County Championship: Durham’s David Bedingham hits 138 at Worcestershire

Centurion David Bedingham and captain Scott Borthwick put Durham in a commanding position on day two of their County Championship game with Worcestershire in Kidderminster.

And Bedingham and Borthwick then put on a third-wicket partnership of 195 in just 34 overs to leave Worcestershire facing a daunting task to avoid a first setback of the season.

Bedingham continued the form he had shown after making his Test breakthrough for South Africa in the winter, with his second fifty requiring just 24 balls as he raced to three figures off 79 deliveries before eventually departing for 138.

Borthwick’s departure for 75 ended the entertaining stand, but by the close Durham had extended their overall advantage to 379 with five second-innings wickets intact.

Ben Raine and Matthew Potts had combined figures of zero for 206 in the high-scoring draw at Warwickshire last week but they both showed their quality against Worcestershire, with Raine taking 3-59 and Potts 3-40.

Paul Coughlin also chipped in with 3-42 as Worcestershire were skittled for 184.

Jake Libby was again the main contributor to Worcestershire’s modest total with a composed 61.

Nathan Smith was left unbeaten on 33 and then made the first breakthrough with the ball when Durham began batting for a second time after lunch.

Alex Lees was caught by Jason Holder at second slip for just four and Colin Ackermann’s departure for 18 left Durham 37-2.

But Borthwick and Bedingham settled in and experienced few alarms in building towards a substantial lead.

It needed a run out to end the partnership when Borthwick failed to beat Smith’s throw to the non striker’s end from deep mid-wicket attempting a second run.

Bedingham’s superb knock eventually ended on 138 when he sliced Smith on the off side and Adam Hose took an excellent catch on the cover boundary.

Report supplied by ECB Reporters’ Network.