Durham lack of spin exposed by Hampshire

Rarely does a spinner concede 114 runs by tea on the first day, but that was the fate of Ryan Pringle, who was pressed into service despite his lack of form.

He finished with three wickets, but as he conceded runs at five an over for most of the day it left Durham on the back foot.

Pringle was brought on for the 13th over of an overcast morning on which Paul Collingwood dispensed with the toss.

The fact that Hampshire had included young leg-spinner Mason Crane confirmed that they expect the pitch to take spin, so it was a gamble for Collingwood to subject his team to batting last.

Collingwood said: “I knew it was going to turn. There is a lot of sand on the pitch, which is the same tactic Somerset seem to be using.

“It was a disappointing day - the amount it is turning you would expect to take more wickets. We did not get the ball in the right areas consistently enough to build pressure over a long period.

“It was good experience for Ryan Pringle to get a long bowl under his belt. He is going to be our spinner going forward with Scott Borthwick disappearing down to Surrey.”

Inbetween the generous offerings, Pringle did find some turn and was back on after tea, conceding a further 22 runs before he picked up his second wicket.

It came the ball after Sean Ervine became the fourth batsman to reach 50. With three centuries and an 80 in his previous five innings, there was every likelihood that the Zimbabwean would go on to something substantial.

So for Pringle to have him well caught by Collingwood at slip was a second bonus of the evening session for Durham after the bizarre dismissal of James Vince for 92.

He had raced to 89 off 101 balls at tea, and after a quiet resumption he was run out when he reluctantly responded to a call from Ervine.

Vince seemed to realise he had no chance of beating Ben Stokes's throw from cover and made no attempt to get in.

While that may have raised questions about the axed England batsman's mental state, it was clear which side had more to play for.

If they reach 450, Hampshire will fancy their chances of achieving the victory which should save them from relegation, with the losers of the Warwickshire v Lancashire match slipping below them.

Durham took only one wicket in the morning, when the overcast conditions did not bring the expected assistance for the bowlers on an easy-paced pitch.

Former Durham skipper Will Smith shared an opening stand of 111 with Jimmy Adams.

After being rested against Surrey last week, Chris Rushworth returned in place of Mark Wood and got past the bat a few times.

But the luckiest escape for the home openers came when Adams bottom-edged a pull off Brydon Carse and would have played on had the ball not struck his leg.

The left-hander departed for 53 when he shaped to cut Scott Borthwick's seventh ball and chopped it into his stumps.

In the leg-spinner's third over Smith clipped him through mid-wicket for three to reach 50 off 80 balls. It was only his fourth half-century of the season, although he did go on to make a double hundred against Lancashire.

The rare sight, especially for Durham, of two spinners operating before lunch on the first day continued afterwards and Tom Alsop was lbw to Pringle's first ball on the resumption.

Both spinners, however, offered too many boundary balls and Vince quickly took advantage.

In one over from Pringle he swept two fours then hit a six over long-off as the 100 stand came up in 20.2 overs.

Vince had a stroke of luck when he gloved an attempted hook off Stokes over wicketkeeper Michael Richardson for four to reach his 50 off 48 balls.

Smith, playing more fluently than usual, progressed to 90 before he fell in the first over of Carse's second spell, slicing a ball which was well wide of off stump to point.

Vince's surrender gave Durham some respite, and there was more success for Pringle when he had left-hander Ryan McLaren lbw on the back foot for 13. Liam Dawson ended the day unbeaten on 47.