Junior cricket: Two wins out of three on tour for Durham Under-15s

Durham U15s. Back, from left James Lowe (head coach) Atticus Garlick, Daniel Pratt (wkt), Ben Scott, Isaac Unsworth (captain), James Garraghan, Lucas Parry, Josh Leslie. Front: Jamie Wills, Adradhya Tiwari, Harry Crawshaw, Sameer Awan, Will Barnham. Picture by Sam Blacklock

First up, Durham edged home by four runs against Nottinghamshire at Calverton CC.

Durham lost the toss, and both openers fell cheaply, but Ben Scott (34) and Atticus Garlick (23) steadied the ship.

Sameer Awan hit a precious 39 from 60 balls, backed by 38 from Jamie Wills, as Durham finished on 245 all out in 49.5 overs.

Castle Eden bowler Isaac Unsworth dismissed Notts’ opener for nine, but the hosts rallied to look in total control on 157-3.

But Garlick dismissed Jonny Lawrence (42) to give Durham a big boost. Notts needed 14 to win off the final over and, despite a first-ball six, Durham claimed a narrow victory, despite Sam King’s unbeaten 82. James Garraghan took 2-24.

Durham then went down by 24 runs to Middlesex at Merchant Taylor’s School.

Middlesex rallied from 25-5 to be all out for 122 in 26.5 overs, led by Viren Patel (45).

Josh Leslie bagged 3-25, while Harry Crawshaw took 2-8 and Jamie Wills 2-20.

Durham got off to a bad start in their reply, falling to 30-4, and, despite Garlick’s 12, from 37 balls, Awan’s 23 and skipper Unsworth’s 20, the visitors were dismissed for 98 in 31.1 overs.

In the final tour game, brothers Rehan (72) and Raheem Ahmed (59) steered Leicestershire to 201 all out, with Garraghan including a memorable hat-trick in a five-wicket haul. Unsworth snatched 3-36.

Durham put on 78 for the first wicket, thanks to Harry Crawshaw (45) and Lucas Parry (33). Garlick then hit 62 from 72 balls and a quickfire 11 from Awan saw Durham home with two balls to spare.