Left-arm spinner’s 6 for 26 to skittle Durham for 108 in pursuit of 242
ECB Reporters Network31-Jul-2024England might not need Jack Leach but Somerset certainly do. The England slow left-armer took 6 for 26 to lead his county to a 133-run victory over Durham in Wednesday’s Metro-Bank One-Day Cup victory at the Riverside.No one played Leach with any comfort on a pitch that was receptive to spin throughout the match, and his bowling ensured that Somerset defended 241 in some comfort to collect their second win in this season’s competition.It also threw into sharp relief the value of Lewis Goldsworthy’s 93 in the visitors’ innings. Durham were eventually dismissed for 108 with Scott Borthwick’s 35 providing home spectators with scant comfort.Somerset’s innings began poorly when Andy Umeed was caught behind off Bas de Leede for nought in the second over and things would have been worse had Paul Coughlin not overstepped when he had George Thomas caught at slip for seven.But Thomas and Lewis Goldsworthy then brought some stability to the innings and then began to milk the home bowling very efficiently. Indeed, the second-wicket pair had put on 119 in 27 overs when Colin Ackermann struck twice in two balls.The off-spinner bowled Thomas for 48 when the 21-year-old attempted an uncharacteristically inelegant hoick to leg and he then bowled James Rew with a magnificent delivery that drifted in before straightening sharply to hit the left-hander’s off stump.Ackermann completed his ten-over spell with figures of 2 for 35, meaning that he and George Drissell had delivered their twenty overs of spin for only 79 runs. However, Sean Dickson joined Goldsworthy in a 65-run stand in a shade above 12 overs before Coughlin became the second home bowler to take wickets with successive deliveries.Having made 37, Dickson chopped the ball onto his stumps, and then Josh Thomas’s waft outside the off stump gave Mustard his second catch. Two overs later Coughlin took his third wicket when Goldsworthy pulled the seamer to Jonathan Bushnell at deep midwicket and the last six overs of the innings saw the usual trading of quick runs for wickets.Kacey Aldridge and Jack Davey both made twenties and Bushnell picked up two cheap wickets in the final over. Coughlin finished with 3 for 47, de Leede took 2 for 53 and Daniel Hogg bowled five overs for 19 runs on debut.Durham’s pursuit of 242 for victory began well when Alex Lees and Ben McKinney put on 40 in under eight overs but the loss of four wickets for eight runs ruined the good work. Having made 17, McKinney lofted Alfie Ogborne to Jack Leach at mid-on and a few moments later Lees was lbw to Davey for 18.Then Leach struck twice in his first over, first by having Ackermann caught behind for four and then bowling Michael Jones for a fourth-ball duck. A score of 48 for 4 allowed Dickson to give Charlie Cassell his first bowl for Somerset and the debutant sent down three tidy overs for nine runs before giving way to Goldsworthy’s left-arm spinners.Next over, the wheels finally became detached from Durham’s innings when de Leede was bowled by Leach for 12 and Bushnell was lbw for nought. At that stage, Leach’s figures were four for 11 from 3.3 overs and Durham were 70 for 6.The home side’s last realistic hope of victory disappeared with the score on a hundred when Borthwick smacked a short ball from the leg-spinner Umeed straight to Leach at midwicket and departed for 35. Leach completed his five-wicket haul when he had Coughlin caught by Rew for a single and took his sixth wicket when Haydon Mustard was dismissed for 12 in similar fashion.The game ended in the next over when Drissell was caught behind off Goldsworthy for a single.