Durham beats Leicestershire by 46 runs despite suffering follow-on

Durham next plays Derbyshire in an away tie, while Leicestershire hosts Glamorgan on May 11.

Durham's James Weighell tore apart the Leicestershire batting order in the second innings with an epic spell of seven for 32.

Durham made a remarkable comeback as it beat Leicestershire by 46 runs, despite suffering a follow-on, in its Division Two County Championship match at the Riverside Ground, here, on Monday.

Durham, which won the toss and elected to bowl first, could not do much with the ball in the opening innings, as the Leicestershire openers, skipper Michael Carberry and Paul Horton, were off to a brilliant start, putting up an opening stand of 146. Both the openers were dismissed for a healthy score of 73 and 75, respectively.

It was followed by another strong innings of 75 from Mark Cosgrove, while Neil Dexter, too, played a fine unbeaten knock of 70, as Leicestershire managed to end its innings for a commendable total of 440, while Durham's Barry McCarthy claimed three for 72.

Meanwhile, Durham was off to a poor start with the bat as well, as it lost the opening wicket with just five runs on the board. It hardly built any partnerships, while Graham Clark managed to play a composed innings of 64 before the side was bundled for 184.

READ: Pujara off the mark as Yorkshire trumps Essex

Leicestershire's Gavin Griffiths claimed four for 34, while India's Varun Aaron managed to claim a couple for 72. With Durham trailing 256 runs, Leicestershire had no hesitation in asking Durham to bat again as the follow-on was enforced.

However, the follow-on turned out to be a learning-curve for Durham as it played decent cricket this time. The openers, Cameron Steel and South Africa's Aiden Markram, were off to a terrific start, putting up an opening stand of 152, before the two were dismissed for 86 and 94, respectively.

Incoming batsman Will Smith too played a fair knock of 74, while the other batsmen did try to contribute somehow, as the side managed to reach a worthy total of 403.

Griffiths was the star of the Leicestershire bowling attack, again, claiming six for 49, while Aaron failed to claim a single wicket and was the most expensive bowler of the innings, giving away 102 runs.

With 147 to win, it seemed to be a getable target for Leicestershire. However, it was a nightmare that befell upon it. It lost the opening wicket with just 19 runs on the board and struggled to get partnerships, as the wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals.

Opener cum skipper Carberry was the top scorer with just 22 runs, while the rest of the side failed to contribute decently and was shockingly bundled for mere 101.

Durham's James Weighell tore apart the Leicestershire batting order with an epic spell of seven for 32, while Chris Rushworth claimed the remainder of the three for just 12, as the host scripted an epic comeback and a win.

This was Durham's first win of the tournament in three matches and is currently placed a place above the bottom in the ninth spot, while Leicestershire is placed a spot above the host, at eighth. Durham next plays Derbyshire in an away tie, while Leicestershire hosts Glamorgan on May 11.

Brief scores

Leicestershire 440 (Paul Horton 75, Mark Cosgrove 75; Barry McCarthy 3 for 72) & 101 (Michael Carberry 22; James Weighell 7 for 32) lost to Durham 184 (Graham Clark 64; Gavin Griffiths 4 for 34) & 403 (Cameron Steel 86, Aiden Markram 84; Gavin Griffiths 6 for 49) by 46 runs.