After winning the toss and electing to bat first in hugely blustery conditions Durham made it to 41 before losing Michael Di Venuto lbw to Gareth Andrew for 33.
The wind was so strong that even the heavier bails wouldn’t stay in place so were removed for the day’s play.
Will Smith dug in, joined by Mark Stoneman in the middle, and the pair added another 42 before the latter was out lbw to Alan Richardson signaling a slightly early lunch.
Smith reached his fifty from 131 deliveries, including eight fours, and after a scoring patiently he was eventually bowled by Kemar Roach for 66 leaving Durham 146-3 in the 47th over.
Durham lost Paul Collingwood three overs later when he was caught behind off Richardson for 22.
The hosts were 186-5 after Ian Blackwell, who added a quickfire 22, was trapped lbw off Daryl Mitchell’s fifth delivery.
Durham fell to 218-6 in the first over after tea once Phil Mustard was out lbw to Roach for 21. Moeen Ali claimed his only wicket of the innings when Scott Borthwick was caught by Mitchell for 9 with the total 237-7.
Dale Benkenstein (33) was Mitchell’s second catch, this time to Andrews, with just two having been added to the score.
Mitchell Claydon became Roach’s third victim when he was caught by Matthew Pardoe for 5 with Durham 263-9 after 82.4 overs.
Durham posted 264 in their first innings picking up two bonus points in the process once Graham Onions was caught behind off Richardson without scoring.
The Worcestershire openers came to the middle with ten overs remaining of the day and added 14 before the skipper was caught behind off Onions for 7 with four overs left.
At the close of play the visitors were 21-1 with Vikram Solanki 6* and James Cameron 8*.
At the close of play durhamccc.co.uk spoke to Will Smith, who is just 59 runs short of scoring 1000 this season in first class cricket, “I’ve certainly encountered conditions like today at all, you’ve got to feel for the bowlers, it’s hard for them to run in and try and maintain rhythm.
“As a batter you’ve got a bit of an advantage but at times out there you were standing at your stumps and blown off your feet which I can’t say I’ve ever seen happen before. It’s difficult but it’s the same for both sides and by all accounts it’s going to be the same tomorrow and we’ll have to do the best we can in the conditions.
“It’s a difficult wicket to score runs on but I think if you get in you can tire the bowlers out and run scoring opportunities will come along, I thought when i was out there that if we could get to 300 that would be a decent score in the context of the game so I was disappointed to get out at the time I did. I think 260 is still a good score and if we bowl well tomorrow I think it could make it look very good.
“Our bowlers will have to be mentally strong tomorrow, I think their bowlers, in the conditions, did very well.”