Stoneman century boosts Durham lead

Stoneman century boosts Durham lead

Mark Stoneman batting 2012

A superb century from opener Mark Stoneman saw Durham extend their lead to 341 by the close of play on day three.

Durham returned to Trent Bridge to build on their overnight lead of 67 with all wickets in hand.  

Will Smith was the first man out when he was caught behind off Luke Fletcher for 15 just as Durham had extended their lead into three figures.  

A patient 91 ball fifty from Mark Stoneman saw him dig in, looking relatively untroubled up until lunch, by which time he had surpassed his highest first class total of the season.

His and Keaton Jennings’ 74 run stand was ended by Phillips when he trapped Jennings lbw on 31 with Durham 136-2.  

Stoneman went on to score his highest first class score of the season, 114, before he was out to a low ball from Phillips and trapped lbw.  

Durham were 193-4 after Mustard was caught behind off Carter for 21 just before play washalted due to rain.  

Dale Benkenstein and Paul Collingwood returned to the crease after a delay that saw 10 overs lost.  

Benkenstein was caught at gully by Lumb off Fletcher for 19 and Durham were 236-6 when his replacement, Scott Borthwick, was bowled by White for 4.  

Mark Wood was caught behind off Fletcher for 30 with nine deliveries remaining of the day, bringing to an end his 61 run partnership with the captain.

At the close of play Durham were 301-7 with Collingwood unbeaten on 51 and Callum Thorp yet to score.

Durhamccc.co.uk spoke to Mark Stoneman after play, “It was nice to get the three figures but more importantly we backed up a fantastic day for graham individually yesterday with a fantastic team performance today, which has put us in a very good position for this match.  
“We had to take the weather forecast out of the equation and get as many runs as we could, through patience and being there long enough so that when the bad balls came, we could capitalise.   We’ve got a good amount of runs on the board, which is almost the perfect scenario for going into day four.”

Emirates Sky (Animated Gif)