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Lauren Down is back from maternity leave and will tour England with New Zealand’s ODI squad later this month.Down, who has played 28 ODIs and 13 T20Is, last travelled with the White Ferns as part of their squad for the 2023 T20 World Cup in South Africa before taking a break from cricket to become a first-time mother.”We’re really pleased to have Lauren back,” Ben Sawyer, White Ferns head coach, said. “She’s been working hard over the past four months to get herself into a position where she feels confident to play, and this tour feels like the right time to bring her back into the fold.”Related

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Down is joined by fellow middle-order batter Mikaela Greig as part of a 16-strong touring party named ahead of three ODIs and five T20Is against England starting in Durham on June 26.Greig’s selection follows her international debut in March when she was called up from the New Zealand A squad and featured in the first T20I against England in Dunedin, where she was run out for a duck.Pace bowler Rosemary Mair has been ruled out of the trip by back pain which excluded her from New Zealand’s home ODI series against England in April.Seamer Lea Tahuhu will remain in New Zealand for the birth of her second child and join the squad for the T20I series starting in Southampton on July 6.Off-spinner Leigh Kasperek will also link up with the squad for the T20I leg.Molly Penfold returns as a seam bowling option following strong performances against England A in March, when she finished as the team’s second-highest wicket-taker behind Hayley Jensen.Getty Images

Jensen was not considered for selection as she continues rehabilitation for a calf injury sustained during the New Zealand A series but the rest of the senior squad is unchanged from that which hosted England earlier this year.Sawyer said recalling Down and Greig was in indication of long-term planning for pinnacle events ahead of the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in October and the 50-over tournament in India next year.”Every series is an opportunity to test what our best playing XI looks like, and with T20 and one-day World Cups looming it will be good to see where Lauren and Mikaela could fit in,” he said. “The players have spent the past six weeks training incredibly hard and we’ve been ticking all the boxes that we can to get ready.”England won their T20I series in New Zealand 4-1 and won the ODIs 2-1.”When we faced England at home we didn’t get the results we were after but we did see gutsy performances from a range of players, which was really promising,” Sawyer added. “Anytime you play a world-class team like England in their own backyard it’s going to be a challenge. But with the work that’s been put in, we’ve got ourselves into the best position possible to succeed.”Sawyer will be assisted on the tour by batting coach Dean Brownlie and tour coach Gareth Davies, who is also head coach for Loughborough Women and Worcestershire CCC Women as well as an assistant coach for Birmingham Phoenix Women.New Zealand squad: Sophie Devine (capt), Suzie Bates, Eden Carson, Lauren Down (ODI), Izzy Gaze, Maddy Green, Mikaela Greig, Brooke Halliday, Fran Jonas, Leigh Kasperek (T20I), Jess Kerr, Melie Kerr, Molly Penfold, Georgia Plimmer, Hannah Rowe, Lea Tahuhu (T20I)

Cricket Ireland has officially confirmed a first men’s tour of Pakistan in August and September next year. The series, which will see Ireland and Pakistan play three T20Is and three ODIs, was a part of the Future Tours Programme (FTP), scheduled for September 2025.The release makes no detailed mention of dates and venues, or any other specifics concerning the schedule of the tour. It follows in the wake of Ireland Women touring Pakistan, who also played three ODIs and three T20Is, in November 2022.The decision was finalised after PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi met Cricket Ireland chair Brain MacNeice. The PCB initially put out a statement appearing to confirm Ireland would also play a Test series in Pakistan, one that was not part of the FTP.”Chairman Cricket Ireland said that the Irish team would visit Pakistan next year in August-September for a Test series and would also review the possibility of a women’s team tour to Pakistan soon,” the PCB statement said.When ESPNcricinfo contacted the PCB for further details, the PCB denied that any such Test series had officially been in agreement, despite the board’s own statement ostensibly confirming it. A Cricket Ireland spokesperson said that details of the tour’s fixture list would be discussed by the two boards in future.Hours after the PCB release, Cricket Ireland put out an official statement on their own website relating to Naqvi’s meeting with MacNeice. In “wide ranging discussions”, it merely confirmed that the two boards “were able to agree a men’s tour next year – this will be yet another historic first, coming after the tour to Pakistan by our senior women in 2022.”The Pakistan men’s side is currently in Ireland taking part in a three-match T20I series. The sides split the first two games 1-1, with the series decider on Tuesday.

