Durham's three centurions put heat on leaders

CENTURIES from Emilio Gay, Ollie Robinson and Graham Clark put Durham in a strong position on a record-breaking day in their Rothesay County Championship clash with Nottinghamshire.

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Gay and Robinson dominated the morning session as they pushed Durham beyond Nottinghamshire’s total, with Gay notching up a second consecutive home century.

Robinson was then joined by Clark in the afternoon and the pair took the game to the Championship leaders’ bowling attack, with Clark picking up a second consecutive century and Robinson looked back to his best as he got his first hundred of the season.

The hosts kept on going into the evening and broke the county's record for the highest First Class total, but there was a bright spot for Nottinghamshire as Liam Patterson-White picked up his fifth First Class five-wicket haul and they eventually bowled Durham out for 664. Nottinghamshire reached close on 67 for one, 190 runs behind the hosts.

Clark has been a consistent performer for Durham this season, impressing with the bat on several occasions already this year. On the other hand, Gay and Robinson both had tricky starts to the season, but their class showed today to give their side a chance of a vital win on day four

Meanwhile, Nottinghamshire will be thinking about what could have been as Joe Clarke dropped both Gay and Robinson in the slip cordon in the early stages of their knocks.

Resuming on 320 for four, Gay and Robinson were the unbeaten pair in place and they were looking to get Durham into a lead as soon as possible.

Robinson picked up where he left off as he played a lovely punch for four early on, but he was dropped by Clarke on 35 as the Durham man edged a Mohammad Abbas delivery but the slip fielder dropped one for the second time in the innings.