Nottinghamshire Bounce Back From Durham Defeat
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Nottinghamshire bounced back from a tough defeat to Durham with a high-scoring draw against league leaders Surrey as the County Championship season resumed.
The Vertu Motors-backed side were keen to try and move up the table when the red ball action got back underway after a lengthy break for the One Day Cup, with the trip to the Riverside kicking off the final stretch of the campaign.
Nottinghamshire won the toss and elected to bowl first, but it was the home side who had the better of the opening day as Alex Lees and Ben McKinney both struck centuries to steer their side to 393-5.
Ashton Turner then became the third centurion of the innings on the second day before Durham elected to declare on 531-7 and put Notts in to bat.
Freddie McCann passed 50 for the first time in his career whilst there was also a half century for Lyndon James but the visitors struggled to make huge inroads into their first innings target – ending day two still trailing by 311 runs and with only two wickets left.
Having added just nine more runs on the third morning, Notts were bowled out for 229 before Durham enforced the follow-on to put them straight back in – although the bowlers continued to have the upper hand.
Although Ben Slater and Jack Haynes passed 50, Notts still trailed by 90 runs going into the final day and had only four wickets in hand, with the visitors taking an innings victory on the fourth morning.
League leaders Surrey then arrived at Trent Bridge looking to strengthen their position at the top of the table and went in to bat first against a depleted Notts side that included 16-year-old spinner Farhan Ahmed – the youngest player to appear for the team in a first class fixture.
Rory Burns was the star with the bat on the opening day as he hit an impressive 161, but Ahmed also secured plenty of headlines himself as he took four the five wickets to fall as the leaders reached 339-5 at the close.
The teenager continued to impress on day two and ended up with figures of 7-140 as Surrey were dismissed for 525, with Notts making it to the end of the day on 144-3 thanks to an unbeaten 69 from McCann.
His fine form continued into day three as the teenager clinched a century in just his third first-class innings, making 154 as Notts posted 405 in their first innings.
By that stage, a draw was the most likely outcome, with Surrey declaring their second innings on the final day at 177-9 in a bid to try and force a result – with Ahmed completing a ten wicket haul for the match.
Half centuries from Slater and Haseeb Hameed carried Notts to 121-0 when the teams shook hands on a draw, which leaves Nottinghamshire eighth in the table.
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