The comeback

Saurashtra, the defending champions, pulled off a miraculous win in Solapur to keep their knockout hopes alive.Down and out at 69 for 8 in their second innings, with their lead just 112, they were revived by Jaydev Unadkat, the captain, and Chirag Jani, one of their premier allrounders, who made 45 and 43 respectively.The ninth-wicket pair added 93 to help Saurashtra set Maharashtra a target of 213, which proved 48 too many. Left-arm spinner Parth Bhut sent Maharashtra on a tailspin by picking up 7 for 44, his fourth five-for in first-class cricket.Seven Maharashtra batters got off to starts, but none managed more than Taranjitsingh Dhillon’s 28 at No. 7. The defeat sees Maharashtra languishing in the second half of the Group A table, while Saurashtra are closing in on the top three.Related

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The thrillers

Having come into their fifth-round fixture without a win, Services were bundled out for 108 on the opening morning under swinging conditions in Lahli. It’s from here that they orchestrated an epic comeback against Haryana that culminated in a sensational one-run victory.This was only the second time in Ranji history that a team had managed to secure victory by one run. Andhra was the only other team to pull off this feat, when they beat Tamil Nadu by this margin, at Salem in 1974-75.Pulkit Narang, the offspinner who has recently been part of India A, led Services’ turnaround. His three wickets were instrumental in Services pocketing a five-run first innings lead. Rajat Paliwal, the captain, then led the way with 86 in the second innings to set Haryana a target of 146, which if achieved would have propelled them to the top of the standings.Haryana made a good fist of the target, with openers Ankit Kumar and Harshal Patel adding 51. Then from 81 for 1, they sensationally collapsed; losing 6 for 11 as Narang ran through the batting line-up to pick up 5 for 55 as Services clinched a famous win.In Surat, Manish Pandey played a clutch knock to help Karnataka clinch a one-wicket thriller against Railways.Chasing 226, the inexperienced top order, sans Mayank Agarwal and Devdutt Padikkal, caved in and were at 99 for 6. Stand-in captain Nikin Jose registered a pair. But the lower order rallied with Pandey remaining unbeaten on 67.Pandey aside, there was a crucial contribution from pacer Vijayakumar Vyshak, who made 38. But when he was dismissed, Karnataka still needed 29 runs with just two wickets in hand.Pandey found support from Vidwath Kaverappa and Vasuki Koushik to clinch an unlikely win. Vyshak had also picked up a five-for with the ball in Railways’ second innings to help limit Railways’ lead, which proved to be crucial.The win helped Karnataka jump to second in Group C, level on points with Tamil Nadu. However, TN are toppers by virtue of a better quotient and two bonus points to Karnataka’s zero.Mohit Avasthi holds the ball up after bagging a seven-for•Cricket Association of Bengal

The upset

Gujarat, the early pace-setters of the season, have stumbled big time. After winning their first two games, they’ve now lost two on the bounce, in addition to a drawn game due to the elements. This leaves them precariously placed, and outside the top three, in Group C going into the second half of the league phase.Their latest defeat was against the Wriddhiman Saha-led Tripura, a team that had only won nine Ranji games in all since they came into existence in 1985-86. However, this season alone, they’ve added two more wins and are third in the pool, which gives them a chance of pushing for the knockouts.Tripura’s win was all the more special as they rallied around in the second innings after conceding a 26-run lead, courtesy an outstanding effort from Manisankar Murasingh who scored 72 in their 343.Gujarat weren’t really in the chase of 318, slumping to 64 for 5 from where there was no turnaround. Parvez Sultan, the left-arm spinner, ended with a match haul of 10 for 116.

