Gloucestershire 255 for 9 (Charlesworth 71, Harris 52, Patel 5-93, Potts 2-35) and 181 for 6 (Harris 71*) need another 244 runs to beat Durham 445 (Clark 100, de Leede 65, Coughlin 59*, Borthwick 53) and 272 for Dec 4 (Jones 121*)
On a day when Sussex paceman Ollie Robinson joined Joffra Archer and Jimmy Anderson on the treatment table, Potts claimed 2 for 21 in an impressive burst of five over with the new ball to remind the England selectors in time.
Potts then went to work removing left-handers Chris Dent and Ben Charlesworth with back-to-back deliveries in the third over to begin a slide that saw Gloucestershire fall to 58 for 4. Although Marcus Harris railed on registering 71, not out was to see the home side down to 181 for 6 at the end, they are still behind by 244 and, with fine weather for the final day, the overwhelming odds are that Durham will take a fourth win in six appearances to their position at the top of the Second Division.
With Archer already ruled out for the remainder of the summer and Anderson still suffering from a groin injury, news that Robinson had suffered an ankle injury and was unable to take the field after lunch for Sussex against Glamorgan at Hove. , served to propel the 24-year-old Sunderland-born paceman further back in the international reckoning.
With England’s first-choice seamers dropping like flies, another chance could come for Potts, who has now claimed 28 wickets in five red ball outings since the beginning of April. Sure, he was too much for Dent and Charlesworth, the first falling behind and the other floating out from the stump and making a notch to third slip as Gloucestershire made the worst possible start to their second innings.
Miles Hammond survived the hat-trick ball but couldn’t last much longer, allowing Ben Raine to slip out first, while Jack Taylor was lured to the forefoot by Ajaz Patel and stumped for a first-ball duck as the home side fell to 58. for 4.
Eager to submit his demands for inclusion in the Australian team to face India in the ICC World Test Championship final at The Oval next month, Harris held on to Durham’s win with his second half-century of the match and went into that milestone with 89 balls. He finally got the support his efforts deserved when he was joined by Bracey, who contributed 50 off 78 balls in a fifth wicket partnership of 92.
But the Gloucestershire deputy captain wiped his notebook when he pecked a delivery from Scott Borthwick to leg slip, while Zafar Gohar danced down the lane to Patel and was utterly stunned for 11 to leave Durham on the verge of triumph within the distance.
Potts had previously completed Gloucestershire’s first innings on 292, Ajeet Singh Dale bowled clean for 15 to finish 3 for 43. Josh Shaw remained unbeaten at 37, hitting 3 sixes and a pair of fours to dominate a last wicket stand of 65 .
With a declaration figure already in mind, Durham was understandably eager to score quickly and Jones and Alex Lees committed in a progressive lead of 119 in 27.1 overs. Gloucestershire bowlers choice Singh Dale troubled both openers with a toxic new-ball spell before retiring to the pavilion with an injured knee. Jones in particular cashed in, dragging Zafar across the center of the wicket twice for six and dishing out the same treatment to Matt Taylor as he went from 73 balls to 50.
Exhausted Gloucestershire continued to fight hard and debutant Zaman Akhter generated a head of steam from the Ashley Down Road End to bowl Lees for 40, while Zafar pinned Borthwick lbw for two to slow northern progress for a moment. David Bedingham scored 29 from 26 balls in a fast 56 stand for the third wicket before coming forward to Shaw and leading a leading edge to cover the score at 178.
Unperturbed by the goings-on on the other side, Jones carried on as usual, moving up three digits for the first time this season with his ninth four, a square leg limit cut at the expense of Zafar, who struggled to exert any control. to practice. Aided by 5 sixes, Jones’ second 50 occupied only 54 balls.
Robinson scored at an even faster pace, rushing to 50 through 25 balls, with all but four runs coming via boundaries as punt balls became a rarity. Without the protection of the pressure on the scoreboard, spinners Zafar and Jack Taylor suffered terribly, conceding 6.36 and 9.25 respectively.
By the time Robinson was unbalanced and stumped for 67 at Zafar’s bowling, Durham was ready to spare Gloucestershire’s pressured bowlers further punishment by declaring. Robinson’s whirlwind innings consisted of 36 balls and included 9 fours and 3 sixes, while Jones finished undefeated on 121 off 148 pitches, with 11 fours and 5 sixes. Their fourth wicket alliance produced 94 runs in just 10.1 overs.