DURHAM sealed an emphatic victory over Leicestershire by an innings and 141 runs, ensuring the LV= Insurance County Championship Division Two champions ended their magnificent campaign on the highest of notes at Seat Unique Riverside.

The home side required ten wickets to secure their seventh victory of the campaign, and they needed only 42.5 overs to tear through the Leicestershire batting line-up.

The Durham bowlers shared the wickets around the attack as Vishwa Fernando and Matt Parkinson claimed three wickets apiece, while Matthew Potts, Ben Raine and Jonny Bushnell also struck.


The Foxes briefly held up the Durham charge in the afternoon session as Will Davis scored his maiden first-class fifty in a stand worth 78 with Ben Cox. But the hosts closed out a special season with a dominant win, taking 24 points from the contest and ending the term with a mammoth total of 233.

Leicestershire resumed the final day 13 without loss, requiring another 301 runs to force the home side to bat again. But Potts found his line and length immediately to trouble Rishi Patel and Sam Evans.

Patel added only six runs to his overnight total before he fended a rising delivery to Ollie Robinson before Evans picked out Parkinson at fine-leg handing the England seamer inroads into the Foxes' line-up.

Raine kept up the intensity at the other end and passed the outside edge before he finally prised out Umar Amin, who missed a straight one and lost his off-stump. The strike was Raine's 60th of the campaign, a new career-best for a single season for the 32-year-old.

Fernando followed in the footsteps of his team-mates. He found his rhythm to wrap the pads of Louis Kimber on three occasions as he tore in from the Finchale End. After having a good lbw shout turned down, he returned with his next delivery to bowl the right-hander with a beauty. Fernando then skittled Lewis Hill to pave the way into the Leicestershire tail within 90 minutes.

In the final game of his loan spell, Parkinson came into the attack and struck twice in his first over. Tom Scriven paid the price for his aggressive approach advancing down the track and was stumped by Robinson before Parkinson turned one through Chris Wright's gate to put Durham on the brink.

However, Leicestershire showed resolve after lunch to halt the Durham victory charge. Davis displayed resilience with the bat to take on Potts and company, scoring his maiden first-class fifty from 58 balls, including six fours and a six.

He shared a stand worth 78 for the ninth wicket before Fernando returned with another rocket to uproot his off-stump for 58. The Sri Lanka international ended the game with figures of seven for 80.

The end came quickly as Parkinson claimed his third wicket by finding Hull's outside edge to bowl out Leicestershire for 173, capping a dominant performance from the hosts to win by an innings and 141 runs.