DURHAM V SACA MATCH REPORT – 15 to 17 June 2026

RESULT: DURHAM WIN BY 247 RUNS

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After SACA had matched Durham blow for blow on the opening day of their latest three-day red-ball encounter this week, it was the first-class county side who took control of proceedings after lunch on the second day, before ruthlessly finishing the job on the final day at the Racecourse Ground in Durham.

With the hosts batting first, SACA restricted a Durham side that included the vastly experienced Scott Borthwick and Colin Ackermann to a total of just 179 in their first innings, dismissing the county side inside 57 overs.

Top scoring for the hosts was number eight, left-handed all-rounder James Minto, with 49, as the SACA bowlers made the most of bowler friendly conditions on the opening day.

Pick of the SACA bowlers was Omar Akram, who picked up figures of 4 for 31 from 12 very tidy overs, with great support coming from Hassan Mughal (2 for 19 from 5) and Kumar (2 for 28), with Jas Singh and Zain Latif picking up a wicket apiece.

Where SACA’s bowlers had prospered, Durham’s did the same, picking up five SACA wickets in the 30 overs that remained in the day, before bad light forced an early end to proceedings.

Daniel Hogg was the Durham bowler to profit the most, picking up the wickets of Rahul Tangirala (9), Aum Patel (13), and Jay Madan (4), before Dylan Patel (23) and Akram (0) also departed, to leave SACA on 109 for 5 when stumps were drawn, with Amogh Karpe (33*) and Mo Rizvi (6*) the not out batters.

Resuming on day two, the pair resumed and batted patiently in tough conditions, adding a further 55 runs to the total before Rizvi fell for 25 with the score on 164 for 6, trailing by just 15 runs.

Any hopes SACA had of building a sizeable lead were cut short, as Rizvi’s departure brought things to a close pretty quickly thereafter, with SACA losing their final five wickets for just 20 runs.

Next to go after Rizvi was Karpe, who’d brought up a well-worked half century before falling for 62 off 121 deliveries, followed by Latif (3), Singh (2) and Mughal (2), as SACA were dismissed for 184, with a lead of 5 runs on the board as lunch was taken.

Durham’s second innings started in the afternoon session with the loss of two early wickets, with Mughal picking up the pair of them, before Ackermann and Haydon Mustard took control of things for the hosts.

The pair both batted aggressively and hit centuries, before Ackermann was eventually dismissed for 104 off 151 balls, and Mustard for 119 off 171.

The pair had inflicted some heavy damage however, and their hundreds had helped the hosts to a commanding total of 295 for 7 as stumps were drawn at the end of day two, with a lead of 290 runs already in the bag.

The hosts batted on at the start of day three, and on reaching 341 for 8 eventually pulled the plug on their innings, declaring 336 runs ahead.

SACA’s bowlers were made to work hard for their rewards, with Latif finishing with 3 for 58, Mughal 2 for 44 and Rizvi 2 for 93. The other wicket to fall went to Sai Boorghu, who finished with figures of 1 for 45 from 13 overs.

Any hopes SACA had of chasing their target down were quashed quickly, as the Durham bowling unit were on top from early in the chase, picking up regular wickets to maintain their strong position in the game.

From 22 without loss, SACA fell to 89 all out, as Durham wrapped up victory midway

through the afternoon session on the final day to secure a convincing win.  

HIGHLIGHTS FROM DURHAM THREE-DAY MATCH

Batting:                                                                        

Amogh Karpe                                62 (121)

Bowling:

Omar Akram                                 12-4-31-4

Zain Latif                                       20-4-58-3