What do you do if you are 20 and, in the opening over of the match, you run out your vastly experienced partner? The question arose when Mark Stoneman, of Durham, pushed the ball into the off side and called Michael Di Venuto for what proved to be an impossible single. The ball was in the path of Pedro Collins's follow-through and the bowler threw down the stumps from close range.

The answer is to forget that it happened and keep batting. Stoneman was doing that, 58 not out, at the end of a day practically halved by rain. He did not look unsettled after his unfortunate error, surviving with equanimity and good judgment when, on the mid-afternoon resumption, the ball not infrequently went past his bat - and that of Dale Benkenstein, the captain.

In that period, Chris Jordan, 19, looked particularly sharp and Durham were in peril at 13 for three, with not much batting pedigree to follow.

However, the bowlers eventually tired and the pitch's good pace was increasingly helpful to Benkenstein and Stoneman, who had added 131 by the close.

Earlier, Collins's efforts were rewarded with not only the run-out, but with the wickets of Kyle Coetzer and Neil McKenzie.

The former was well taken low down at third slip by Jimmy Ormond and the latter fell leg-before to a full-length ball that came in to him and caught him off-balance. For a period, two balls an over would go past the bat - and not all were cleverly left - but gradually the pitch started to alter the balance back to the batsmen. The partnership of Stoneman and Benkenstein began to take on an increasingly secure look.

Stoneman was first to his fifty, although it took him 137 balls, but he was going at almost exactly the same pace as his captain. A couple of crisp cuts behind point and sharp flicks off his hip were his best shots.

A cover driven four by Benkenstein was a fitting way in which to bring up the 100 partnership. Soon after, the captain had his fifty, too. Towards the end, the introduction of Saqlain Mushtaq's spin, and the return of Collins, made no impact as the batting partners got to the close with their stand worth 131.

Phil Mustard, next man in at a lofty No 6, could take his pads off with some relief.

Durham: First Innings

M J Di Venuto run out 1

M D Stoneman not out 58

K J Coetzer c Ormond b Collins 1

N D McKenzie lbw b Collins 3

*D M Benkenstein not out 58

Extras (b 1, lb 6, nb 16) 23

Total (3 wkts, 47 overs) 144

P Mustard, P J Wiseman, G Onions, M Davies, S J Harmison and N Killeen to bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-9, 3-13.

Bowling: Collins 15-4-49-2; Nicholson 12-4-20-0; Jordan 8-0-25-0; Saqlain 4-0-17-0; Ormond 8-1-26-0.

Surrey: J N Batty, S A Newman, M R Ramprakash, *M A Butcher, U Afzaal, A D Brown, M J Nicholson, C J Jordan, J Ormond, Saqlain Mushtaq, P T Collins.

Umpires: B Dudleston and B Leadbeater.