On day three of the Rothesay County Championship Division One match at Banks Homes Riverside, Durham scored 387 and 276-8 declared, while Warwickshire managed 325 in their first innings and are currently at 12-0 in their second innings.
Ben Raine's vital knock led a Durham fightback with the bat after a four-wicket blitz from Warwickshire's Michael Booth had given his side the upper hand. After frustrating Durham in the morning, the Bears were bowled out for 325, 62 runs behind the hosts' total. Durham's second innings started serenely, but a fabulous four-wicket spell from Booth either side of lunch saw momentum swing the way of the visitors.
However, Raine had other ideas and picked up his 20th first-class half-century at the Banks Homes Riverside, combining well with David Bedingham for a partnership worth 88 to help the hosts set a target of 339 after finishing their second innings on 276-8. Warwickshire began their chase late on and finished on 12 without loss, trailing by 327 runs.
Warwickshire kicked off the day on 287-8, with Booth unbeaten on 50, and he resumed alongside Ethan Bamber. The pair frustrated Durham in the early stages of play, taking Warwickshire past 300 and earning a second batting bonus point. The resistance of Warwickshire was broken as Potts finally got a first innings wicket when Bamber departed for 21, edging one to Colin Ackermann at second slip. The final wicket fell soon after as Doggett bowled Vishwa Fernando for one, handing Warwickshire a first innings total of 325.
Alex Lees and first innings centurion Ben McKinney began Durham's pursuit of building their lead of 62, but Bears bowlers Bamber and Fernando kept things tight. Lees started to look good as he whipped an Ed Barnard delivery to the legside boundary for four and followed that up with a lovely straight drive. However, Booth broke the Durham opening partnership, getting skipper Lees LBW for 32, and struck again, dismissing Emilio Gay the same way.
Booth then had another shortly after lunch, producing a pearler of a delivery that knocked out two of Ackermann's stumps, and in the same over, Ollie Robinson edged a delivery from the 24-year-old to Rob Yates at second slip, leaving the hosts in trouble. Bamber joined in on the action, getting Will Rhodes LBW for 18. Despite the difficult situation, Raine looked to be positive when he arrived at the crease, while McKinney remained solid as he had in the first innings.
Raine continued to attack, pulling a short ball from Fernando to the boundary, but the Bears picked up the vital wicket of McKinney for 33, as he feathered a Barnard ball through to Kai Smith. That brought Bedingham to the crease, who was assisted by runner Ackermann due to a toe injury sustained in the first innings. Despite the injury, the South African played some delightful shots, finding the boundary effortlessly.
Raine then reached his 50 from 88 balls, producing an inventive ramp shot that went past third man for four just a few balls later. Bedingham showed no signs of his injury, smashing back-to-back fours to the legside boundary off the bowling of Booth. Raine was then dropped by Alex Davies at slip on 55 after he nicked a delivery from Taz Ali. However, there was no mistake made in the field for David Bedingham, as Bamber got his second of the innings when the Durham man picked out Dan Mousley at deep square, having to depart for a well-made 45.
Raine continued to build the lead along with Potts, taking it over 300, with the latter playing a glorious straight drive for four. But Raine departed for 81 shortly after as Yates got him LBW after he was hit on the pads while attempting a sweep. Potts and Daniel Hogg continued to add vital runs for the hosts, both hitting maximums as they set up a declaration, which came with four overs left in the day.
Openers Yates and Davies saw the visitors through to close, with a big job ahead of them on day four. Ben Raine reflected on the day, stating, "We were in a bit of trouble to be fair. We were under a bit of pressure, but we've played enough cricket here to know it's a pretty good pitch, pretty flat, so we knew we could get through a couple of spells and get runs later on in the day. We kind of had a feeling that we didn't quite have enough then as the game naturally developed. Pottsy (Matthew Potts) played a few shots and Hoggy (Daniel Hogg) hit the spinner over the top. We scored like 30 runs quite quickly and it kind of took us to where we said we wanted to be. We didn't get a wicket tonight but it's enough runs on this pitch and we know we can bowl a team out on this pitch, we've done it a number of times.
Warwickshire's Michael Booth also shared his thoughts, saying, "I had two overs before lunch and thought I'd be quite attacking, try and sneak a few before lunch and I managed to get the two then. My tail was up going into lunch and then after lunch, I started off again and managed to get another two so I was very happy with it. When we had them four, five down we would've liked to squeeze and maybe get them eight or nine down before tea but obviously, as it shows, the pitch and an older ball doesn't really do much for the bowlers. The declaration is exciting for us and I think if we just bat a normal day, it should be in our favour. We'll wait and see what comes tomorrow but I think we're just going to bat normally and see where it takes us.
As the match progresses into day four, Warwickshire will need to muster a significant effort to chase down the target set by Durham, while the hosts will look to wrap up the game early and secure a vital victory.
