Jennings gets all his ducks in a row.

posted by John Winn

When Durham review the season in which they surrendered the championship to Yorkshire they will look back with regret on two wickets, two wickets they didn't take. The first of these was in the opening match of the season at Wantage Road when Northants' last pair defied them for 9 overs to deprive them of 11 points, the difference between a draw and a win. More recently, just over three weeks ago, Lancashire's last pair squeezed out the runs needed for victory this time costing Durham 16 points. Add those 27 to the 173 they have already and they would be in third place with a game in hand and challenging for second place.

Our Hartlepool correspondent has calculated that Durham could still finish second but this would mean taking maximum points from the current match with Northants and against Warwickshire at Edgbaston next week. Whatever might happen in the Bears' den  it is the outcome of this week's game that is likely to blow MT's slim hopes out of the pavilion window for the pall of cloud that has hung over the north east this week, and has cost a whole day plus ten overs play, seems almost certain to make this game a draw unless Northants are prepared to gamble in the hope that they can squeeze out their first win of the season.

After a poor start yesterday, Jennings went to the second ball of the innings, his third duck in as many knocks and two of those have been of the golden variety, Durham got through to lunch only three down on a morning when fog had turned to mist and there was plenty of movement for the seamers

 

.When the sun shone on an extended afternoon a small crowd revelled in a stand between Borthwick and Collingwood which at one point had us checking Playfair to see if they were approaching a fifth wicket record*. Of course this was the kiss of death for almost immediately Borthwick played on, but not before he had passed a 1000 runs for the season. 

Durham have a chance this morning for a fifth batting point but the last two wickets need to add a further 38 to reach that target. The forecast suggests indifferent light again and having had a wasted trip north on Monday I have decided not to risk a similar disappointment today. Assuming twenty two wickets don't fall today I will make the journey tomorrow when it will be 'winter well' day, at least for those of us not going to Lord's on Saturday.

* their stand of 187 was a record for the Chester le Street ground but fell short of the 247 added by Muchall and Blackwell at New Road in 2011.