Came carries bat as Derbyshire are well beaten by Durham
Matthew Potts fired Durham to their fourth victory of the season to extend their commanding lead at the top of the Division Two table, and leave Derbyshire opener Harry Came high and dry after carrying his bat.
Resuming on 99 for four and still needing 160 to make Durham bat again, Came and nightwatcher Nick Potts batted throughout the morning session.
But Callum Parkinson broke the fifth-wicket stand just before the second new ball was due, and Matthew Potts did the rest with a spectacular burst of four wickets in 19 balls to complete figures of eight for 66.
Potts had match figures of 10 for 93, while Came was left unbeaten on 105 from 290 balls – the first Derbyshire opener to carry his bat since Billy Godleman at Lord’s in 2018.
“I’ve just said to Harry that’s the best hundred he’s got for us,” said Mickey Arthur, Derbyshire’s Head of Cricket. “That’s a Division One hundred he’s played out there, and I think he’ll get a hell of a lot from that.
“But overall I’m really disappointed. I was looking forward to seeing how we went this week against the standard bearers of Division Two. For us to be found so far short is incredibly disappointing.”
Came reached his fourth first-class century with his 13th boundary and Derbyshire had reduced the deficit to 42 when Martin Andersson was caught by Ben McKinney off Potts
That removed Came’s last significant partner, with Potts removing Brooke Guest’s off stump two balls later with a ball that jagged back off the pitch, and then polishing off Shoaib Bashir and Muhammad Abbas in the space of three balls three overs later – after Kasey Aldridge had Ben Aitchison chipping to mid-off for his sixth wicket of the match.
Durham’s head coach Ryan Campbell was thrilled by his team’s performance, and praised Potts for his response to being omitted from England’s Test squads this summer.
“When you find out you’re not going to be selected, you can go one of two ways,” said Campbell.
“You can be down in the dumps, or you can be Matthew Potts and take eight wickets. It just shows the qualities of the man.