Emirates Durham (second day of four): Durham, with all second-innings wickets in hand, are 68 runs behind Lancashire
For Lancashire openers, carrying one’s bat through a completed innings is a noble tradition that goes all the way back to Dick Barlow in the 19th century. Barlow famously did it 11 times, including on the occasion when he made five runs in a total of 69.
Paul Horton added his name yesterday to that roll of honour, the fourteenth Lancashire batsman to do so. His undefeated 49 will be one of the lower scores on the list — albeit a good deal higher than Barlow’s five — but it looks like proving one of the most valuable to the county.
From a low point of 19 for four on Wednesday afternoon, he simply hung in, quite unfazed when beaten or by going for long spells — one of them lasting 34 balls — without scoring. Resuming yesterday after a long rain break, with eight wickets down for 141, he continued to focus on resistance, at least so long as Kyle Hogg was gathering runs.
Hogg edged successive balls from Stephen Harmison to the fence, suddenly making a 50-run lead look dominating. Then, when Hogg fell for 33 edging a rare testing ball from the fast bowler, Horton started to farm the bowling and to open his shoulders.
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Against Harmison, he disconcerted the bowler, and indeed the home side, by making room to rifle the ball over extra cover’s head to the boundary. By the time Simon Kerrigan, the last man, edged Graham Onions to third slip — giving the England bowler five wickets for 43 — Lancashire had added 29 runs to their overnight score. Not a vast harvest, but in its way a rich one.
It gives a Durham side short on batting confidence a deficit of 68 and, in this low-scoring contest, that looks almost Eiger-like.
Durham: First Innings 102 (L A Procter 5 for 17)
Second Innings
W R Smith not out 0
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M D Stoneman not out 0
Total (no wkt, 0.3 overs) 0
Bowling: Chapple 0.3-0-0-0.
Lancashire: First Innings (overnight 141-8)
P J Horton not out 49
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K W Hogg c Collingwood b Harmison 33
S C Kerrigan c Borthwick b Onions 0
Extras (b 1, lb 13, w 1, nb 10) 25
Total (48.3 overs) 170
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-7, 3-13, 4-19, 5-63, 6-80, 7-89, 8-109, 9-155.
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Bowling: Onions 17.3-3-43-5; Harrison 10-2-35-2; Stokes 10-1-40-1; Harmison 11-1-38-2.
Umpires: P Willey and R J Bailey.