da realbet： Durham acting captain Dale Benkenstein and wicketkeeper-batsman MichaelRichardson piled on the agony for Yorkshire on the third day of the CountyChampionship match at Headingley
16-Apr-2011
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Durham acting captain Dale Benkenstein and wicketkeeper-batsman MichaelRichardson piled on the agony for Yorkshire on the third day of the CountyChampionship match at Headingley.The sixth-wicket pair racked up 187 together before Benkenstein was out for 150on the stroke of tea, at which stage Durham promptly declared to leave Yorkshirewith an unlikely victory target of 490 over four full sessions.The highest score Yorkshire have made to win a match is 406 for 4 and theirhighest to draw is 341 for 8. Young openers Adam Lyth and Joe Root, undaunted by the size of the task, got Yorkshire off to a cracking start and Root was still battling away on 38 at theclose, by which point Yorkshire were 88 for 2 and trailing by 401.This was Benkenstein’s third Championship century against Yorkshire and thesecond time he had reached the 150 mark. By the time he fell to a tumbling catchon the boundary edge by Lyth he had received 213 deliveries and struck 17 foursand a six, leaving Yorkshire with a mountain to climb if they were to hold out.For the second time in the match, South African Richardson showed greatapplication on his Championship debut and he followed up his first-innings 67with an unbeaten 73 off 136 balls with eight boundaries. The partnership was Durham’s highest for the sixth wicket against Yorkshire, overtaking the 130 by Jimmy Daley and Chris Scott in 1994.The visitors had only one objective in mind when they resumed in the morning on64 for 3 with a lead already worth 242, and that was to bat Yorkshire intothe ground without taking any undue risks.The plan worked perfectly and Gordon Muchall and Benkenstein treated RyanSidebottom and Steve Patterson with respect, as they did Adil Rashid and MoinAshraf when they took over the attack.Rashid eased the pressure with two long hops which Benkenstein slammed to themid-wicket boundary but at 98 Ashraf accounted for Muchall, who was well caughtby wicketkeeper Jonathan Bairstow diving to his right.Yorkshire’s hopes of carrying out a successful damage-limitation exercise rosewhen Ian Blackwell departed to a splendid low catch at first slip by Lyth offRich Pyrah, making it 124 for 5, but the situation became extremely bleakagain as Benkenstein and Richardson assumed complete control.They stepped up the momentum in the afternoon, Richardson hitting Rashid forconsecutive fours on his way to a 104-ball 50, while Benkenstein moved to hisfaultless century from 174 deliveries with 13 boundaries.The new ball was taken at 268 for 5 in 80 overs but Benkenstein’s responsewas to drive Patterson fiercely for a straight six, his third 50 using up only38 balls, and his departure was the signal for the declaration.Yorkshire skipper Andrew Gale left the field shortly before tea for treatmentafter injuring his right elbow when diving to cut off a boundary.Lyth and Root regularly pierced the attacking field to get Yorkshire off to arapid start but at 64 in the 17th over, with both batsmen on 26, Lyth played anungainly stroke against Callum Thorp and was caught behind.Anthony McGrath struggled to seven off 30 balls before Blackwell had him wellcaught by Michael Di Venuto at slip, leaving Gale to see it safely through tothe close with the assured-looking Root.