Durham batter Bedingham holds up Northants as he reaches 1,000 runs for the season

Leaders Durham slumped to 16 for two after seven overs before the South African international set to work.

He picked up where he had left off during his match-winning century against the County at Chester-le-Street in June and passed 1,000 first-class runs for the season along the way.

Fellow promotion hopefuls Northants claimed their first bowling bonus point as Durham closed on 129 for three on a day limited to 30.5 overs by bad light and rain.

Former Indian international Mayank Agarwal, playing his first game for Durham, finished unbeaten on 25.

Earlier Durham won the toss and elected to bat and amid a rain-interrupted morning, and Luke Procter struck early when he jagged one back to knock two of Ben McKinney’s stumps out of the ground.

Will Rhodes followed next over when he was run out by a sensational direct hit from James Sales.

Durham rebuilt as Bedingham joined skipper Alex Lees in a stand of 59 in almost 15 overs either side of lunch.

Bedingham played fluently against the seamers, clipping off his legs and driving crisply through the covers, but Northants’ slow bowlers started to pose problems before lunch, finding some sharp turn.

Leg-spinners Yuzi Chahal and Calvin Harrison bowled in tandem after the interval with Chahal striking immediately to trap Lees lbw for 24.

Agarwal collected boundaries from the first two balls he faced from Chahal, driving through midwicket and dabbing down to deep-third, but scoring dried up as the two spinners exerted control.

Agarwal eased the pressure momentarily when he struck Harrison straight back over his head for six before rain forced the players to leave the field until 5pm.

Soon after the resumption, Bedingham brought up his 50 when he played Chahal into the off-side for two, while Agarwal swept Harrison behind square for four.

But after just over 10 minutes of play, the skies clouded over again and the umpires took the players off for the final time.

Reaction

Northants head coach Darren Lehmann: “The pitch obviously spun. The groundstaff did a great job as it was wet last week.

"You couldn't really use the one we played on last week either so you’re stuck.

"At least it spun, and obviously they're quick-heavy and they're a quality side, and we've got Yuzi Chahal, so yeah, you make spin. So, no qualms there.

“I think it played pretty well still and I thought they batted well.

"I thought we bowled well in patches, and then probably a bit leg side in other patches. But it did enough. So that's a good sign leading into a four-day game.

"We didn't know we were going to lose so much time, to be honest. So hopefully on Thursday it's a better day.

“There's still plenty of time. We've got to try and bowl them out. They'll try and get as many as they possibly can. Then we've got to bat well in the first innings. That's going to be the key to the game, I think.

“So, for us in the morning, that first two hours 10 minutes is probably the most important of the season, as it has been all year, really. I keep saying that. So, for us, it's about that, just doing things well.”

Durham head coach Ryan Campbell: “David Bedingham has had such a great year. He's done it year in year out for us and 1,000 runs is still a pretty cool milestone.

“So yeah, we're obviously very happy with him in his last game for the season. He's signed off in a good way. Hopefully, he can push on from here.

“From what we saw in the overs bowled, I think runs in the first innings are going to come as a premium because, let's be honest, that's going to get harder and harder to bat on, and it's spinning on day one.

“We're glad we won the toss, obviously, and hopefully we can post anything around 250 I think would be a pretty good score.

“We took one look at the wicket, obviously, a used wicket here, you have to bat.

"It doesn't matter what the overhead conditions look like, it was always going to be a bat-first if we could.

"But look, it's going to be an interesting game of cricket. Two really good teams. Obviously, there are three teams in this competition who are vying for promotion.

"With Northants we had a great game up at our place, and this is going to be really exciting because these low-scoring tussles can keep you on the edge of your seat, that's for sure.

"So, it will be interesting these next three days.”

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