Batters dominate between Hampshire and Durham
Rothesay County Championship Division One, Utilita Bowl (day two)Durham 511: Clark 160; Dawson 5-158Hampshire 112-1: Stoneman 54*; Potts 1-31Hampshire (2 pts) trail Durham (3 pts) by 399 runsMatch scorecard
Graham Clark scored a career-best 160 as Durham made 511 on a Utilita Bowl batting paradise in the County Championship.Batter Clark continued Durham's heavy run-scoring in the sun, with George Drissell scoring 69 and Codi Yusuf 44 not out.Wisden Cricketer of the Year Liam Dawson toiled away for 48 overs and was rewarded with his first five-wicket haul of the season.Hampshire replied by reaching 112-1 at close, 399 runs in arrears, with Durham old boy Mark Stoneman grinding out 54.Durham resumed on 330-5 and by lunch had added another 104, with only two more wickets lost, in a run-fest session.While the heat had gone out of the sun, the sky was still dominated by blue, and any moisture that had started in the pitch had long since evaporated.Simply, it was perfect conditions for batting, and Durham did not fumble their elemental good fortune.Hampshire's only means of trying to negate a constant flow of runs was by bowling straight with negative umbrella fields. Their main hope of taking wickets was through batter error, rather than relying on their skill.Clark had proved on day one he was not giving his wicket away. He started the day on 110 and bedded in for the long haul again.The first landmark on his bucket list was beating his first-class best of 128, before going past older brother Jordan's Championship high of 140 and quickly his own professional best of 141, then came 150 – which was surpassed in 287 deliveries.In the Clark household, he now has the bragging rights of highest score and more centuries – five v four. Surrey all-rounder Jordan will likely never relinquish his wicket-taking lead though - 261 against two with the red ball.During his 309-ball stay, there were just seven appeals against him, none of them were more than half-hearted.Clark's innings was chanceless and high-quality, but facilitated by those around him.Ollie Robinson had recovered Durham's innings – having been 82-4 – with 124 in alliance with Clark, before George Dissell continued his pre-season form with 165 for the sixth-wicket and a solid 69.After that, Matthew Potts and Codi Yusuf both put on 41 with Clark.Patience was the name of the game for Hampshire, waiting for rare missteps, with Dawson the man taking advantage.The left-arm spinner sent down an exhaustive 48 overs, with absolutely no spin to help him, but with perseverance came wickets.He'd dismissed Robinson on the opening day before bowling a reverse sweeping Drissell and had Potts caught at short fine leg off a top edge.Dawson finally saw the end of Clark for 160 with a sensational one-handed caught and bowled, ahead of Callum Parkinson edging to first slip to bring up his 15th first-class five-for.Durham's tail wagged, with Yusuf wagging the hardest with an unbeaten 44, as Durham's fun in the sun was finally ended when Brendan Doggett turned Felix Organ around the corner.Given 43 overs to negotiate after tea, Fletcha Middleton took Potts for four boundaries, before the England fast bowler – who yesterday was selected for the Test against Zimbabwe later this month – exacted his revenge by finding an edge to first slip.Doggett sent down three maidens in a row before conceding his first run, but soon after landed on a ball while fielding and had to go off.Like the Durham batters before them, Stoneman and Gubbins were completely untroubled, especially as the ball aged.Stoneman reached fifty for the 105th time in his career as his partnership with Gubbins went in overnight unbroken on 95.ECB Reporters' Network supported by Rothesay
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