Bas de Leede stars with bat and ball as Durham turn the screw on Glamorgan

Bas de Leede produced career-best batting and bowling figures to boost Durham’s hopes of defeating Glamorgan on day three of their County Championship match at Seat Unique Riverside.

De Leede scored an unbeaten 85 to allow Durham to post a mammoth total of 630, their fifth-highest score in first-class cricket, following 151 from David Bedingham. The hosts added 170 for the final three wickets to force Glamorgan to toil in the heat, taking a 240-run lead into the second innings.

The Netherlands international then took centre stage with the ball, striking with his first two deliveries before adding a third to end the day with figures of three for 25 to leave Glamorgan four down at the close, still requiring 81 runs to make Durham bat again.

Durham began the day with a lead of 21, and Bedingham added another milestone to his collection by working his way past 150. But, he would fall from the following delivery, knicking off to James Harris to end a partnership worth 149 with Graham Clark.

Clark added only 12 to his overnight score as he lacked the fluency to kick on for his second first-class hundred in a row, although the tail would ensure that Durham’s dominance of the scoreboard continued.

De Leede helped his team turn the screw with a patient knock for his third first-class fifty, securing a career-best score of 85, including six fours and a six that Timm van der Gugten could not keep in play on the rope.

Ben Raine, Ajaz Patel and Craig Miles all made double figures to frustrate the visitors, who were forced to scatter the field against the latter amid an onslaught of runs in the afternoon sun.

Miles blasted two sixes in the final stand with De Leede worth 62. After dropping Miles twice, Andy Gorvin got the final wicket to end four-and-a-half sessions of toil for the visitors.

Solid

Glamorgan required a solid start from their makeshift openers Zain-ul-Hassan and Andrew Salter. The two batters were solid and added a second partnership over fifty for the first wicket. Stanley McAlindon endured a tough time in the field in the first innings, and his luck was out again from his first ball after finding Ul-Hassan’s outside edge, only for the ball to travel through the vacant second slip position.

But, McAlindon was rewarded for his efforts with the first wicket as he found Ul-Hassan’s top edge and Ollie Robinson took a fine diving catch.

De Leede then turned up the pressure with two wickets from his first two deliveries. Colin Ingram picked out Bedingham at gully with a loose shot before De Leede pinned Sam Northeast lbw. Kiran Carlson survived the hat-trick ball, but De Leede’s impressive spell continued when he sent Salter’s stumps flying for 48.

Carlson’s resistance continued until the close alongside Billy Root, although the Glamorgan skipper and his team have a huge task ahead of them to avoid their first defeat of the season.