The victory march

Mumbai recorded their fourth win in five games as they thumped Bengal by an innings and four runs at Eden Gardens. The turnaround was led by Shivam Dube, the captain, and debutant Suryansh Shedge, who added 144 for the fifth wicket on the opening day. From 87 for 4, they managed 412 in the first innings.Bengal were bundled out for 199 and 209, with only Anustup Majumdar (first innings) and Abishek Porel (second innings) standing tall with the bat. Fast bowler Mohit Awasthi recorded figures of 7 for 52 as Bengal were skittled in under 60 overs in the second innings.

Sunrisers Eastern Cape 204 for 3 (Stubbs 56*, Abell 55, Markram 42, Hermann 42) beat Durban’s Super Giants 112 (Mulder 38, Jansen 5-30) by 89 runsMarco Jansen led the line with an outstanding five-wicket haul, as Sunrisers Eastern Cape crushed Durban’s Super Giants by 89 runs to claim back-to-back SA20 titles in a formidable team performance at Newlands.After winning the toss and choosing to bat first, Sunrisers put a hefty total of 204 for 3 on the board, thanks to a forceful batting display built around two distinct partnerships – 90 from 52 balls between Jordan Hermann and Tom Abell, and then an unbroken 98 from 55 balls between Aiden Markram and Tristan Stubbs, who top-scored with 56 not out from 30 balls.By contrast, Durban’s innings never got any traction. After travelling down from Johannesburg in the morning following Friday’s Qualifier victory over Joburg Super Kings, their batters were caught cold in a feisty powerplay performance, led by Dan Worrall’s attacking seam and swing, and capped by Jansen’s towering left-arm angles.Their innings was rocked by the early loss of Quinton de Kock, who drove flat-footedly at Worrall and inside-edged onto his stumps for 3. He might have had two in two had Jansen not spilled JJ Smuts at slip first-ball, but Jansen made immediate amends, inducing Smuts into a chipped drive to mid-off from his second delivery, before Bhanuka Rajapaksa flapped a loose clip to the same fielder, Patrick Kruger, for a third-ball duck.At 7 for 3, the contest was already as good as over, and though Wiaan Mulder did his best to reboot Durban’s innings in a 56-run stand with a near-strokeless Matthew Breetzke, Jansen would once again be the man to strike for Sunrisers, this time in the field. Few other players could have reached Mulder’s swing for the ropes off Simon Harmer at the end of the tenth over, but he stretched over the boundary with his arms at full extension, to send Mulder on his way for 38.One ball later, Breetkze’s static knock of 18 from 27 balls ended as he lost his off stump to Ottniel Baartman, and in the same over, Baartman ended any faint hopes of Durban miracle. Heinrich Klaasen has been the outstanding ball-striker of the tournament, in rushing along to 447 runs at an extraordinary strike-rate of 207.90, but this time he lasted a solitary delivery, as Baartman landed his inswinger and extracted the on-field lbw from Stephen Harris, with the ball shown to be clipping leg.The end came in a rush. Jansen returned for his third over and plucked off Keshav Maharaj’s off stump, then ended any remaining resistance with two wickets from his final three balls. Junior Dala flicked him off his pads for a token six before picking out Harmer at long-on one ball later, before another off-stump heat-seeker dealt with Reece Topley to cue the celebrations.Durban’s display arguably went awry from the very first over of the match. They deviated from the plans that had proven so effective against Joburg Super Kings in the Qualifier, handing an opening over to the left-arm spinner Smuts that was milked for nine chanceless runs – two more than Sunrisers would concede in claiming their first three wickets. It set the tone for a passive display with the ball, even after Topley had struck with his fourth delivery in the second over, a plumb lbw against Dawid Malan (6).That brought Abell to the middle, and though he would finish with the Player-of-the-Match award, he led a charmed life for the first 14 balls of his innings. He was dropped on 6 in Topley’s second over then survived a potentially innings-turning moment from his very next ball, as Maharaj scooped up a low chance at mid-off, but signalled to the umpires that he was unsure if it had carried. That doubt potentially informed the subsequent TV referral, despite the replays suggesting that his fingers had been under the ball.Abell’s innings kicked up a gear as he turned to his favoured scoop shot, with a four and a six from consecutive Mulder deliveries, and with gaps suddenly appearing in the field, he rushed through to a 30-ball fifty with seven fours and two sixes inside the 10th over, with Sunrisers’ 100 coming up in the same over.Durban hit back in style, however, with Maharaj bagging both set batters in the space of four balls. Hermann holed out to Klaasen at long-on for 42 from 27 balls, before Abell was beaten in flight on the slog-sweep to be bowled for 55 from 34. That brought Stubbs and Markram together in the 11th over, with a bit of a rebuild required at 106 for 3.Each man picked off an early boundary but it was Stubbs who was the first to step up the tempo with back-to-back fours to end Dwayne Pretorius’ second over. After that it was over to Stubbs’ long levers, with three sixes in eight balls powering the total past 200. In the end, it would prove to be more than enough.

