Reece hits 56 but Durham on top on second day

Luis Reece struck an unbeaten 56, but Durham moved into a commanding position on Day Two of the LV= County Championship fixture against Derbyshire. 

Brydon Carse began the day needing 23 runs to reach his maiden ton and rocketed through the gears to secure his hundred from 113 balls before Durham declared on 452 for nine. The home side then ran through the Derbyshire line-up as Matthew Potts and Ben Raine reduced the visitors to six for four. Luis Reece top-scored with 56, but his team were made to follow-on after being skittled for 165.

Potts and Raine made further breakthroughs early on to leave Derbyshire in a world of trouble at seven for two. Durham maintained their patience to edge their way towards their second win of the season, reducing the visitors to 92 for five at stumps, still boasting a dominant 195-run lead at Seat Unique Riverside.

Carse began the day 77 not out with his team positioned on 410 for eight, and he signalled his intent to score his maiden first-class century by dispatching Zak Chappell’s first ball of the day to the fence.

Derbyshire skipper Leus du Plooy challenged Carse to penetrate the field, and the all-rounder found the gaps to surpass his previous best of 91 made last week against Glamorgan before reaching his maiden ton with a nudge into the leg-side.

Carse almost forgot to complete a second run in the midst of celebration, but comfortably made it back to acknowledge his delighted team-mates. He ended the Durham innings by clubbing Aitchison over long-on for a huge six, securing maximum batting points.

Durham declared 10 minutes before lunch to leave the Derbyshire openers with an awkward over to see out, but Raine made the breakthrough to remove Billy Godleman. Matters would only get worse for the visitors after the interval.

Potts produced a sensational over to clean bowl Haider Ali and Wayne Madsen in four deliveries before Derbyshire were reduced to six for four when Raine pinned Brooke Guest lbw for two. Durham’s new ball pair struck again as Matthew Lamb and Leus du Plooy continued the Derbyshire procession.

It was then the turn of Carse. He delivered a brute of a ball that rose sharply off the deck and Chappell could only fend meekly into the hands of Graham Clark at short-leg. Carse notched a second to remove Aitchison before Luis Reece and Sam Conners offered a semblance of resistance with a final-wicket stand of 68, with Reece top-scoring with 56 unbeaten. Matt Parkinson claimed his first wicket to end the Derbyshire innings still trailing the hosts by 287.

Scott Borthwick enforced the follow-on, and Godleman continued his day to forget as he collected a pair, lasting only two balls before he was pinned lbw by Raine. Potts was equally effective at removing Ali for the second time in the day as Derbyshire’s openers failed to emerge beyond the second over intact again.

Madsen survived two dropped chances to put on 44 with Guest, but Carse produced another gem of a delivery to find his outside edge. In need of stability from their skipper, Du Plooy gave his wicket away on 14, clipping a tame on-drive straight to Potts while Guest fell just before stumps for 35 to leave the visitors with a mammoth challenge to avoid an innings defeat after losing 15 wickets on day two.

Derbyshire captain, Leus du Plooy, said: “We were poor to be honest. We’ll have to make them work for every wicket on Saturday. Momentum is a funny thing in cricket and relevant for this game. If a team has got momentum, when it rains it pours. We let them get into the game on day one and didn’t follow up with a good performance on the second day. It has hit us hard.

“Of course, it’s bad to lose 15 wickets in one day, but every team goes through these periods. We’re going to have to fight back and show heart. The County Championship is 14 games, I don’t think we need to panic. We need to sort out a few things because it’s obvious that we can’t go on like this. We’ve got to look ourselves in the mirror and be better. We’ve got ourselves to blame, but we have to make sure we’re better going forward.”

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