da marjack bet： Durham are relegated from Division One of the County Championship after failing to score enough bonus points from their current match against Surrey
da dobrowin： Andy Jalil07-Sep-2000Durham are relegated from Division One of the County Championship after failing to score enough bonus points from their current match against Surrey.The thought of having to score over 300 runs simply to avoid a follow-on wouldhave been enough to subject Durham to considerable pressure and they also had to face Saqlain Mushtaq and Ian Salisbury on a pitch that has been taking spin.Shortly after Martin Bicknell had knocked back Jon Lewis’s off-stump totake the first Durham wicket on 22, Salisbury and Saqlain were brought on tobowl 36 overs between them until stumps. During that troublesome period forDurham, Simon Katich, the left-handed Australian seemed to fight a lonebattle.The two Surrey spinners bowled with great control and Salisbury, inparticular, was difficult to handle with the turn that he was able to get forhis leg spin. Durham lost their second wicket on 66 with Saqlain nipping onein sharply to trap Michael Gough leg before wicket.After that while Katich scored steadily during his 157 minutes at the crease,he lost partners at regular intervals. They all fell to Salisbury and nonewas able to give support to Katich who was eventually stumped for 77 from 119balls.Having struggled to 165 for 6 at close of play, Durham will need a further139 to avoid the follow-on on the third day. It is by no means an encouragingprospect.Surrey had earlier in the day further strengthened their commanding positionwith the opening pair Mark Butcher and Ian Ward adding 116 to the overnight243 runs before Ward was out leg before wicket to Simon Brown for 144.The breakthrough had come, much to the relief of Durham’s beleagueredbowlers, after enduring further punishment for an hour-and-three quarters.This was the highest first wicket partnership between the two sides and thethird highest for Surrey in championship matches. Their previous triplecentury stand for the first wicket was ten years ago between Darren Bicknelland Graham Clinton.As a comparison, it is interesting to note that Surrey’s momentous stand ofthis match fell only twenty runs short of their highest for the first wicketin all county championship matches and that was set between Bobby Abel andWilliam Brockwell as far back as 1897. The legendary Sir Jack Hobbs andAndrew Sandham, in 1928, had scored 428 for the first wicket but that wasagainst Oxford University.Just how it feels to be at the receiving end of such a mammoth stand will notbe known to any of Surrey’s current players. It was four decades ago whenBilly Ibadulla and Norman Horner knocked off 377 before Warwickshire declaredwithout loss.Butcher was unlucky to miss his first double century of the season by justnine runs when he was bowled within half-an-hour after lunch by StephenHarmison who showed a much better line and length today and took two of the four wickets that Surrey eventually lost before declaring on 453 an hour afterlunch. Nadeem Shahid and Adam Hollioake had contributed 33 and 20respectively, either side of the morning session.
