Grizzly Bears

Posted by John Winn

At tea on Thursday at The Riverside those around me were considering our options for the fourth day of the match between Durham and Warwickshire. The feeling was that the game was destined to end in a draw and a dull one at that. Keith Black, a friend going back to school days fifty years ago, even considered that weeding his block paving might be a better bet.
In the morning session Benkenstein and Blackwell dug Durham out of the hole into which they had fallen on Wednesday when they lost cheap wickets in the evening session. Blackwell exercised such patience that he went scoreless for the first 35 minutes but the appearance of Warwickshire's apprentice spinner Paul Best cut the Durham all rounder free from his shackles and at lunch 110 had been added. They continued to make good progress until well into afternoon when Benkenstein was bowled by Rankin. Richardson followed shortly after but Borthwick gave Blackwell good support until the latter reached his century. The hundredth run was not without controversy; Warwickshire seemingly convinced that Blackwell was short of his ground. It was perhaps fitting that his innings should end with a comical run out masterminded by Callum Thorpe.
Having left at tea I was very surprised to find that The Bears had lost four wickets by the close and Borthwick had figures of three for five. The decision to make the journey back to Chester le Street on Friday was now an easy one and the morning could hardly have gone better for Durham, despite an hour's interruption for rain, with the batting side losing four wickets. A stubborn ninth wicket stand between Ambrose and Rankin prolonged Warwickshire' innings for almost an hour after lunch but Onions snapped up the last two wickets leaving Durham 102 to win at a little over two an over.
In the absence of the injured Di Venuto, Borthwick opened with Smith and anchored the innings, being there with 48 not out when Durham won by eight wickets shortly before 4:45.
Warwickshire continued to express their exasperation with the umpires, which had been manifest since Tuesday, both in the morning and afternoon sessions. The defeat was their first of the season and together with the resistance of the Sussex tail against Lancashire it has allowed Notts to go top.This of course adds spice to Yorkshire's visit to Trent Bridge next week.
Durham have played sixteen days of championship cricket in April and the rain yesterday morning was their first interruption. They now have ten days to catch their breath before Somerset visit The Riverside, but with four matches in the first division next week the table could look very different by then.