Stephen Harmison opening the bowling and sharing 22 overs in tandem with his partner might be assumed to be entire story behind Yorkshire's dismissal for 194, giving Durham a handsome lead of 212. But it was his partner, Graham Onions, who was once again the main destroyer, taking five for 75.

It is now Onions's policy to bowl a very full length and most his successes stemmed from batsmen getting uneasily on to the front foot only to find the ball leaving them late. As for Harmison, it is a mixed report. Even he has seldom wasted so many balls down the leg side, getting the radar right for only a couple of balls at a time, which brought him three wickets.

Yorkshire sunk to 50 for six before the relief bowlers eased the pressure, allowing Adil Rashid and Tim Bresnan to gain a footing. Rashid played some typically supple and resourceful strokes in his valuable 70. Surprisingly, Durham did not enforce the follow-on. At least that ensures there will be some bowling for Matthew Hoggard, England's Test discard, when he joins in today.

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

Paul Wiseman kept alive Durham's hopes of further bonus points in a 37-run partnership with 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.

Less positive for Durham was the awful shot to which Harmison capitulated, followed by an even poorer first over, with five consecutive balls down the leg side.

But that was to some extent forgotten with his final return of three for 40 from 15.1 overs. At least it was a good, long bowl for the much-discussed fast bowler. No doubt, he will have been pleased that Durham decided to bat.

Scoreboard

Durham: First Innings (overnight 337-6)

M J Di Venuto lbw b Bresnan 184

P J Wiseman c Rudolph b A U Rashid 60

G Onions c Lyth b Kruis 16

S J Harmison c Sayers b Kruis 0

M Davies not out 5

Extras (lb 23, w 2, nb 26) 51

Total (121.2 overs) 406

Fall of wickets: 1-96, 2-118, 3-141, 4-239, 5-247, 6-292, 7-337, 8-374, 9-384.

Bowling: Gough 20-3-78-1; Kruis 29-5-98-2; Sanderson 12-4-53-0; Bresnan 29-6-73-4; A U Rashid 20.2-4-53-1; McGrath 11-3-28-2.

Second Innings

M D Stoneman not out 9

B W Harmison not out 6

Extras (w 1) 1

Total (no wkt, 4 overs) 16

Bowling: Bresnan 2-0-10-0; Gough 2-0-6-0.

Yorkshire: First Innings

J J Sayers c McKenzie b Onions 8

A Lyth c McKenzie b S J Harmison 7

A McGrath run out 6

J A Rudolph c Mustard b S J Harmison 5

A W Gale c Di Venuto b Onions 13

†G L Brophy c Mustard b Onions 4

A U Rashid c Mustard b S J Harmison 70

T T Bresnan b Onions 46

*D Gough b Onions 1

G J Kruis c McKenzie b Davies 22

B W Sanderson not out 0

Extras (lb 11, w 1) 12

Total (61.1 overs) 194

Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-20, 3-29, 4-42, 5-50, 6-50, 7-135, 8-139, 9-194.

Bowling: S J Harmison 15.1-4-40-3; Onions 20-3-75-5; Davies 13-4-23-1; B W Harmison 6-1-19-0; Wiseman 7-1-26-0.

Umpires: N L Bainton and M J Harris.