Lancashire 284 for 9 (Bohannon 75) lead Durham 180 by 104 runs
Lancashire are in keep watch over of their Bob Willis Trophy match against Durham at Emirates Riverside, holding a lead of 104 runs over the home side after day two of the contest.
Josh Bohannon notched the fifth half-century of his first-class career, scoring a patient 75 to give you the foundation of the visitors’ innings. The Red Rose added two batting bonus points to their tally aided by a valuable knock from Luke Wood in the lower order.
Durham’s bowlers persevered all through the day with Matt Salisbury and Ben Raine taking three wickets apiece. Alternatively, they face a major effort to launch a comeback on the third day with their hopes in the competition hanging in the balance.
The hosts made instant inroads into the Lancashire batting line-up as Raine struck three deliveries into the morning session. Alex Davies used to be late withdrawing his bat on an attempted leave and could only edge the ball into the hands of David Bedingham. Chris Rushworth maintained the intensity from the Lumley End. He ended Keaton Jennings’ stay at the crease, finding his out of doors edge before Alex Lees claimed the catch at third slip at the third attempt.
Bohannon and Dane Vilas steadied the ship after the loss of the openers, even if both batsmen were forced to be on their guard amid tight bowling from the hosts. Rushworth believed that he had notched his second wicket of the morning, nipping one back into Bohannon’s pads, only to see his appeal turned down. Bohannon and Vilas grinded their way to their fifty partnership from 112 balls before the Lancashire skipper used to be dismissed. Vilas survived an lbw appeal from Rushworth, but then nicked off on the stroke of lunch to Gareth Harte for a solid innings of 32.
Liam Livingstone attempted to supply impetus after the restart, scoring boundaries off Raine and Harte. Alternatively, a change in ball resulted in his downfall, driving on the up against Raine, only to edge into the hands of Bedingham. Bohannon’s resistance continued, even if he did earn a slice of fortune, edging narrowly wide of gully after Brydon Carse found the out of doors edge. The 23-year-old passed fifty for the first time in the crusade, reaching the milestone by nudging three runs into the off-side from his 129th delivery.
Steven Croft combined with Bohannon to whittle down Durham’s virtue. In the 58th over, the visitors forged ahead, but Salisbury broke the stand for the fifth wicket at 48, pinning Croft lbw for 16. Salisbury could have removed George Balderson for a duck, but Sean Dickson put down a routine chance to start with slip.
After tea, Lancashire pressed on and secured their first batting point, even if Rushworth soon returned to prise out Balderson for 11 as Bedingham held on at second slip. The visitors pressed on as Wood added quick runs, notching five boundaries to propel his team towards the second one batting point. Bohannon’s innings came to an end on 75 when he used to be clean bowled by Salisbury, losing his off stump in the process.
Wood ensured that Lancashire added another point to their complete, driving Salisbury straight down the ground to the fence. Raine dismissed Liam Hurt to claim his third scalp, while he saw a good shout for an lbw appeal turned down against Wood. The left-hander made the most of his possibility urgent his score inside sight of a deserved fifty. Salisbury returned to end Wood’s hopes, knocking out his middle stump for 46 before the near.