Matthew Potts helped his chances of appearing in the forthcoming Ashes series by putting Gloucestershire under pressure on day three of the LV=County Championship match at Bristol’s Seat Unique Stadium.
On a day when Sussex paceman Ollie Robinson joined Joffra Archer and Jimmy Anderson on the injured list, Potts collected 2 for 21 in an excellent five-over burst with the new ball to send a timely warning to England selection.
Durham produced 272 for 4 declared second time around, building on a 153-run first-innings advantage, thanks to a magnificent innings of 121 not out from Michael Jones and a quickfire half century from Ollie Robinson, giving Gloucestershire a notional win target of 426 in 142 overs on a deteriorating ground.
Potts immediately got to work, dismissing left-handers Chris Dent and Ben Charlesworth with successive deliveries in the third over to start a slide that reduced Gloucestershire to 58 for 4.
Although Marcus Harris scored 71 not out to help the home side to 181 for 6 at the close, they are still trailing by 244 and, with the weather forecast looking good for the final day, the overwhelming likelihood is that Durham will complete a fourth victory in six outings to cement their position at the top of the Second Division.
Given that Archer has already been ruled out for the rest of the summer and Anderson is still suffering from a groin strain, news that Robinson had suffered an ankle injury and was unable to play for Sussex against Glamorgan at Hove after lunch served to propel the 24-year-old Sunderland-born paceman back into international contention.
With England’s first-choice seamers dropping like flies, Potts, who has now grabbed 28 wickets in five red-ball outings since early April, may possibly get his chance. He was certainly too much for Dent and Charlesworth, with the former being caught behind and the latter drifting outside off stump and nicking to third slip as Gloucestershire got off to the worst possible start to their second innings.
Miles Hammond survived the hat-trick ball but did not last long, nicking Ben Raine to first slip, while Jack Taylor was led into the front foot by Ajaz Patel and stumped for a first-ball duck as the home side slid to 58 for 4.
Harris, eager to press his chances for selection in Australia’s team to face India in the ICC World Test Championship final at The Oval next month, held up Durham’s victorious charge with his second half-century of the match, reaching that milestone in 89 balls. When he was joined by Bracey, who scored 50 from 78 balls in a fifth wicket partnership of 92, he finally received the assistance his efforts deserved.
Gloucestershire’s stand-in skipper blemished his record by nicking a delivery from Scott Borthwick to leg slip, while Zafar Gohar danced down the track to Patel and was emphatically stumped for 11 to leave Durham on the verge of an inside-the-circle victory.
Potts had earlier finished Gloucestershire’s first innings on 292, clean bowling Ajeet Singh Dale for 15 and finishing with 3 for 43. Josh Shaw was unbeaten on 37, blasting three sixes and two fours to dominate a 65-run last-wicket stand.
Durham were naturally eager to score immediately with a declaration total in mind, and Jones and Alex Lees obliged in a progressive opening stand of 119 in 27.1 overs. Singh Dale, Gloucestershire’s best bowler, rattled both openers with a stinging new-ball spell before leaving to the pavilion with a hurt knee. Jones, in particular, cashed in, twice hauling Zafar over mid-wicket for six and giving Matt Taylor the same treatment as he reached 50 off 73 balls.
Depleted Gloucestershire fought valiantly, as debutant Zaman Akhter built a head of steam from the Ashley Down Road End to bowl Lees for 40, while Zafar pinned Borthwick lbw for two to halt northern momentum for a little while. David Bedingham hit 29 off 26 balls in a 56-run third-wicket stand before coming forward to Shaw and guiding a leading edge to cover with the score at 178.
Unfazed by what was going on at the other end, Jones simply kept going, breaking the three-figure barrier for the first time this season with his ninth four, a cut to the square leg boundary at the expense of Zafar, who was failing to exercise any control. Jones’ second fifty took only 54 balls, thanks to 5 sixes.
Robinson scored at an even faster clip, reaching 50 off 25 balls, with all but four of those runs coming via boundaries as dot balls became scarce. Spinners Zafar and Jack Taylor fared severely without the shelter of scoreboard pressure, conceding at 6.36 and 9.25 per over, respectively.
Durham was poised to declare when Robinson overballed and was stumped for 67 off Zafar’s bowling. Robinson’s 36-ball innings featured nine fours and three sixes, while Jones finished unbeaten on 121 from 148 deliveries, with 11 fours and five sixes. Their fourth wicket partnership produced 94 runs in only 10.1 overs.