Stubborn Durham nudge in front

Michael Di Venuto produced a battling 84 to help Durham to a significant second-innings lead over Yorkshire

Yorkshire were unable to stop title-holders Durham from fighting their way back into contention with a tenacious batting display on the third day of the LV= County Championship match at Headingley Carnegie.

Having trailed by 135 on first-innings, Durham refused to make life easy for Yorkshire as they searched for their first victory in over a year, and the Division One leaders closed on 288 for seven to give them a competitive lead of 153.

The day began on an encouraging note for Yorkshire when Durham resumed in the morning on 26 for one.

Nightwatchman Mark Davies could not avoid making contact with an seaming delivery from Matthew Hoggard and wicketkeeper Jonathan Bairstow took a comfortable catch.

But the remainder of the session belonged very much to the county champions as Michael Di Venuto and Kyle Coetzer dug in together to whittle away at Yorkshire’s lead.

When Adil Rashid briefly switched to the Kirkstall Lane end, Di Venuto sprinted a single to complete his 50 off 87 balls with five boundaries, moving the total on to 100 for two in the process.

The stubborn third-wicket pair had pushed the score on to 125 for two by lunch but Coetzer survived a sharp chance off Ajmal Shahzad in the first over after the interval, Joe Sayers unable to cling on to a fast low catch to his left at second slip.

With the arrears wiped out and the partnership going into three figures, Durham’s confidence was rising until two wickets in the space of nine deliveries swung the game Yorkshire’s way again.

The second ball of a new spell from Hoggard hit Coetzer’s off-stump and he departed for 38.

There even greater jubilation among the crowd in the following over from Tim Bresnan as Di Venuto chopped hard into his middle stump and was out for a fluent 84 from 150 balls with eight fours.

At 158 for four, Durham were only 23 in front. Twenty runs later Hoggard struck again by dismissing Gordon Muchall lbw moving across his stumps but Durham continued to show great spirit and determination and now it was Dale Benkenstein and Ian Blackwell, who frustrated Yorkshire with a 53 alliance in 25 overs.

It ended when a subdued Blackwell played loosely outside off-stump at the hostile Shahzad, for Bairstow to hold an excellent catch flinging himself to his left.

Phil Mustard, also showing great restraint, helped the unflappable Benkenstein stretch the lead into three figures.

One of the disappointments for much of the day for Yorkshire was that Rashid could not make much impact with his leg-spin, despite getting some turn, but he eventually picked up a crucial wicket with seven overs remaining by trapping Benkenstein lbw for 36 as he propped forward and Durham were 268 for seven.

New batsman Liam Plunkett was yorked by a sharp delivery from Rana Naved-ul-Hasan but the cheers of the home fans turned to groans as umpire Michael Gough signalled no-ball.

Mustard finished on 29 and Plunkett six, with both sides still harbouring hopes of going on to win this grim tussle on the final day.