DURHAM skipper Jon Lewis passed 1,000 first-class runs for the season then turned a stalemate into a thriller by setting Derbyshire a generous victory target yesterday.

Set 251 in a minimum of 55 overs, the hosts needed 75 with 10.1 overs left and six wickets standing when a stand of 104 was ended by a rare piece of slick fielding on a day when dropped catches proved costly.

The ball flew off Luke Sutton's pad to the right of first slip, where Vince Wells dived, collected and threw down the stumps with Sutton just out of his ground.

In the next over left-handed opener Steve Selwood - dropped on six and 46 - departed for 88 when he tried to slog Michael Gough over mid-wicket and was bowled.

When Dominic Cork chipped a catch to long-on in the same over an unlikely win suddenly looked possible for Durham.

Gough had been brought on for his first championship bowl of the season to keep Derbyshire interested when they needed 98 off 14 overs.

The ploy worked a treat, but once he had taken his two wickets it was a questionable decision to leave him on as Derbyshire shut up shop.

Tom Lungley and Neil Gunter blocked out the remaining overs from Gough and Graeme Bridge, benefiting from a few byes and edges as Derbyshire finished on 204 for seven.

They had never really looked likely to cash in on Lewis's generosity after Michael di Venuto and Mohammed Kaif fell in the first four overs.

As Durham had to go into the match without any overseas men, the swift removal of the home pair might have seemed to level the playing field. But after seven successive defeats the rest of the Derbyshire batting lacks the ability and confidence to tackle such a challenge with conviction, and their safety-first approach was not in Durham's interests.

The pitch remained good, and in their second innings Durham raced to 110 for two in 14.1 overs, of which the first 12 were proper bowling from Kevin Dean and Gunter.

With 20 runs needed to set up the agreed target, Cork came on for the 13th over bowling off spin and Lewis survived a chance to deep square leg on 33 before passing the 1,000 milestone with a six over long-on.

He was on 41 not out when he declared with his total on 1,003, of which 84 have come in the first-class matches against Durham University and India A.

He became the first batsman to pass 6,000 first-class runs for Durham while making 77 in the first innings and it is the fourth time in seven seasons with the county that he has reached 1,000.

With the last 19 overs being lost to rain on Saturday following Friday's washout, it was difficult to see where the game could go when Derbyshire resumed yesterday on 287 for four, still needing 65 to avoid the follow-on.

But the coaches had negotiated a deal and it looked as though Lewis had to remind Cork of it after the Derbyshire skipper batted on for an over after passing the follow-on target.

He twice almost got out to Bridge before lofting him for two sixes over extra cover and the total was on 356 for five when Lewis walked up to speak to Cork.

Five more runs were added before the declaration came with Derbyshire 140 behind, then Gough showed that the pitch still favoured the batsmen by racing to 31 before edging the last ball of the fourth over to third slip.

Getting on to the front foot at every opportunity, he drove several glorious fours and Durham had sped to 52 when he was out.

Curiously in the circumstances, they sent in Gordon Muchall, who followed his first innings failure by driving at his first ball and edging to slip. But Gary Pratt made sure the momentum was maintained with an unbeaten 33.

The curse of Australian left-handers had continued on Saturday, when Di Venuto followed his 150 at Riverside this season with another commanding innings of 143. In the process he became the first batsman to pass 1,000 runs in the championship alone this season.

A repeat performance by the Tasmanian would have seen Derbyshire waltz to victory, but as at Riverside, when he was trapped by Dewald Pretorius, he fell lbw in the first over of the second innings.

His feet went nowhere as he was pinned in front by Liam Plunkett, who had him in similar fashion on Saturday but otherwise went unrewarded for some impressive bowling.

Neil Killeen bowled a couple of probing spells, while Nicky Hatch improved in the second innings.

His three overs in the morning looked pretty insipid and left him with none for 70 in 14 overs and what looked like a ticking-off from the coach as Martyn Moxon took him straight round to the nets after the declaration.

Every bowler needs some luck, however, and Hatch's misfortunes with dropped catches continued in the afternoon, when he twice had Selwood put down.

Muchall missed him at second slip, then on 46 Mustard dived to his left and got a glove to a chance which was probably closer to first slip.

The two culprits made partial amends with the catches which gave Hatch his two wickets after Mustard also hung on when Kaif edged an excellent ball from Killeen.

Muchall took a low catch when Rawait Khan failed to get to the pitch when trying to drive, then it became 72 for four when Chris Bassano edged the second ball after tea to Mustard.

But then came the stand between Selwood and Sutton, with the former justifying his surprise elevation to open with his second half-century of the match.

Despite the stand, the asking rate continued to creep up and from a position of strength when they needed 122 from 20 overs the failure to accelerate forced Durham to introduce Gough.

It was a worthwhile gamble, but in the end Durham were left to curse the loss of so much time to the weather.

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