Durham boost title chances

Muchall: batted Durham to victory

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• Gareth Batty
• Ottis Gibson

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  • Gordon Muchall
  • Dale Benkenstein

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LV County Championship - Division One
Riverside - day three
Worcestershire 182 (G A Hick 64, O D Gibson 7-46) & 390 (S M Davies 87, G J Batty 72, G A Hick 66, B F Smith 60, O D Gibson 4-104) v Durham 297 (G J Muchall 66, S Chanderpaul 54, L E Plunkett 50 no, M J Di Venuto 50, G J Batty 6-106) & 279-5 (D M Benkenstein 68, G J Muchall 64 no)
Durham (19pts) beat Worcestershire (3pts) by 5 wkts

Durham chased down a target of 276 to beat Worcestershire and move up to second in Division One.

Half-centuries from Dale Benkenstein (68) and Gordon Muchall (64no) allowed Durham to get home with five wickets to spare at the Riverside.

Worcestershire seamer Abdul Razzaq took two wickets to help reduce Durham's run chase to 125-4 before Benkenstein and Muchall shared a fifth-wicket stand of 103.

Ben Harmison (24no) and Benkenstein then got Durham across the line with an unbroken fifth-wicket partnership of 51.

Earlier in the day, Gareth Batty contributed 72 as Worcestershire extended their second innings from 330-8 to 390 all out.

Day two

Steven Davies hit a season's best 87 runs as Worcestershire recovered to build a 215-run lead over Durham on the end of day two at the Riverside.

After Durham had added an extra 115 runs to their overnight score, the Royals quickly slumped to 41-3 following the loss of openers Daryl Mitchell, Stephen Moore and skipper Vikram Solanki.

But half-centuries from Ben Smith, Graeme Hick and Davies took them up to 317-7 in the evening session.

Abdul Razzaq also contributed a valuable 35 runs, but Kabir Ali fell to the last ball of the day.

Ottis Gibson took his tally for the match to 10 wickets, with three scalps for Durham, while Paul Wiseman also picked up three.

Things are delicately poised going into the last day, with the Royals desperate for a win to lift them off the foot of the table.

Day One

Veteran Ottis Gibson struck again with a remarkable seven-wicket haul against struggling Worcestershire at the Riverside.

The 38-year-old West Indian took 10-47 last month, and grabbed his second-best career figures of 7-46 as Durham bowled Worcestershire out for just 182.

Graeme Hick top scored for the Pears with his quick-fire 64 from 65 deliveries but the Division One bottom side where in a heap of trouble once again.

Gareth Batty did his best to try and rescue the situation as he took 5-60 in Durham's reply, as 17 wickets fell on the opening day of the match.

Michael Di Venuto (50), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (54) both his half centuries while Gordon Muchall was unbeaten on 62 at the close of play as Durham ended on 201-7.

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