Durham were bowled out for 102 after losing the toss on day one of their LV= County Championship clash against Lancashire at Emirates Durham and by the close Lancashire were 39 runs ahead with two wickets remaining in response.
Durham: Smith, Stoneman, Muchall, Stokes Collingwood, Benkenstein, Borthwick, Mustard, Onions, Harmison, Harrison (Missing Di Venuto – achilles strain – and Blackwell – back spasms)
Skipper Glenn Chapple struck with the first ball of his second over, when Mark Stoneman was caught by Simon Kerrigan at square leg on 8.
Durham were 34-4 after Kyle Hogg bowled Will Smith on 11 and then combined with Gareth Cross twice to dismiss Gordon Muchall (13) and Ben Stokes (2).
Dale Benkenstein and Paul Collingwood added 44 before the former became the first of Luke Procter’s five victims when he was caught behind on 10.
He went on to have Phil Mustard(4) caught behind at third slip by Ashwell Prince before the end of the first session, Scott Borthwick caught by Paul Horton (2) in the first over after lunch and Durham’s top scorer, Paul Collingwood trapped lbw on 25.
Jamie Harrison and Stephen Harmison each scored one run before being bowled by Procter and Chapple respectively.
Rain delayed the start of the Lancashire innings, losing 17 overs before play resumed.
Stephen Moore was dismissed with Graham Onions seventh delivery when he was caught by Scott Borthwick for 2. The seamer claimed a second wicket in the same over when Karl Brown (2) was trapped lbw.
Lancashire were 13-3 in the fifth over after Onions had Ashwell Prince (6) caught at second slip by Paul Collingwood.
Onions claimed a fourth victim when Stephen Croft was caught behind on 4 in the seventh over.
Procter and Horton put on a partnership of 44 before Procter, who has been bowled off a no ball by Harrison earlier in the innings, was caught behind off Ben Stokes for 18.
An economical spell from Stephen Harmison saw him rewarded with the wicket of Cross, who was bowled on 17 with the Lancashire total 80-6.
Shahzad scored just one before he was trapped lbw by Harrison, who dismissed Chapple (13) in the same manner two overs later just as Lancashire had passed Durham’s first innings total.
At the close of play Durhamccc.co.uk spoke to leading wicket taker, Graham Onions, “The wicket with the new ball was a bit tricky to score on but we’re still in the game at the moment and that is the main thing. If we had won the toss we would have probably had a bowl, we weren’t sure what the conditions were going to favour. Obviously we’re disappointed with the amount of runs we scored but the positives out of that last session, which was a long one, is that we’re still in this game.
“We’re not scoring enough runs and not putting big enough scores on the board to give the bowlers the chance to win matches. Today the bowlers showed a lot of character and the way that the lads fielded was good to see but we’re not going to win many games if you’re just scoring one hundred.
“We’re doing everything that we can to improve so we can put on a good show for our members and supporters. The batsmen are good players and last year were scoring hundreds and you don’t become a bad player overnight. We need to keep on working and make sure we do everything well – it will turn and we believe in ourselves and that if we keep doing the right things, it will change.”