Khaled Ahmed was the standout performer for East Zone, as he completed an 11-wicket match haul to take East to victory in Sylhet. The 11 wickets made it a chart-topping 18 wickets for Khaled in just two games in the BCL, well ahead of second-placed Abu Hider of Central Zone, who returned 12 wickets in three games.After East won the toss and opted to field, Rejaur Rahman Raja and Khaled returned identical figures of 4 for 40 in the first North innings to bowl them out for 108, with Abdullah Al Mamun’s 26 the best individual effort for North. East’s reply was led by Mominul Haque, who scored 117 in just under four hours, and Parvez Hossain Emon, whose 90 came in 200 balls in over four hours of batting. Shahadat Hossain also chipped in with a quick 56.Behind by 244 runs, North needed a stronger batting display, but after a steady start from Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Sabbir Hossain, which took them to 43 by the eighth over, it started to go downhill. Abu Jayed picked up the first wicket, of Joy, and it was over to Khaled after that to run through the batting with returns of 7 for 50. Rejaur took his match tally to six with the wickets of Pritom Kumar and North captain Akbar Ali.East, who had earlier beaten Central by seven wickets after drawing their opener against South Zone, finished on 20 points, double that of second-placed Central.A dramatic batting collapse in their second innings cost South a chance to make a match of it against Central, who needed to chase just 16 runs in the fourth innings after South only managed 49, having conceded a 34-run first-innings lead.Asked to bat, South put up 214, with good hands from Moin Khan (75) and Fazle Mahmud (46), as Shohidul Islam, Hider and Shuvagata Hom all got among the wickets.Central’s batting effort wasn’t much better, but good enough to get them a lead, as they scored 248. Naeem Islam led the way with a 181-ball 89, while Mahidul Islam Ankon scored 66.But there was almost no resistance from South in their second innings. Opener Prantik Nawrose Nabil batted ten balls before going off, and the procession was on. Hider picked up four, Shohidul three, and Salauddin Sakil two. Mohammad Naim then proceeded to knock off the required runs in just one over.

Matthew Mott has called for patience with England’s new-era white-ball team as a work in progress, stressing that they’ve only had three opportunities to play together.England succumbed to a four-wicket defeat in Barbados to lose their first series following a difficult World Cup campaign 2-1.A group which featured just four players to have played more than 10 ODIs, found themselves in strong positions in all three matches against a West Indies side going through a similar reboot having failed to qualify for the World Cup.However, a late-innings onslaught from Shai Hope and Romario Shepherd in the opening match saw England slip to a four-wicket defeat in Antigua, before losing by the same margin at the Kensington Oval after a top-order collapse gave England a total of just 188 to defend in a rain-reduced game.Related

