Josh Tongue marked his return to the County Championship with a match-winning five-wicket haul for Northamptonshire vs Durham.
The promising England seamer who made his debut in 2023 and featured in the famous Lord's Ashes Test of that year has been out of action for more than a year due to a pectoral injury at first and latterly a hamstring injury. He returned to competitive cricket earlier this year during England Lions' tour of Australia and has now made a successful County Championship return.
Fielding first at Trent Bridge, Nottinghamshire kept Durham to 378. Colin Ackermann made a hundred (116) while Fergus O'Neill took a five-for (5-81). Tongue was expensive in the first innings, conceding 92 in 19 overs for two wickets.
Nottinghamshire responded with a mammoth 579 where all but one of their batters reached double figures. Lyndon James led the way with 125 from No.8, while Tongue made a half-century (55) from No.10. The hosts added 142 runs for their last two wickets.
Match 3, Nottinghamshire vs Durham
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Buoyed by his efforts with the bat, and on debut for his adopted county, Tongue produced a match-winning spell in the second innings. At 100-2, he got his first scalp, of Ben McKinney. Small but steady partnerships then took Durham to 268-5 when Tongue turned the game on its head. In a space of 12 deliveries, he took four wickets, dismissing Graham Clark, George Drissell, Ben Raine, and Ackermann, who had scored his second hundred of the game.
Durham were eventually bowled out for 289, with Nottinghamshire chasing the target of 89 down in 17.1 over with eight wickets in hand.
Tongue finished with figures of 21-1-66-5 in the second innings, resulting in a match haul of 7-158. Tongue now has 184 wickets from 52 first-class matches at 25.65, of which 10 have come in two Tests.
With England's fast-bowling resources dwindling due to injury and availability issues, Tongue could be eyeing a Test comeback this year. England play a one-off Test against Zimbabwe in May before facing off against India in a five-match series. At the end of the year, England have an away Ashes lined up as well.
