Matty Potts, Liam Trevaskis wag Durham's tail to dominate Northants
Record ninth-wicket stand puts visitors in total control at Wantage Road
ECB Reporters' Network
13-Sep-2021
Liam Trevaskis drives through the covers • Getty Images
Northamptonshire 183 (Procter 76, Potts 4-42) and 10 for 0 trail Durham 400 (Potts 81, Trevaskis 77*, Borthwick 73) by 207 runs
Matty Potts and Liam Trevaskis both collected half-centuries during a record-breaking ninth-wicket partnership as Durham gained complete control at Wantage Road.
Tailenders Potts and Trevaskis added 149 for the penultimate wicket - a Durham record against Northamptonshire and one shy of the outright best against any county.
For both the 22-year-olds it meant their highest First-Class scores - Potts scored 81 while Trevaskis was left unbeaten on 77.
Their contributions, coupled with Scott Borthwick's 73 and 40-odds for Graham Clark and Coughlin, gave Durham a 217-run first-innings lead, which Northamptonshire knocked down to 207 during a nervy four-over spell under the floodlights.
During a slow-paced morning, Clark earned two lives in successive deliveries off Jack White when on 23, as Ricardo Vasconcelos at first slip and then Simon Kerrigan at third slip spilt regulation chances.
Tight bowling was rewarded soon after, however, when Kerrigan managed to land the ball in the footmarks to generate significant turn to bowl Borthwick - who departed for 73 following a 93-run stand with Clark.
Clark had been unspectacular on a pitch that largely required hard graft to score, with only two offside boundaries, before he was bowled around his legs for 42 when attempting to paddle sweep Kerrigan.
Durham claimed their lead shortly before lunch as Coughlin and Raine bedded in using the time-honoured tactic of waiting for bad balls - typified with 44 of their shared 80 runs coming as a result of boundaries.
They fell in fairly quick succession against a newish second ball; Coughlin nicked to first slip two shy of a half-century, where Vasconcelos held on, and Raine was bowled on the angle by Ben Sanderson.
After tea, Potts and Trevaskis showed intensity, with regular quick singles upping the scoring rate before Potts twice lifted over deep midwicket and into the gardens of the Wellingborough Road houses.
Trevaskis moved to his fourth half-century in 21 first-class innings in 74 balls before moving past his previous high of 64.
Potts also reached the milestone, with a flick off his legs to the boundary, in 103 deliveries, while making a mockery of his previous high of 53 with another six - this time straight back down the ground.
He was castled by Sanderson to end the epic stand - which was comfortably better than the 87 Dean Jones and Simon Hughes had amassed in 1992 - before Chris Rushworth chipped to mid-on as the away side were bowled out for 400.