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“We haven’t put a complete game together and that’s the frustration,” Mott, England’s head coach, said immediately after the defeat. “We put ourselves in a chance to win all three games and come away with a series loss, so that’s not ideal.”But there are definitely some really good signs there that there’s a group of players who love playing with each other. They’re some really good mates in there and I think it’ll really take the game forward.”In line for particular praise were Rehan Ahmed and Sam Curran. Rehan, described by Mott as a “revelation”, has been tasked with filling the almighty shoes of Adil Rashid and took five wickets across the series at an average of 23.40 and an economy of 4.33. On the other hand, Curran had a mixed series. In the opening ODI, he showed his class with the bat to save England’s innings from the perilous position of 239 for 7, before conceding the worst ever figures of an England player in ODIs as he was taken for 0 for 98.”Sam’s definitely a player that we really want to invest in,” Mott said, with Curran proving his qualities with the ball in the second match where his triple-strike in the powerplay put England ahead of the game. “He’s got a lot of qualities that we like and he’s got the game to really play well.”A point of pride for Mott was the fight England showed to almost steal an unlikely victory from the final ODI. Suffering from the natural disadvantage of bowling second in a rain-affected match, England were faced with greasy conditions that made it harder for their spinners to grip the ball and easier for the West Indies batters to play seam. But thanks to a Will Jacks-inspired performance with the ball, England reduced West Indies to 135 for 6, with 53 runs still required for victory.”I thought today we showed a lot of character and spirit to fight all day,” Mott said. “You don’t want to make excuses, but to hang in there as a team and show the fight that they did, throwing themselves around and nearly snatching one was something that we’re looking for.”After three months of almost exclusive ODI focus, England’s attention now turns to T20s, with the five-match series against West Indies starting on Tuesday in Barbados.”We’ve played really good T20 cricket over a period of time. It’s always good when you lose a series to change the format,” Mott said, also confirming that Jos Buttler will return to opening the batting after spending the New Zealand series in September lower down the order. “You move on pretty quickly. It’s only a couple of days, it won’t be that different. Obviously you’ve got a few new players coming in with experience. But it’s much of a muchness really.”There are five changes to England’s personnel in the Caribbean, with Chris Woakes, Rashid, Moeen Ali, Reece Topley and Tymal Mills joining the squad for the T20 leg. Ollie Pope, Zak Crawley, Matthew Potts, Tom Hartley and Brydon Carse will head home.”It’s probably easier transitioning back,” Mott said. “T20 is, particularly for the batting group, pretty clear, you go out and take the game on, there’s not a lot of dead balls. And from the bowling group, you’re trying to hit your variations as much as you can and deny them hitting opportunities. So I think we’ll be fine. We’ve got a couple of days to work on it and looking forward to it.”Also joining the England set-up is Andrew Flintoff, who will continue the first team mentoring role he took up in the summer as part of his first steps back into the public eye following his serious car crash whilst filming Top Gear.Flintoff, whose role is now paid, was part of the backroom staff for both the New Zealand white-ball series and the home ODIs against Ireland before he flew to Abu Dhabi along with Graeme Swann as part of the England Lions’ red-ball training camp. It has been a high-profile return to coaching for Flintoff, who has also been hired as Northern Superchargers head coach for the 2024 edition of The Hundred.

