Durham vs Somerset, County Championship One, Today Match Prediction

DUR vs SOM Match Prediction & Analysis

The County Championship Division A is in the middle of the group stage games. With the points table heating up, Durham will play against Somerset at the Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street on 23rd May from 3:30 pm onwards. Durham are in fourth place with two wins and two draws, while Somerset are in seventh place in the table with similar outcomes.

Durham played their last game against Nottinghamshire at the same venue. Bowling first, they bowled out the Notts for 407 runs. Codi Yusuf picked up four wickets. Durham then went on to score 664 runs after centuries from Emilio Gay, Graham Clark, and Oliver Robinson. With a lead of 257 runs, Durham restricted the opponents to 347 runs, where Yusuf took two wickets. They chased the target of 91 runs with 7 wickets in hand. 

Somerset played Sussex in their last game. Archie Vaughn scored 80 runs in the first innings to take Somerset to 338 runs. Craig Overton and Migael Pretorius picked up three wickets each to help Somerset get a lead of 186 runs. After forcing the follow-on, Somerset bowled out Sussex for 335. Skipper Lewis Gregory scored an unbeaten 89 runs in the last innings to win the game for his team by 5 wickets.

Both teams played against each other last season. Batting first, Somerset scored 492 runs after Tom Abell and James Rew scored centuries. In return, Durham managed to score 336 runs. Brydon Carse scored a century for Durham. Somerset then declared the innings on 263 to set a target of 420 runs. Somerset bowled out Durham on 126 to win the game by 293 runs. Jack Leach picked up 12 wickets in the game.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Durham Preview

James Minto will open the innings with the skipper, Alex Lees. Lees scored 82 and 31 in the last game. Lees has 447 runs in 6 games at an average of 47, including a century and two half-centuries. Ben McKinney will come in at number three. He has scored 320 runs this season. Minto scored a half-century in his first game of the season. He also picked up two wickets with the ball.

Emilio Gay will come in the middle with Colin Ackermann and Oliver Robinson. Gay scored his second century of the season in the last game. He has 339 runs at an average of 42.37. Ackermann scored a half-century in the last innings of the last game, which helped Durham beat Nottinghamshire. Robinson scored 141 runs in the last game. All eyes will be on Graham Clark, who scored another ton in the last game. He has 457 runs in 7 innings at an average of 76.

Ben Raine will lead the bowling attack with Cody Yusuf and Brydon Carse. Raine is their leading wicket-taker with 22 wickets at an economy below 3. He will be the bowler to watch out for. Yusuf picked up 6 wickets in the last game. He has 15 wickets in three games at an average of 21. Carse has picked up five wickets in the only game he has played so far.

Key Players: Graham Clark, Emilio Gay, Cody Yusuf.

Durham Predicted Playing XI:

Alex Lees (c), Ben McKinney, Emilio Gay, Colin Ackermann, Oliver Robinson (wk), Graham Clark, Brydon Carse, George Drissell, Ben Raine, Codi Yusuf, James Minto

Somerset Preview

Somerset will come with a huge confidence after managing to a win in the last game. Lewis Greggory will open the innings with Josh Davey. Gregory has scored 382 runs in 5 games at an average of 63.66. He has also picked up 9 wickets with the ball. He will be the batter to watch out for. Davey is having a poor run with the bat and has managed to score just 119 runs in 7 innings. Surprisingly, he has also picked up 9 wickets with the ball. Tom Lammonby will come in at the number three position after scoring 60 runs in the last game.

Tom Abell will come in the middle with James Rew, Tom Banton, and Archie Vaughan. Abell has 305 runs in 6 games. Rew has scored 435 runs with two centuries. Banton is Somerset’s leading run-scorer with 457 runs. He will be the batter to watch out for. He has scored 66 fours so far. Vaughn played a classic knock of 80 runs in the last game that set the base for Somerset’s win.

Jack Leach will lead the bowling attack with Migael Pretorius and Craig Overton. Leach is their leading wicket-taker with 23 wickets. He had picked up 12 wickets in the last season against Durham. Pretorius has 19 wickets in 5 games at an average of 20. On the other hand, Overton has 12 wickets in 4 games and has taken 11 catches on the field, most by a player other than the wicket-keeper.

Key Players: Jack Leach, Lewis Gregory, Tom Banton.

Somerset Predicted Playing XI:

Tom Lammonby, Archie Vaughan, Tom Abell, James Rew (wk), Tom Banton, Lewis Gregory (c), Josh Davey, Craig Overton, Migael Pretorius, Matt Henry, Jack Leach.

Weather Conditions

The weather at Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street, is expected to be sunny on match day, with temperatures ranging between 4 and 19 degrees Celsius. Winds will blow from the southeast at 8-15 km/h. It is a batting-friendly pitch. It is a paradise for both batters and bowlers as it offers balance in all innings.

DUR vs SOM Pitch Report

The game will be played at the Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street on 23rd May from 3:30 pm onwards. The stadium has a capacity of 5,000 spectators and regularly hosts Championship games. It has hosted 6 Tests, 26 ODIs, and 7 T20Is so far.

Toss: To Bat

In 6 games hosted here, results have favored the teams defending the target on 4 occasions. The average first innings score is 352. The team winning the toss should bat first.