DURHAM will go into the final day of their match against Hampshire at the Rose Bowl today with an outside chance of victory.

Following yesterday's washout, a game which looked like finishing in two days will go into the fourth with Hampshire needing 96 to win with eight wickets left.

The two big positives to come out of the game for Durham have been career-best figures of six for 53 for Mark Davies and two excellent innings by Nicky Peng.

Between them they got Durham back into the game on Saturday and at 130 for three in their second innings they were 37 ahead.

Peng and skipper Jon Lewis had put on 111 in 43 overs of hard graft after eight wickets had gone down in the day's first 28 overs to raise the prospect of a two-day finish.

But then Peng fell for 66, becoming the first of five victims of Shane Warne, who is probably the only bowler in the world who could have turned one at least two feet to bowl the 21-year-old batsman round his legs.

Peng had skilfully and studiously resisted Warne throughout his first wicketless 11-over spell and began to flourish when he suddenly punched the leg-spinner wide of mid-on for four off the back foot - a stroke of the highest class.

Warne took a rest and Peng moved up rapidly through the gears. Having contributed 21 to the 50 stand in 23 overs, he scored 29 of the next 37 runs to reach 50 off 102 balls.

He got to the landmark by straight driving Alan Mullally for four then glancing the next ball to fine leg for his eighth boundary.

When the next ball was played straight back to him, Mullally petulantly threw down the stumps.

Unfortunately, no sooner was Peng out to a full-length ball he tried to play through square leg than Lewis perished rather carelessly.

Hampshire had clearly set out not to feed his favourite cut shot, so he couldn't resist it when Chris Tremlett banged one in just outside off stump.

But the 6ft 7in bowler, who performed well throughout, generated enough extra bounce to induce an edge to the wicketkeeper.

Both Peng and Lewis went with the score on 130, and although Gavin Hamilton and Andrew Pratt put on 34 Warne always looked likely to come out on top.

Hamilton went for 16 when he made room to cut and was bowled, then Pratt followed for 20 when he sliced a drive at Dimitri Mascarenhas to backward point.

Liam Plunkett again batted well for 21 before he skied a catch to deep mid-wicket as Warne took the last three wickets and Durham were all out for 201.

There were five overs of the day's play left, and Hampshire were quickly disabused of any notion that the 109 victory target was a formality when they lost both openers.

Plunkett found the shoulder of Michael Brown's bat and had him taken at gully, while Davies pinned Derek Kenway lbw.

Hampshire ended the day with two nightwatchmen at the crease in Billy Taylor and Tremlett and if Durham see them off quickly today the home side could get the jitters.

Well as Davies bowled in the first innings, his three wickets at the start of the day were the result of reckless strokes, as were the two to fall to Plunkett in successive balls.

Having started the day 67 ahead with five wickets standing, Hampshire carelessly surrendered those wickets in 9.2 overs.

Australian Michael Clarke added only two to his overnight 73 before cutting to cover point, then Mascarenhas tried to pull a ball from Plunkett which was too full for the shot and skied the ball behind the slips, where Gordon Muchall ran back and dived to hold a sensational catch.

Warne tried to pull the next ball and hit it straight to mid-on, then Taylor lofted Davies to mid-on and Mullally skied a big heave to extra cover.

Durham's start wasn't much better in their second innings as Tremlett struck in his first over for the second time in the match.

Left-hander Marcus North was looking to drive through extra cover, but the ball swung in and had him lbw.

Muchall got off the mark with a single which went through short leg's hands off Mullally, but without addition the left-armer had him lbw with a ball which struck pad and bat almost simultaneously.

When Gary Pratt edged Mullally to third slip it was 19 for three in the tenth over and an innings defeat inside two days was on the cards.

But Lewis and Peng dug in to prove it was possible to flourish on a pitch which hasn't played as well as expected.

They stubbornly defied the wiles of Warne's bowling and the eccentricities of his captaincy.

At one point he had Tremlett bowling round the wicket to Lewis with a forward short leg, a leg gully and another man just in front of square.

The Durham captain showed that he can accumulate off his legs as he reached 50 off 139 balls with four fours. Sadly, he failed to progress but along with Davies and Peng he has given his side a glimmer of hope today.

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