Durham 437 for 7 (Agarwal 177, Robinson 78*) vs Worcestershire
Former India Test batter Mayank Agarwal delighted the end-of-season crowd at the Banks Homes Riverside by making a majestic 177 to help Division Two champions, Durham, dominate the opening day of their Rothesay County Championship match against Worcestershire.
Having plundered 175 for Yorkshire in the corresponding match at Headingley that saw Durham relegated nearly 12 months ago, Agarwal now made good on head coach Ryan Campbell's pledge that his undefeated team would not let up in their final two matches, even though both promotion and the title are secure.
By the close, Durham were 437 for 7 and therefore 13 runs short of collecting a full haul of five batting bonus points, none of which they really need. Nevertheless, the day's cricket had suggested some of the reasons why they have dominated Division Two this season. Ben Gibbon was the most successful Worcestershire bowler with 3 for 92, although Matthew Waite, who took 2 for 54, was the most impressive.
Having been inserted, Durham got to lunch on 117 for 3 after 29 eventful overs. Alex Lees certainly found boundaries easy to come by and got to 40 before his opening partner, Ben McKinney, reached double-figures, but the home skipper was then caught at slip off Gibbon without adding to his score.
Gibbon then trapped Will Rhodes leg-before on the front pad for 5 and McKinney was bowled by a fine ball from Waite for 19. That wicket left Durham uncertainly placed on 74 for 3 but the arrival of Ben Stokes changed the tempo of the contest.
As if competing with each other, Agarwal and Stokes hit a total of 20 boundary fours in a 15.3-over partnership of 105 either side of lunch. Agarwal reached his fifty off 50 balls whereas Stokes took 11 balls fewer but there was little to choose between the pair and during the last half-hour of their stand, Worcestershire's attack was eviscerated.
The visitors' torture ended for a while when Stokes swung across the line at a straight ball from Gibbon and was leg-before on 50 but Colin Ackermann picked up the pace and put on 71 with Agarwal before he was caught at slip by Ben Allison off Tom Taylor for 27.
Agarwal's 19th boundary, a back cut off Allison, took him to his first Durham hundred in his fifth innings since he was signed as a short-term replacement for David Bedingham until the end of the season. He had batted for 156 minutes and faced 121 balls and he was not finished yet. In company with Ollie Robinson, Agarwal added a further 149 for the sixth wicket and Worcestershire were left cursing the moment when Gibbon dropped the sharp and solitary chance he offered at midwicket in Brett D'Oliveira's first over after tea.
Agarwal was 109 and the total was 293 when that chance went down. A further 106 runs had been added and Durham were thus on the verge of collecting their fourth batting point when Agarwal was finally dismissed, caught at the wicket by Henry Cullen off Tom Taylor in the third over with the new ball.
Waite picked up a deserved second wicket when he had Kasey Aldridge leg before on 5 but the day end with Robinson unbeaten on 78, having reached his second fifty of the season and his first since June.