Durham Country Cricket Club

Di Venuto century

Michael Di Venuto was the top run scorer at Emirates Durham on Tuesday as he notched up his third LV=County Championship hundred of the season.

After winning the toss and electing to bat Durham started brightly with Di Venuto and a watchful Will Smith scoring at a decent rate and reaching 54 before Pattinson had Smith caught for an unlucky 13.

With humid conditions the ball was doing plenty in the air and off the pitch and the Durham batsmen had to be on their mark as Nottinghamshire bowlers began to hit their straps with some accurate seam bowling.

Next to go was Gordon Muchall bowled by an impressive Andre Adams delivery for 28. The New Zealand all rounder struck again soon after with Paul Collingwood edging the ball into a delighted Chris Read behind the stumps.

Dale Benkenstein then paired up with Di Venuto to guide Durham to 124-3 at lunch completing a good mornings work from the Durham batsmen in testing conditions.

The teams then came out again after lunch with the clouds beginning to thicken it was inevitable there was rain on the way. The light began to deteriorate and the umpires made the decision to take the players off, then came a series of sharp showers, without the light situation improving. A total of 24 overs were lost before the sun came out and play resumed.

The Nottinghamshire bowlers carried on where they left off before the break with some accurate swing bowling. Andre Adams forced a thick edge off Dale Benkenstein's bat and after a fine diving catch by Mullaney in the gully, Dale was gone for 12.

Ben Stokes then came to the crease and looked in the fluent form that had earned him his England Lions call up before being trapped infront lbw by Paul Franks.

All the while one man looked at ease in the middle, Michael Di Venuto serenely moved to his century, from 139 balls, with a scampered single to mid-on after two flowing cover boundaries took him through the nineties.

Andre Adams continued his fine spell forcing another edge with Ian Blackwell nicking the ball and going to a smart slip catch by Adam Voges.

That brought Captain Phil Mustard to the crease who also faced some accurate Notts bowling. Phil began to get into his stride putting away a couple of short pitched deliveries for four with some fine cut and pull shots. The Colonel was given a lifeline after being dropped at mid-on by Darren Pattinson.

With only two overs left in the day Durham were dealt a huge blow with Michael Di Venuto edging a fine away swinging Mullaney delivery to Chris Read. This ended a unbelievable innings of 132 by the Durham opener that played a vital role in Durham's first innings efforts.

Durham finished the day on 272-7 with Mustard reaching 46* and Callum Thorp new to the crease , adding two more LV= County Championship batting bonus points to their total.

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