Duo put Durham in charge

30 June 2008

Phil Mustard takes the plaudits after his 92 helped give Durham the advantage

Yorkshire were rocked by a record Durham eighth wicket stand between Phil Mustard and Liam Plunkett on the second day of the LV County Championship Division One match at Headingley Carnegie.

The pair piled up 143 together in 34 overs to overtake the previous best of 134 between Anderson Cummins and David Graveney against Warwickshire at Edgbaston in 1994.

Mustard was out the ball before tea for 92 off 110 balls with 16 fours and a six but Plunkett remained unbeaten on 68 from 138 deliveries with six fours and two sixes as Durham reached 347 to give them a commanding first innings lead of 163.

Yorkshire then got into even deeper trouble with the early dismissals of Jacques Rudolph and Anthony McGrath but a brave fightback was staged by Michael Vaughan and Adam Lyth who took them to 88 for two by the close.

The main consolation for Yorkshire was that paceman Tim Bresnan’s figures of 5-94 were his best since July 2006 when he grabbed 5-58 against the same opponents at Riverside.

Durham began the day on 59 for three and they lost three more wickets during the morning session due to careless strokes.

Ben Harmison batted soundly until he smeared across the line at Bresnan to give Darren Gough a low catch diving forward at mid-on and it became 127 for five when skipper Dale Benkenstein slashed uncharacteristically outside off-stump at Stephen Patterson and was caught behind by Gerard Brophy for a well-constructed 40.

Mustard joined South African Albie Morkel who made his way smartly to 37 off 49 balls with seven boundaries but in the over before lunch he flashed at Gough and was pouched by Brophy.

Liam Plunkett square cuts during his record breaking stand against Yorkshire at Headingley

The first full over after the interval brought Yorkshire another wicket as Durham dipped to 161 for six, Paul Wiseman dragging a ball from Bresnan into his stumps, but Mustard and Plunkett then took control against some fairly ordinary bowling.

Although Mustard led the assault, neither batsman took any undue risks and when Matthew Hoggard dropped short Plunkett hooked the former England man for six before steering him to the third man boundary to bring Durham the first batting bonus point of the match.

Adil Rashid was allowed only three overs of spin before being replaced by McGrath, who was duly on-driven into the second tier of the stand by Mustard on his way to 50 off 69 balls with eight fours to go alongside his big hit.

There was another six for Plunkett with a fierce pull at Bresnan and the batsman progressed to his half-century from 107 balls with four fours and two sixes.

Mustard leg-glanced Bresnan to the boundary to set the new eighth wicket record but in the last over before tea he nicked a drive at the same bowler and was caught at the wicket.

Bresnan went on to bowl Callum Thorp soon after the interval but Steve Harmison thumped 21 off 21 balls, his spree ending when he drove Patterson to Adam Lyth at mid-off.

Once again, Yorkshire failed to get their innings off to a good start. Vaughan avoided bagging a pair by driving Thorp for two through mid-on but he quickly lost Jacques Rudolph who was caught by Mustard off a ball from Thorp which left him.

Worse followed as McGrath glanced Thorp into Mustard’s gloves but Vaughan and Lyth rescued Yorkshire with a positive stand in which the England captain gave the fans a taste of his best form, two consecutive cover drives off Steve Harmison scorching their way to the boundary.

The pair needed only 38 minutes to raise the 50 stand and it had moved smartly on to 75 in 13 overs, Vaughan having made 48 with eight boundaries and Lyth 33 with five fours.