CricInfo Championship: Durham v Worcestershire at Chester-le-Street, 5-8 Sep 2001 CricInfo Live Report

CricInfo Championship: Durham v Worcestershire at Chester-le-Street, 5-8 Sep 2001
Tim Wellock

Durham 2nd innings: Day Four: Lunch,
Worcestershire 2nd innings: Day Four: Tea, Match drawn,
Live Reports from previous days

DURHAM DENIED BY STUBBORN RHODES AND LIPTROT

Stubborn batting by Steve Rhodes and Chris Liptrot denied Durham a championship double at Chester-le-Street.

Worcestershire's heroes came together on 63 for seven but were scarcely troubled as the accuracy of Durham's young seamers deserted them and the eighth wicket pair survived for 28 overs.

For most of his innings left-hander Liptrot faced the left-arm spin of Graeme Bridge, who had to bowl into the stiff wind.

Liptrot took his only single when Steve Harmison briefly replaced Bridge, while Rhodes batted for 34 overs for 21 to take the total to 85 for seven at the close.

Worcestershire's top order crumbled after being set a victory target of 251 in 54 overs. Steep bounce from Harmison and Nicky Hatch accounted for both openers, then Graeme Hick followed his 200 not out yesterday by cutting and pulling successive balls from Harmison for four. But in going for another cut in the same over he found himself cramped for room and edged to wicketkeeper Andrew Pratt.

David Leatherdale also went for a cut and edged to Pratt off Ian Hunter then Danny Law then gained lbw verdicts in successive overs. That made it 45 for six at tea, but despite the phalanx of slips Rhodes was able to leave a lot of short, wayward bowling, particularly from Harmison.

Durham, resuming on 99 for two in the morning, added 96 in 32 overs to reach lunch on 195 for four with Paul Collingwood making an excellent 68 and Martin Love 62. It was Love's 14th championship half-century, but he completed Durham's campaign with only one hundred.

When Durham went for the slog after lunch Matt Rawnsley picked up two of the three wickets to fall as 42 were added in eight overs before the declaration came on 237 for seven.

WORCESTERSHIRE COLLAPSE GIVES DURHAM VICTORY HOPE

Durham were closing in on a championship double against Worcestershire at Chester-le-Street when they reduced their visitors to 45 for six.

Set a target of 251 in 54 overs when Durham declared on 237 for seven, the visitors lost both openers to steep bounce from Steve Harmison and Nicky Hatch in the first four overs.

Then Graeme Hick followed his 200 not out by cutting and pulling successive balls from Harmison for four before edging to Andrew Pratt in the same over.

David Leatherdale went the same way, edging a cut, then Paul Pollard and Andy Bichel both fell lbw to Danny Law.

Durham's Martin Love signed off with his 14th championship half-century of the season. But the Queenslander has converted only one of those into a century and he was out for 62 when left-armer Alamgir Sheriyar went round the wicket and bowled him.

DURHAM-WORCESTERSHIRE GAME MEANDERS TOWARDS A DRAW

Durham's Martin Love signed off with his 14th championship half-century of the season against Worcestershire at Chester-le-Street.

But the Queenslander has converted only one of those into a century and he was out for 62 when left-armer Alamgir Sheriyar went round the wicket and bowled him.

Resuming on 99 for two in their second innings, Durham moved on to 195 for four at lunch, leading by 208 with 64 overs of the game remaining.

There was little sign of them pressing on for a declaration as the last three overs before lunch were all maidens.

Love and Paul Collingwood made healthy progress as they took their stand to 103 before Love was out. But when Collingwood was also out, fending to slip for 68 in Andy Bichel's first over, the runs dried up.

Danny Law made only three in his first nine overs at the crease before a fierce straight drive reached the boundary via Vikram Solanki's left hand, forcing the bowler to retire for treatment.