THE glittering strokes the world has come to expect from the Sri Lankans were finally unfurled by Russel Arnold to save the tourists from an innings defeat by Durham at the Riverside yesterday.

After Marc Symington took four for 27 to dismiss Sri Lanka for 167, they followed on 302 behind and reached 282 for four with Arnold making 112.

It was not the first time Durham had made a touring team follow on as they did it against Australia in 1993, when Wayne Larkins made 151, then Simon Brown took seven for 70 as the visitors were dismissed for 221. They then made 295 for three with centuries from Matthew Hayden and David Boon.

Whether clipping the ball away off his legs or driving it effortlessly past mid-off, the hallmark of Arnold's batting was the perfect timing which his teammates were unable to match in the alien conditions.

They have only another three-day match against Middlesex at Shenley, starting tomorrow, to prepare for the first Test at Lord's next week, and for people like Mohela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara the trip to Chester-le-Street can have done little for their confidence.

Jayawardene was the sixth batsman in the latest world rankings, but he made only 28 and 11 against spirited Durham bowling, becoming a maiden first-class victim yesterday for Gordon Muchall.

He had just pulled the 19-year-old all-rounder's medium pace for six when he drove a catch straight to cover.

Muchall generally kept the ball well up and commanded respect from left-hander Arnold, who raced to 50 off 41 balls then took three fours in an over off Graeme Bridge before slowing to reach his century off 107 deliveries.

When Sri Lanka resumed at 92 for three in the morning Durham posted two gullies and were rewarded with a catch off Nicky Hatch's second ball. Marvin Atapattu tried to force it away off the back foot and got a thick edge to Ashley Thorpe.

Left-hander Hasha Tillekaratne's exagerrated movement across his stumps proved his undoing when he was lbw to Ian Hunter, then Symington took the next three wickets.

They included Aravinda De Silva for 53, in which he was never at his best and looked fortunate to survive an lbw appeal from Symington on 40.

Pushing forward to a little out-swinger, he finally edged a catch to wicketkeeper Phil Mustard, then a far less convincing appeal for lbw sent Nuwan Zoysa reluctantly on his way second ball.

After lunch Symington reverted to his tendency to bowl one bad ball an over, but five of his nine overs in the morning were maidens and he improved on his best figures of three for 55 at Derby.

That was on his debut four years ago, and this was only his third first-class appearance since.

Bridge was not in the least bit ruffled by Arnold and ended the opening stand of 109 when Atapattu drove to Thorpe at short extra cover.

The left-arm spinner then drifted one nicely past left-hander Sangakarra's outside edge to hit off stump, and Hatch returned to bowl impressively downwind after tea.

He was rewarded when Arnold, aiming towards mid-on, edged to Gary Pratt at gully. But De Silva then took up where Arnold left off, his timing gradually improving until he played with the fluency of old.

A few overs of medium pace from Thorpe helped De Silva to finish on 63 not out, but he took no liberties with the similar offerings from Nicky Peng, who closed proceedings by sending down his first over in first-class cricket and conceded only two runs.

l Durham have arranged a 45-overs-a-side match against what is billed as the Lashings World X1 at the Riverside on Wednesday, August 7, starting at 1pm.

Lashings began as a village club in Kent, but are now a commercial enterprise skippered by former West Indies captain Richie Richardson and have featured players such as Brian Lara, Viv Richards, Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar.

It is hoped that Lara will be available for this match, for which tickets are on sale at £10 (£5 for under 18s, or £25 for a family ticket). They can be booked by ringing the ticket hotline (0191 387 1717).

Durham's chief executive David Harker said: "We are delighted to add the Lashings match to our calendar of international fixtures and I hope it will whet people's appetites for next year's Test match. We hope to announce some big name players once contracts have been finalised.

Read more about Durham here.