Vasconcelos overshadows Stokes return with brilliant century for Northants

The day belonged to second-placed Northamptonshire, despite table toppers Durham having England Test captain Stokes in their ranks, after he was omitted from the England squad following his involvement in a nightclub incident with teammate Gus Atkinson.

Vasconcelos, who was dropped by Ben McKinney off the bowling of Stokes early in his innings, was positive and fluent in making a third century of the season. While his skipper Luke Procter chipped in with 58 in an opening stand worth 191.

A double-wicket over from Ben Raine was the catalyst for a Durham fightback as they took three quick wickets.

However, Vasconcelos found a new partner in the form of Saif Zaib, who made 61, and the visitors set a platform for an imposing first innings total, closing on 388 for six.

Durham won the toss and elected to bowl first at Banks Homes Riverside, but Northamptonshire got off to a solid start, with openers Procter and Vasconcelos making it through the first half-hour without loss.

Stokes’ first involvement in the game came in the 11th over, and he very nearly had the breakthrough with his fourth ball, but McKinney dropped Vasconcelos at leg slip on 13.

That was the only wicket-taking chance that Durham created early on, with Procter and Vasconcelos starting to find run-scoring easier as the new ball got softer.

Durham stemmed that flow with a run of maidens, but Vasconcelos broke the pressure with two boundaries from a Kasey Aldridge over. The left-handed opener then passed fifty to leave the visitors in a healthy position at lunch.

The patient Procter then followed suit, with the Northamptonshire skipper notching up his half-century.

Much to Durham’s relief the rain came and there was a pause in proceedings during the afternoon session with an early tea taken, but Vasconcelos continued his excellent knock as he reached three figures.

After waiting so long for a breakthrough, Durham then got two in one over, with Raine getting Procter caught behind and Calvin Harrison lbw.

Despite the wickets, Vasconcelos remained and he continued to make Durham pay for dropping him, as he pulled a Raine delivery to the boundary and he followed that up with a delightful straight drive.

Will Rhodes was then brought into the attack as Durham hunted further inroads and he had an immediate impact as he got Nathan McSweeney caught behind after the Australian strangled one down the legside.

Durham nearly had a fourth as Zaib edged a Matthew Potts delivery in the direction of second slip, but the usually reliable Aldridge couldn’t cling on, and the exact same thing happened a couple of overs later, with Zaib getting another life.

Vasconcelos was dropped yet again as Ollie Robinson dropped one behind the stumps after the left-hander edged a Callum Parkinson delivery.

Zaib was beginning to make the most of his reprieves too, with the all-rounder sweeping two Parkinson deliveries to the boundary. The Northamptonshire number five then notched up a half-century for the third time this season to deepen Durham’s woe.

However, McKinney picked up his maiden First Class wicket with his part-time spin, as Zaib was caught behind down the legside.

Vasconcelos put the cherry on top of his day as he passed 150, but Raine saw off the dangerous James Sales as he sent his stumps flying.

Vasconcelos’ long stay at the crease continued as he whipped a Raine ball to the legside boundary, but Stokes struck as George Bartlett was caught at second slip.

The visitors reached close without further loss, with Vasconcelos unbeaten on 181.

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Northamptonshire centurion Ricardo Vasconcelos: "There's still a job to do in the morning. We've got to get as big a score as possible because that's going to be very important come day four.

"We were going to bowl first as well. We thought it would do a bit in the morning and then it would get easier to bat on as the game went on. We can't afford to take today for granted."

On the Luke Procter partnership: "We've got two different ways of going about it, but I think we complement each other well. We get on well, we sit next to each other in pretty much every changing room we go to so we've got a good partnership going."

Durham head coach Ryan Campbell: "I'm very frustrated. Ricardo (Vasconcelos) batted brilliantly. I'm not taking anything away from him, but we dropped him early on, we dropped Zaib early on, a couple of times.

"There was a missed run out, another dropped catch of Vasconcelos. It was so frustrating to create as many chances as we did on a surface that is very good for batting and not take them."

"When you bat first here, sometimes the wicket is spicy. Last week the wicket was going all over the shop and we batted extremely well to get to our score. Today was the same thing, a good coverage of grass. I've no doubt Northants would've bowled as well, but if you're going to bowl, you need to take your chances."

On Ben Stokes: "Solid, as we expect, he forced a couple of play and misses, a couple of close shouts and he eventually got his reward with a wicket in the afternoon. 17 overs is quite a bit of a workload for him to get through, which is good. He's in good spirits. I think his body's doing well, he'll have some aches and pains in the morning no doubt, but we all get those after a day in the field."