Durham drub Worcestershire by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Ground:	Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street
Scorecard:	Durham v Worcestershire
Player:	SC Moore, JW Norris, DM Benkenstein, ID Blackwell, P Mustard
Event:	NatWest Pro40 League 2009

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DateLine: 7th August 2009

 

A run-a-ball 92 from Phil Mustard helped Durham to roll over Worcestershire by 145 runs. The rest of the batting line up chipped in with useful scores with Benkenstein throwing his bat around with abundant glee to help Durham post a formidable total. Worcestershire in reply limped to 129 in 30.1 overs as every Durham bowler made an impact.

 

Smith had won the toss for Durham and he had no hesitation in batting on a track that promised runs. The openers were off to a brilliant start as they scattered the bowlers around with some audacious shots. Blackwell was in a murderous mood as he bludgeoned the Worcestershire bowlers into submission with some powerful shots. But once he was dismissed Mustard dropped the anchor and looked to consolidate the innings.

 

The rest of the batsmen settled in but did not play a long substantial innings till the arrival of Benkenstein. The right-hander took his time and once he gauged the pace and bounce of the pitch he began to go berserk. Benkenstein hit an unbeaten 51 off 31 balls as he dominated a stand of 86 in 11 overs with Kyle Coetzer.

 

Worcestershire in reply got off to the worst possible start. Solanki was cleaned up by Plunkett in the third over of the innings while Davies and Moore tried to get the chase back on track with some bold shots. The Durham spinners then derailed the chase as Blackwell had Stephen Moore stumped and then Ali and Gareth Batty caught, while Breese trapped Smith lbw as the visitors slumped.