for Collingwood, but both needed all their experience as well as some luck.
Jon Lewis was the most unfortunate bowler, having to wait until his 25th over of probing accuracy before picking up the first of his two wickets.
He almost had Benkenstein on 55 when the ball lobbed up off the bat and went very close to dropping on the stumps.
Jade Dernbach made the breakthrough when Benkenstein played back to a ball which cut back and bowled him off his pads.
When Collingwood pushed forward and edged the same bowler to the wicketkeeper it was Dernbach’s 200th first-class wicket.
He thought he had another when he bowled a slow, high full toss at Mustard, who ducked into it and was struck on the thigh.
It was very close to lbw and Mustard had an even bigger reprieve on 43 when Jeff Evans gave him out lbw to Zander de Bruyn then changed his mind.
The wicketkeeper added only three before Lewis pinned him in front and the same bowler claimed the last wicket when Callum Thorp, who put on 72 with Mustard, edged to slip.
Surrey lost their first wicket in the seventh over, when Zafar Ansari went after a rare loose ball from Graham Onions and Collingwood took the catch above his head at first slip.
Ben Stokes had both Arun Harinath and Jason Roy lbw and De Bruyn ran himself out for 10 when he took a suicidal single to Benkenstein at mid-on.
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