Jack Leach’s Brilliant 6-for-26 Dismantles Durham in Metro Bank One-Day Cup

Durham 108 (Borthwick 35, Leach 6-26) lost to Somerset 241 for 9 (Goldsworthy 93, Coughlin 3-47) by 133 runs.

Somerset needs Jack Leach, even though England might not. The England slow left-armer took 6 for 26 to help his county defeat Durham by 133 runs on Wednesday at the Riverside in the Metro-Bank One-Day Cup.

On a pitch that was conducive to spin the entire game, no one played Leach with any ease, and his bowling made sure Somerset comfortably defended 241 to win their second match of the season.

It also brought Lewis Goldsworthy’s 93 in the visitors’ innings into stark contrast. After being ejected for 108, Durham’s 35 points from Scott Borthwick gave the home crowd very little solace.

Andy Umeed was caught behind by Bas de Leede for nought in the second over, which was a disastrous start to Somerset’s innings. Had Paul Coughlin not overstepped when he had George Thomas caught at slip for seven, the situation could have been even worse.

However, Lewis Goldsworthy and Thomas added some consistency to the batting after which they started to effectively take advantage of the home bowling. In fact, when Colin Ackermann hit twice in two balls, the second-wicket combination had put on 119 in 27 overs.

The off-spinner dismissed James Rew with a beautiful delivery that drifted in and straightened sharply to hit the left-hander’s off stump after the 21-year-old attempted an uncharacteristically inelegant hoick to leg, dismissing Thomas for 48.

After Ackermann finished his ten-over spell with figures of 2 for 35, he and George Drissell had bowled twenty overs of spin for a combined total of just 79 runs. But in just over 12 overs, Sean Dickson and Goldsworthy put up a 65-run partnership, and Coughlin became the second bowler from home to take consecutive wickets.

Dickson, having hit 37, sliced the ball onto his stumps, and Mustard’s second catch came from Josh Thomas’s waft outside the off stump. After Goldsworthy hit a seamer to Jonathan Bushnell at deep midwicket two overs later, Coughlin claimed his third wicket. The final six overs of the innings featured the customary exchange of rapid runs for wickets.

Jack Davey and Kacey Aldridge both scored hundreds, while Bushnell took two cheap wickets in the last over. Daniel Hogg made his debut bowling five overs for 19 runs, while Coughlin concluded with 3 for 47 and de Leede with 2 for 53.

After Alex Lees and Ben McKinney put on 40 runs in less than eight overs, Durham’s chase of 242 for win got off to a promising start, but the fine effort was marred by the loss of four wickets for eight runs. McKinney lofted Alfie Ogborne to Jack Leach at mid-on after he had hit seventeen. A few moments later, Lees was leg before Davey for eighteen.

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Subsequently, Leach made two wickets in his opening over: he first trapped Ackermann for four runs and then dismissed Michael Jones for a fourth-ball duck. Dickson gave Charlie Cassell his first bowl for Somerset at 48 for 4, and the rookie bowled three clean overs for nine runs before being replaced by Goldsworthy’s left-arm spinners.

The wheels came off Durham’s batting in the next over when Leach bowled de Leede for 12 and Bushnell was leg before wicket for zero. Durham was at 70 for 6 at that point, and Leach’s statistics were four for 11 from 3.3 overs.

As the score approached 100, Borthwick smashed a short ball from leg-spinner Umeed straight to Leach at midwicket, ending the home team’s final realistic chance of winning. Borthwick was then dismissed for 35. Leach got Coughlin caught by Rew for a single to complete his five-wicket haul. He also claimed his sixth wicket when Haydon Mustard was removed for twelve in a similar method.

The following over finished with Drissell being caught off Goldsworthy by the back for a single.