At a glance
- Tough choice this week
- Vaibhav Sooryavanshi hits 103 off 37 in losing cause
- Gay’s innings helped Durham Win
This may seem a little harsh, but I have to give the ReadCricket Player of the Week award to Emilio Gay for his 159* for Durham in their eight wicket win against Lancashire.
This comes despite 15 year old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi smashing 103 off just 37 balls, including 12 sixes and five fours. However, his Rajasthan Royals side fell to a five wicket defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad. He also became the fastest player to reach 1,000 T20 runs, while this century was the third fastest in the competition’s history.
How it happened
Durham started day four needing 336 runs to win against leaders Lancashire. Alex Lees and Ben McKinney opened the innings, and they were back in the pavilion with the score on 46-2. Emilio Gay came in at three and David Bedingham joined him at four.
Both Gay and Bedingham settled in well and as the day went on, batting became easier. The pair put on Durham’s record highest partnership for the third wicket of 290.
David Bedingham scored 129* off 151 balls, with 14 fours and two sixes. Emilio Gay’s innings of 159* came off 211 balls, with 24 fours.
Epic comeback for Durham
In their first innings, Durham found themselves in trouble at 124 for 7. However, 66 from Matthew Potts, 37 from Ben Raine and an unbeaten 36 from Callum Parkinson helped them recover to 295, just 75 runs behind. It could have been far worse without that lower order resistance, which proved crucial in setting up the victory.
The bowlers then struck back, reducing Lancashire to 72 for 6 in their second innings. Although Michael Jones made 72, an unbeaten 100 from Paul Coughlin ensured Durham set a target of 336 to win.
Despite the defeat, Lancashire remain top of Division Two, while Durham move into second, just three points behind.
You can read the full scorecard here
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