Katie Mack and Tahlia McGrath made light work of a low target in batting-friendly conditions as Adelaide Strikers comfortably beat embattled Sydney Sixers at an oppressive WACA ground.The rematch of last season’s WBBL final was an anti-climax with a disciplined Strikers attack restricting Sixers to an underwhelming total of 111 for 6.Mack and McGrath had no such difficulty with a commanding 77-run second-wicket partnership as Strikers cruised to the target in the 18th over. A slew of late wickets, including Mack and McGrath, flattered Sixers who were convincingly outplayed throughout the contest.They desperately needed early wickets, but started raggedly with a misfield from captain Ellyse Perry gifting Mack a boundary in the first over. Sixers’ confidence temporarily lifted when a cracking in-swinger from left-arm quick Lauren Cheatle’s first delivery bowled opener Laura Wolvaardt.Sixers’ hopes were quickly dashed by Mack and McGrath as Perry reverted to a defensive field. Seemingly going through the motions, Sixers lacked inspiration and the microscope will be on the glamour franchise anchored to the bottom of the ladder.With the temperature hovering at an unseasonal 35 degrees Celsius, Strikers elected to bowl on a hard surface promising lots of runs even though the pitch had a green-tinge.Sixers were under pressure having won just once from five games and losing star wicketkeeper-batter Alyssa Healy to a season-ending injury after she was accidentally bitten by her dog.Without Healy, Sixers have increasingly relied on Perry who has tried to hold together a stuttering top-order. She looked well on her way after a trademark drive through the covers off quick Megan Schutt then a dismissive flick for six in the third over.Perry attempted to replicate the flick against seamer Danielle Gibson, but was undone by an inswinger and her stumps were rattled in a rarity of a dismissal for her.The pressure was on opener Suzie Bates to end her form woes having only made 42 runs from five previous innings. She continued to look sluggish, including failing to connect on an attempted scoop.Bates finally middled legspinner Amanda-Jade Wellington, but straight to Jemma Barsby who held onto a rocket at mid-on.Sixers kept losing wickets at inopportune moments and were never able to build rhythm. Ashleigh Gardner appeared the likeliest to get Sixers back on track, but on 27 she hit legspinner Anesu Mushangwe to midwicket in a disappointing dismissal.Sixers were shackled in the middle of their innings by Wellington and Mushangwe, who produced turn on a surface renowned as a spinning graveyard.Not even the power surge could ignite Sixers with Maitlan Brown and Mathilda Carmichael managing just three runs across the 17th and 18th overs.It was the equal fewest runs off a power surge in WBBL history as Sixers crawled to a mediocre total that was nowhere near enough.

England hope that Brydon Carse can replicate Liam Plunkett’s success in the middle overs after drafting him into their World Cup squad as a replacement for the injured Reece Topley.Carse will arrive in Bangalore ahead of England’s match against Sri Lanka on Thursday, though is unlikely to be considered for selection having last played competitively four weeks ago. He featured in one of England’s four ODIs against New Zealand last month after impressing in the T20I series, and also played for their second-string side against Ireland.Carse, 28, was born in South Africa but is a UK passport-holder who plays for Durham and Northern Superchargers in domestic cricket. A tall, powerful seamer who can also contribute with the bat from the lower order, he has won 12 ODI caps and three T20I caps since making his debut in 2021.”He’s a brilliant all-round package,” Joe Root said on Monday. “He can score some handy runs for you, is very dynamic in the field and has a unique wicket-taking ability. He’s got that [Ben] Stokes element to him where sometimes, you feel like nothing is happening and he’ll pick up wickets.”England had swiftly and unceremoniously moved on from Plunkett after the last World Cup, when he was 34, and Carse is the closest like-for-like replacement that they have used in the four years since. “He almost feels like a junior Plunkett,” Root said. “He’s very similar. Pudsy [Plunkett] might not like me saying this, but he’s probably got even more to offer with the bat as well.”Root also expressed his sympathy for Topley, who was officially ruled out of the World Cup on Sunday after scans confirmed a fracture in the index finger of his bowling hand. “The poor lad, it just doesn’t seem to stop for him,” he said. “Every time he does extremely well and gets a string of performances together where he’s playing good cricket, he just seems to get a setback.”England travelled from Mumbai to Bengaluru on Sunday afternoon following their 229-run thrashing by South Africa. They will train on Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon before playing Sri Lanka at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday, the first of five must-win group fixtures as they aim to reach the semi-finals despite three defeats in their first four games.”The situation we find ourselves in now, we’ve got to make sure that we’re ready and in the best possible place to perform well in the next game,” Root told Sky Sports. “We’ll look at that as a World Cup final now – then do the same for the game after that, and the game after that. All we’ve got to do is really focus on Sri Lanka.”I’ve played in a number of different England teams, good ones and bad ones,” Root said. “This is one of the very best. It’s a very together team. We know what we need to do… We’ve got some very simple messaging in front of us right now: we have to go out and win. In some ways, that unshackles us and frees us up to do what we do.”

