The other most notable contributions from the batting line up included a nifty 35 from skipper Phil Mustard, whose partnership of 87 steadied the ship after Will Smith (4) and Mark Stoneman (12) departed early on.
Scott Borthwick added 22 before he was bowled by Richard Pyrah followed by Gareth Breese, who was trapped lbw by the same bowler on 28.
The Durham innings ended once Ruel Brathwaite (5) was bowled by Adil Rashid leaving Liam Plunkett unbeaten on 25 and the Durham total at 337 after 67.2 overs.
Yorkshire had 20 overs left in the day which saw them reach 43-1 (Root 25* and McGrath 6*) by the end of play, only losing the scalp of Joe Sayers (7) who was trapped lbw early on by Brathwaite.
The final session saw Brathwaite, Liam Plunkett, Stephen Harmison and Ben Stokes each bowl a spell.
Durhamccc.co.uk spoke to Michael Di Venuto at the close of play. Listen to his interview here http://audioboo.fm/DurhamCCC
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