It may have sadly gone unnoticed by the programme schedulers at Sky Sports, but this week has seen a fascinating top of the table tussle between Lancashire and Durham in the County Championship at Aigburth.
In the end it was Durham who prevailed (just) in a low-scoring encounter and Dale Benkenstein was the man they had most to thank for giving them a slight advantage in the race for the title.
In a game where 20 wickets fell on the first day, Benkenstein was a class apart with his unbeaten 83 giving Durham a priceless first-innings lead. He then followed that up yesterday by steering his side past the winning post with 60 not out after Lancashire had looked set to complete a remarkable turnaround when Durham lost their fifth wicket with 99 still required. Benkenstein’s 143 runs in the match represented just under 20% of the entire total of 734.
Many Kolpaks (for that it is what Benkenstein was before acquiring a British passport in 2007) could be accused of being mercenaries and a detriment to County Cricket, but not Benkenstein.
He has been at the county since 2005, led them to their first Championship in 2008, played a vital role in the successful defence the following year and is having a remarkable 2011.
He now has 1003 Division 1 runs this season with four hundreds and six fifties – meaning he has only failed to reach 50 on just five occasions. That is Alastair Cook like consistency.
During his innings yesterday Benkenstein also became Durham’s most prolific first-class run scorer overtaking Jon Lewis’s previous mark of 7,854.
South Africa’s loss has unquestionably been Durham’s gain.
Where next?
Read all our County Cricket coverage
See if you agree with our other County Championship XIs of the week
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Gideon Haigh eulogises Test cricket and compares it to The Pixies
Ten to watch in 2011: Adam Lyth, Jade Dernbach, Rory Hamilton-Brown, Samit Patel, Alex Hales, Danny Briggs, Ben Stokes, James Harris, Jos Buttler, Adil Rashid
County Championship Previews - Division 1: Yorkshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Sussex, Somerset, Nottinghamshire, Lancashire, Hampshire, Durham
Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes
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Benkenstein's a machine -- hats off to him. he was the difference between the sides -- he was too good for us this week. His first innings wicket (Proctor, lbw) means he's only one away from 100 first-class wickets, too.
Posted by: wilo | Thursday, June 30, 2011 at 13:40
From the outside looking in Wilo, it seems he was the main difference between the sides. Good effort from Lancs to recover from 85 all out in the first innings though.
I actually think it could be Lancashire's year. Indeed, I've just written something to that effect on All Out Cricket that you might like - http://www.alloutcricket.co.uk/news/can-lancashire-end-77-years-of-hurt#more-2132
Posted by: The Reverse Sweep | Thursday, June 30, 2011 at 14:36
Dale Benkenstein was a friend of my son on South Africa.
Curiously there has been no contact even though they both live on England.
Posted by: hellosnackbar | Sunday, August 07, 2011 at 19:28
He is a run machine. Unstoppable. Great Player.
Posted by: Navya Star Plus | Monday, August 08, 2011 at 06:19