THE bigger they come the harder they fall, but 6ft 8in Nicky Hatch bounced back with impressive resilience for Durham yesterday.

After his mauling in the National League farce at Edgbaston last week, 23-year-old Hatch produced his best spell for the county to earn the first three wickets against Worcestershire.

The visitors recovered from 88 for five to reach 153 for five after choosing to bat when the match began at 3pm, delayed first by an enormous hailstorm then by lunchtime rain.

On a pitch closer to the Wear than championship cricket is normally played at the Riverside, more bounce was available than in earlier matches this season.

If it flattens out Worcestershire could regret batting first, if not Durham could rue their decision not to send for a batsman when Michael Gough was sent home in the morning with flu.

Given the intensity of the hailstorm, play was never likely before lunch and either Jimmy Daley or Nicky Peng should have had time to get back from the second team game in Lancashire.

But Durham decided to include Danny Law, giving them five seamers as well as Graeme Bridge, and had any of the others matched Hatch's penetration the visitors would have struggled to survive the half day.

Hatch's best figures are three for 42 against Hampshire last year and he would have bettered that had Law hung on to a shoulder-high chance at first slip.

It came with Gareth Batty on one in the first over of Hatch's second spell after he had taken three for 24 in his opening nine-over burst.

Batty was on 27 at the close after Durham also made a hash of a chance to run him out on 14.

Durham continue to give Neil Killeen choice of ends, but despite bowling into the breeze Hatch generated more life, cutting one back to pass over Anurag Singh's stumps in his first over.

Phil Weston, in the side only because of an injury to Stephen Peters, drove the fifth ball of each of Killeen's first two overs through extra cover for four.

But the left-hander rarely makes runs against his native county and on 13 he departed reluctantly after edging Hatch to Andrew Pratt.

Graeme Hick holds no fears for Hatch, who had him lbw for a duck at Kidderminster last year, and this time the visiting captain looked perilously close to being leg before on six.

Umpire Trevor Jesty's not out decision wasn't costly as two balls later Hick lazily flicked a ball off his hip straight into the hands of Killeen at long leg.

Although he twice flashed boundaries just wide of gully, Singh sped merrily to 29 before he offered no stroke and was lbw to Hatch.

Mark Davies looked livelier than Killeen when replacing him at the Finchale End, but despite the break for tea Hatch was surprisingly replaced by Marc Symington on the resumption.

Ben Smith and Vikram Solanki put on 34 with relative comfort before Solanki, who continues to under-achieve, drove recklessly at a ball from Symington which hit his leg stump.

Smith then stepped across and was lbw trying to work Davies to leg and at 88 for five the Bradford-born duo of Batty and David Leatherdale took root.

With a third Bradfordian to follow in Steve Rhodes, Durham needed to overcome Yorkshire grit, but Law's dropped catch with the total on 92 proved a setback.

Killeen had a couple of fruitless overs into the wind, before Law took over and immediately beat Leatherdale with a beauty.

He went on to mix good balls with bad, and it was Hatch who went closest to parting the sixth wicket pair when Leatherdale went very close to playing on with his score on 17.

With a weakened batting line-up and Allan Donald in the opposition, Durham will not want Worcestershire to get many more than 200

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