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Durham rookies deliver on Collingwood’s declaration of intent
- Updated: May 18, 2016
Durham 411 (Borthwick 134, Collingwood 97, Bailey 5-110, Jarvis 3-86) and 239 for 4 dec (Borthwick 103*, Stoneman 62) beat Lancashire 326 (Hameed 74, Petersen 61, McCarthy 5-70) and 251 (Livingstone 60*, Carse 3-38, Weighell 3-45) by 73 runs
The late Richie Benaud once mused about the distinction between a closure and a declaration. The former, he argued, was a statement of brute strength whereas the latter was a challenge. When Paul Collingwood ended Durham’s innings on the final morning of this game, there was little doubt that he had declared.
To clinch their third win in four Division One matches this season, Lancashire would need to score 325 runs in 96 overs or fewer, an asking rate of only 3.385 runs per over. Collingwood’s tactical daring came as something of a surprise; this is a cautious age, one in which captains have often called off the dogs too late, their reluctance fuelled by fear of defeat and the opprobrium of those supporters who rarely praise a declaration when their team has lost.
So when Graham Onions swung the final ball of the match deliciously past Simon Kerrigan’s groping bat at 4.39pm and uprooted the off stump, it represented a marvellous vindication of Collingwood’s courage and nous in giving his inexperienced attack the time to take ten wickets on a pitch good enough for one joyously talented cricketer, Scott Borthwick, to score two centuries.
Yet Durham’s captain will also take pleasure in the fact that his trust in his younger seam bowlers was repaid. Onions took the first and last wickets but his line was awry for most of this last day and his 15 overs leaked 65 runs. It was Brydon Carse and James Weighell who did the heavy work for Collingwood’s side, their callow enthusiasm proving an asset against the carelessness of Lancashire’s battle-hardened batsmen. This was a day when grizzled veterans were no match for inexperienced freshmen.
Indeed, the fact that Lancashire even took the …
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