RIVERSIDE

(Day two of four)

Durham 406 (M. Di Venuto 184, P Wiseman 60; T.Bresnan 4-73) & 16-0. Yorkshire 194 (A.Rashid 70, T. Bresnan 46; G.Onions 5-75, S.Harmison 3-40).

Lunch

Despite losing Michael Di Venuto without addition to his overnight 184, Durham will have gained satisfaction at their tailenders adding another 69 runs, squeezing out a precious fifth batting point.

Di Venuto went in the second over, with the total still 337. Tim Bresnan did well to swing the ball into the left-hander, with the umpire evidently calculating that it would have hit leg stump. However, Paul Wiseman kept alive Durham’s hopes of further bonus points in a 37-run partnership with Graham Onions. It was slow going, with both batsmen being frequently beaten by swing, and few of the runs garnered were the result of convincing strokes.

But Wiseman in particular is clearly a fighter, and he was certainly entitled to salute all corners of the ground on reaching fifty. With Mark Davies holding on at the other end, Wiseman brought up the coveted 400 – before charging Adil Rashid and thick-edging to slip.

Less positive for Durham was the awful shot to which Stephen Harmison capitulated, followed by an even poorer first over, with five consecutive balls being wide of leg stump.

Tea

If Harmison’s start had been remarkably wayward, even by his standards, he at least kept the batsmen uncertain. And eventually there was a good ball, angling across Adam Lyth, which caused the left-hander to edge to Neil McKenzie at first slip. Graham Onions then produced a great ball to have Joe Sayers caught by the same fieldsman, who also put down a low chance.

Durham received a bonus when Anthony McGrath’s attempted sharp single was thwarted by the direct hit of Will Gidman, who was briefly on as substitute. Then Andrew Gale, Gerard Brophy and Jacques Rudolph all fell behind the wicket to leave Yorkshire 50 for six.

Onions and Harmison bowled 22 overs in tandem, keeping Yorkshire in the mire. But if there was some similarity in their bowling figures, there was no disputing the evidence of the eye that Onions, bowling a full length, was a constant threat while Harmison managed to get his radar right for, at best, only a couple of balls at a time.

With these two bowlers rested, Tim Bresnan and Adil Rashid gained a footing and doubled the score by tea, albeit with Yorkshire still 306 behind.

Close

The stand of Rashid and Bresnan was worth 85 when Onions, who had looked a little weary on his return, suddenly produced a beauty to rip out Bresnan’s middle stump. Darren Gough followed in like manner, and Yorkshire were again sagging at 139-8. But Rashid was now playing with much aplomb and, with Deon Kruis joining in against some inviting-looking bowling, Yorkshire went rapidly towards 200.

They didn’t quite make that small summit. Kruis edged a good ball from Mark Davies and Rashid, immediately going on all-out attack, perished against Stephen Harmison. That left the Yorkshire debutant, Ben Sanderson, without a ball to face.