Worcestershire’s seam bowlers took six wickets in the final session on day three, leaving Durham 178 runs ahead but under pressure at the Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street. The County Championship Division Two match swung firmly toward the visitors after Adam Hose’s first-innings century set up the fightback.
Worcestershire seamers reduce Durham to 161 for 6
Durham closed the third day on 161 for 6, a lead of 178, after Brett D’Oliveira’s bowlers dismantled the home order in an eventful evening session. Matthew Waite dismissed Ben McKinney for 38 and then bowled Alex Lees four overs later, both batters losing their stumps to deliveries that kept low.
Debutant George O’Connor then bowled Mayank Agarwal, Durham’s first-innings centurion, with a ball that nipped away off the seam and clipped the off stump. Colin Ackermann fell lbw to Ben Allison for 4, and Will Rhodes lost his off stump to Tom Taylor for 25, pushing Durham to 114 for 5.
Ben Stokes added 12 before he was caught by Daniel Lategan on the point boundary while attempting to hit O’Connor over the off side. Kasey Aldridge remained unbeaten on 25 at the close, alongside Ollie Robinson on 19. Stephen Fleming, England’s new Test match coach, watched the session from the stands.
George O’Connor makes an impact on Championship debut
O’Connor, 22, played the match only as a substitute for Ben Gibbon and made an immediate mark with the ball. He bowled Agarwal for 9 in his first spell and later had Stokes caught on the boundary for 12, dismissing two former Test cricketers on his first appearance.
The Chester-le-Street pitch showed increasingly uneven bounce through the session, a factor that troubled several of Durham’s batters. O’Connor’s contribution came a day after he faced his first ball in first-class cricket from Stokes and finished the Worcestershire innings unbeaten on 6, having briefly shared what might have been the first stand between substitutes in Championship cricket, alongside fellow replacement Fateh Singh.
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Adam Hose century gives Worcestershire first-innings parity
Worcestershire had earlier secured first-innings parity through Hose’s century, made from 218 balls and including 12 boundaries. The innings began the day on 376 for 7, just 89 runs behind Durham’s 465, and Hose brought up his hundred with a single off Matthew Potts.
Stokes accounted for both remaining Durham-bound wickets in that passage of play, having Henry Cullen caught at slip by Ackermann for 16 before dismissing Hose, caught behind by Robinson for 105, a decision given by umpire Ant Harris despite no appeal from the bowler.
Tom Taylor and Waite then added 85 for the eighth wicket, with Waite out lbw to Ben Raine for 28 and Taylor reaching his first fifty of the season before falling lbw to Stokes for 61. That wicket completed Stokes’ first five-wicket haul in first-class cricket at Chester-le-Street since 2014. He finished with figures of 6 for 94 after removing Fateh Singh, caught at long leg by Rhodes for 26, to end the Worcestershire innings on 448.
Durham led by 178 runs heading into the fourth and final day, with Aldridge and Robinson unbeaten at the crease and Worcestershire’s seam attack in control of the match.
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