Torrential rain brought an abrupt end to the Hundred match at Headingley between Northern Superchargers and Birmingham Phoenix with just 62 balls possible in Phoenix’s first innings. With puddles forming on the outfield the umpires were left with no choice but to call a halt to proceedings after a heavy shower engulfed Leeds.It was frustrating for the hosts who had got themselves into a decent position during the play that was possible with Reece Topley removing opener Jacob Bethell for 0 in his opening set of deliveries.That brought England star Ben Duckett to the middle and he introduced himself with a ramped shot for six before hitting an unbeaten 34 off 26 balls before the rain came.Spin also played its part with Matthew Short removing Dan Mousley and Shadab Khan in quick succession with England’s Adil Rashid claiming the wicket of Jamie Smith who was bowled for 13 with the visitors 84 for 5 at the close.England batter Harry Brook was also involved after making himself available for Superchargers’ opening fixture, following the conclusion of the Ashes on Monday.

Durham 433 for 8 (Lees 195, Clark 82) lead Gloucestershire 316 by 117 runsAlex Lees gave the England selectors a gentle nudge after scoring his third century in as many innings to guide Durham into a strong position against Gloucestershire in their LV= Insurance County Championship clash.Lees anchored the innings with a flawless knock of 195, posting his highest score as a Durham player since his move to Seat Unique Riverside in 2018. Graham Clark provided the perfect complement with 82 as the two shared a stand worth 195 after the hosts were reduced to 109 for four in reply to Gloucestershire’s 316.The two batters rebuilt the innings and propelled Durham ahead in the game, having skittled the visitors’ tail within the first half-hour of day two. It allowed Brydon Carse to tee off late in the day to push the hosts into a 117-run lead at the close with two first-innings wickets remaining.Resuming on 280 for six, Gloucestershire put their foot down before the arrival of the new ball. Zafar Gohar smashed three boundaries off Carse’s first over, while Josh Shaw cleared the rope with a huge strike over long-on against Parkinson to earn a second batting bonus point.Durham answered fire with fire as Carse responded with a hostile spell to make the breakthrough. Shaw could only glove behind to Robinson down the leg-side and the next ball was too good for Matt Taylor. Zaman Akhter survived the hat-trick ball and another barrage from Carse before the arrival of the new ball.Ben Raine then wrapped up the innings within three deliveries with the new Kookaburra in hand by bowling Gohar and pinning Dominic Goodman lbw, securing maximum bowling points for the hosts.Shaw made quick inroads for the visitors to remove Michael Jones, but Lees responded by taking the attack to the Gloucestershire bowlers. The left-hander shared a stand worth 67 with Scott Borthwick before the Durham captain picked out substitute fielder Jack Taylor as he aimed to clear the short boundary, presenting Shaw with his second wicket.Lees worked his way to his fifty from only 56 balls, but Durham had issues at the other end when David Bedingham emulated his captain’s dismissal falling three balls before the lunch break. Ollie Robinson continued the procession after the interval as fell caught and bowled to Goodman, leaving Durham in trouble at 109 for four after losing three wickets for 32.The home side required patience at the crease and Lees duly delivered without taking any risks on his march to three figures. He showed composure in a slow grind through the nineties before bringing up his third hundred of the term after striking Gohar straight down the ground to the fence.Clark offered a useful foil at the other end to support the former England opener. After a period of consolidation, the two batters upped the ante and cranked up the pressure on the Gloucestershire bowlers.James Bracey turned to a variety of options, but could not stop the onslaught from the fifth-wicket stand, especially from Lees who powered his way to his highest score of the season by passing 150 with three-straight pulls to the boundary against Akhter.Ben Charlesworth took the ball in the 70th over and finally broke the stand for 195 when Clark drilled the ball straight to Chris Dent at short mid-wicket, falling narrowly short of a deserved century. Carse and Lees guided the hosts to their third batting bonus point before the new ball.Matt Taylor found his rhythm from the off with the new ball to end Lees’ brilliant knock for 195 and then Raine first ball to give the visitors hope of skittling the hosts late in the day. But, Carse stamped his authority in the final hour, reaching fifty from 45 balls and smashing three sixes in the process, ensuring Durham ended the evening in command closing in on maximum batting points.