Durham Country Cricket Club

Blackwell shot - thanks

The Durham batsmen battled hard to bring the game back in their favour and posted a first innings total of 465, thanks mostly to a 161 run partnership from Dale Benkenstein and Ian Blackwell.  Three wickets before the close saw Warwickshire 52-4, leading by 16 runs.

Blackwell and Benkenstein faced a difficult morning session with Warwickshire bowling tight lines and ensuring runs were hard to come by. After eleven over’s this morning only eleven runs had been added to the overall score. 

Following this hard initial session both Benkenstein and Blackwell begun to find their form and boundaries began to flow more frequently.  The 300 was brought up in the 86th over as Blackwell struck a ninth boundary.  Blackwell brought up his fifty off 82 balls which also included one six. 

Benkenstein followed Blackwell to the landmark with a four through gully, his fifty coming from 117 balls including seven fours and the one six. The pair continued to score runs freely as Durham  reached lunch on 341-5 with this partnership already worth 119 runs, Blackwell 65* and captain Benkenstein 56*. 

Benkenstein and Blackwell returned after lunch with Durham trailing Warwickshire’s 429 all out by 88 runs. Blackwell currently eighth in the LV=County Championship Most Valuable Player list continued to score runs freely as Durham progressed towards the maximum batting points target of 400.

Benkenstein’s dismissal, bowled by Rankin on 75, brought an end to the 150 plus partnership, it was a case of one wicket brings two when Michael Richardson fell two deliveries later, trapped lbw.

Another Blackwell boundary saw Durham claim the fifth and final batting bonus point with three deliveries to spare and in the same over he claimed his 25th first class hundred, his third for Durham, from 114 balls, including 14 fours and two sixes.

Scott Borthwick added 18, including the boundary that saw Durham’s total equal the Warwickshire first innings, before he was stumped off Best with the score 441-8.

A standing ovation from the spectators at Emirates Durham greeted Blackwell as he returned to the pavilion having been run out on 125 in the 43rd over, just as the hosts passed the 450 mark.

A massive six, which bounced off the Media Centre roof saw Durham reach 465 before he was bowled by Best on 15 with the next delivery.

Callum Thorp picked up the wicket of danger man Chopra, who was caught behind on 8, before Warwickshire reached 20.

With eight overs to go Scott Borthwick came on at the Lumley End and struck twice in five balls, Porterfield (9) and his replacement, Mohammad Yousaf (0) both out lbw with Warwickshire 45-3.

Borthwick picked up a third wicket, that of Westwood (27), who nicked the delivery to the slips with Muchall claiming the catch.

At the close Warwickshire were 52-4, Best 1* and Clarke 0*.

• All
• Durham CCC
• Dynamos
• T20
• Match reports
• Development