MATCH REPORT: Second Jennings century puts Lancashire in a commanding position
A magnificent 155 by Keaton Jennings steered Lancashire into a commanding position against Durham after three days of this Vitality County Championship match at Blackpool.
And the Red Rose bowlers struck three times during the evening session to significantly boost their chances of a first win of the season with Durham 134 for three in their second innings and needing a further 341 runs to win.
Skipper Jennings led from the front before declaring Lancashire’s second innings on 353 for nine to set Durham a victory target of 475 runs from a minimum of 129 overs.
The visitors made an excellent start to their quest with Alex Lees and Scott Borthwick making an enterprising 83 off 96 balls in the evening sunshine at Stanley Park.
A two-wicket burst from Tom Aspinwall, who continues to make a big impact in this match, dented those ambitions as the all rounder removed Lees for 40 courtesy of a good diving catch by wicketkeeper Matty Hurst and then bowling Colin Ackermann with a superb delivery that nipped off the pitch to hit middle and off stumps.
Nathan Lyon backed up that breakthrough by bowling Borthwick sweeping for 39.
First innings century maker David Bedingham is unbeaten on 31 and Ollie Robinson 13 not out when play resumes tomorrow.
It was Jennings who dominated the third day, the Lancashire captain resuming on 38 and playing with a mixture of caution and aggression on a wicket that is still offering bounce and spin with the odd delivery keeping low.
Jennings soon reached his fifty, which came off 92 balls, upped the scoring when taking a further 55 balls to reach three figures and another 59 to go to the 150 landmark.
His innings contained two sixes, both hit straight off left arm spinner Callum Parkinson, and 18 fours, and was a vital contribution as Lancashire hunt their first victory of the season. There was only one blip in the innings, and one Durham and Stokes in particular might come to rue, and that was the no-ball the Durham international bowled to Jennings on 75 who edged to second slip.
How costly that chance was will only be known tomorrow. But Stokes struggled with the front foot line, overstepping ten times during the match.
It was Jenning’s seventh score of 150 plus for Lancashire and the first time he has scored centuries in both innings of a match for the Red Rose although the second time he has achieved this feat.
It was also the first time a Lancashire batsman has made two centuries in a match at Blackpool.
While Jennings was going along nicely at one end, there were mixed fortunes for his batting partners at the other.
Nightwatchman Will Williams held up Durham for twenty minutes at the start of play before trapped lbw to Ben Raine for 1 and George Bell went the same way to Stokes for 17.
Tom Bruce made a nice 43 in a partnership of exactly 100 off 109 balls but had a big swing at Parkinson and edged behind, while George Balderson gave Jennings brilliant support in adding 61 for the sixth wicket until he edged behind off Stokes for 17.
Jennings innings came to an end after five hours and 10 minutes at the crease when the Lancashire skipper hit his 213th delivery to deep mid-off and was well caught by a diving Scott Borthwick to give Stokes his fourth wicket.
That left Lancashire on 313 for seven and 434 runs ahead, and Jennings called a halt after Matty Hurst (30), Tom Aspinwall (4 - a fifth wicket for Stokes) and Saqib Mahmood (12 not out) had added 38 more runs.
Now seven wickets remain between Lancashire and a first victory of the season.
Double centurion Keaton Jennings was more focussed on the result tomorrow than his record breaking exploits with the bat today.
“There’s not many days where you get two hundreds in a game, so from a personal point of view it does feel great,” he admitted.
“We’ll feel even better if we get seven wickets for less than 340 runs,” he quickly added.
“You want to win games of cricket and put your team in the best position to do that. Hopefully we can come out tomorrow and get some more poles.
“We’ve spoken as a group about somebody putting their hand up. Recognise moments and be the guy to get the team over the line. Try to be the guy that’s there at the end of the game.
“This week is my week. Hopefully next week it’s somebody else’s ball.
A first win would be an important step tomorrow, but the Red Rose skipper isn’t taking it for granted.
“It’s been a tough four of five weeks,” said Jennings. “No wins, a couple of losses so it’s been hard.
“The motivation and desire in the camp has been there all the way through to try and win a game of cricket.
“We need to come out tomorrow and execute the way we have done over the last three days.
“They have players with serious Test hundreds still to come in, first-class hundreds down to number ten.
“We have a job to do. It’s not going to be as easy as arriving tomorrow and taking seven wickets.
“We’ll go until as late as it takes. If that means we jab away all day that’s the way we are going to it.”
Ken Grime
Photos: George Franks, Luke Adams, Dan Adams
