Blackwell blitz keeps Durham in command
Four wickets for Monty Panesar undermined Durham as they subsided from 173 for 1 to 292 all out against Sussex in their County Championship Division One encounter at Chester-le-Street today
21-Apr-2011
An onslaught by Ian Blackwell lifted the pressure off Durham and put them
firmly in command at the end of the second day of the County Championship
Division One match against Sussex at Chester-le-Street.
Despite a first-innings lead of 98, Durham were rocking on 79 for 4 and the
visitors must have scented further success as Blackwell initially looked all at
sea.
He survived a chance to slip off James Anyon on four and a return chance to
Monty Panesar on five and then hit Panesar just over the fielder at long-on, who
was 10 yards in from the rope.
But that blow opened the floodgates and three sixes followed, two of them
fiercely pulled in one Anyon over, as Blackwell reached 50 off 44 balls.
He holed out off Anyon at deep square leg for 51, leaving Dale Benkenstein and
Michael Richardson to take Durham to 166 for 5 at the close, leading by 264.
On a day when 14 wickets fell there was some variable bounce and the ball swung
in the haze. But there was little hint of trouble for the batsmen in the first
hour.
Sussex resumed on 31 for 1 and the tentative Luke Wells departed for 10 when
he edged Callum Thorp to first slip, but Chris Nash and Joe Gatting played well
to take the score to 108 for 2.
Then three wickets went down on the same score. Ruel Brathwaite struck in his
second over, when a hint of away movement had Nash lbw for 65.
Although Thorp had bowled for over an hour, he switched ends after a short rest
and took two wickets in his first four balls.
Gatting was lbw for 27 and Ben Brown edged to third slip, then acting captain
Murray Goodwin departed in the last over before lunch, popping up a catch to
short leg off Blackwell's second ball of the day.
Sussex were 119 for 6
and got to 198 only because of Andrew Hodd's excellent
innings of 67. He had to bat with a flimsy tail and was last out when he lifted
Blackwell to mid-off.
Durham struggled to build on their lead against some fiery bowling from Rana
Naved-ul-Hasan and Amjad Khan.
Rana steamed in for 11 overs in a superb opening burst but his only reward came
from perhaps the worst ball he bowled. Gordon Muchall had a dab at it and edged
to Hodd.
Michael Di Venuto lasted only until the ninth ball of the innings, clipping
Khan to midwicket, while Anyon struck in his first over for the second time in
the match, having Will Smith caught behind.
Ben Stokes played several fine strokes in reaching 26 but then fell lbw to a
ball from Panesar which kept very low. That brought in Blackwell and by the time
he departed Durham's jitters had vanished.
