Bad Light Leaves Durham Four Runs Short as Aldridge's Career-Best Goes Unrewarded
Durham need four runs to beat Gloucestershire at Chester-le-Street, but bad light stopped play before they could collect them on day three of their Rothesay County Championship Division Two match.
The leaders had Gloucestershire — bottom of the table — on the ropes throughout. Kasey Aldridge delivered the standout performance of his career, taking nine wickets in a match for the first time. His first-innings figures of 5-16 ripped through Gloucestershire for just 137. He added 4-47 in the second innings, finishing with a match haul that should have been the story of a comfortable three-day win. BBC Sport
It was not to be. Bad light denied Aldridge his moment and Durham their early finish. The bowlers had done the work; the conditions would not let the batters complete the job.
Durham's first-innings reply of 384 built a lead of 247 — a mountain for Gloucestershire to climb. David Bedingham, the Division Two's leading run-scorer with 821 runs coming into this match, anchored the innings with 122. It was his fifth Championship century of the summer. Durham Cricket Facebook — Durham Cricket
Gloucestershire's second innings of 250 made Durham bat again, thanks largely to a fiery last-wicket stand. Sai Kishore (29 not out) and JT Langridge put on 39 for the tenth wicket, extending the game into a fourth day and forcing Durham to chase a small target rather than winning by an innings — the scenario where one team's first-innings lead is so large that the opposition are made to bat again without the leading side needing a second knock. Miles Hammond top-scored for the visitors with 58. BBC Sport
Brydon Carse removed Joe Phillips for a duck in both innings — a miserable pair of dismissals for the Gloucestershire batter. But even with the match all but settled, the final act descended into farce. Gloucestershire, needing only to survive, refused to bowl spin. Under the competition's playing conditions, bad light stops play when conditions are deemed too dangerous for seam bowling — but spin can continue. With Durham needing just four runs, the fielding side's refusal to turn to slower bowlers meant no further play was possible before stumps.
Durham will return on the final day requiring four runs to seal a victory that, on every measure except the scoreboard at close of play, has been theirs since day one. A win would add 16 points to their tally under the Rothesay County Championship system, plus batting bonus points earned for passing 350 in their first innings. ECB
For Aldridge, the wait for a maiden nine-wicket match to translate into a win will be brief — four runs, weather permitting. For Gloucestershire, the delay offers only a few extra hours before an eighth-looking defeat.
