THE two men signed by Durham chiefly as replacements for Melvyn Betts and John Wood performed heroics with the bat yesterday.

While century-maker Danny Law's talent is obvious, the same could not be said of James Brinkley. But he played a full part with 65 in a record seventh-wicket stand of 127 against Hampshire.

Having chosen to bat, Durham were in trouble on 92 for five, with Nicky Peng retired hurt, when the surprises began with a contribution of 31 from Graeme Bridge.

What had looked the longest tail in the championship with Bridge at No 8 suddenly wagged with enormous vigour to take Durham to 323, to which Hampshire replied with 15 for none in six overs.

Law was last out for 103, his high-class maiden championship century coming five years after his previous best of 97 for Sussex.

"I have under-achieved a lot with the bat, so to finally get a hundred means a lot," he said.

"I can't say I've seen James play like that even in the nets, but you have to believe in them."

Bridge had totalled 12 runs in seven innings, while Brinkley had 38 in nine with a top score of 13 not out. He survived two difficult chances off Shaun Udal, to the wicketkeeper and slip, and both he and Law might have been run out had shies hit the stumps.

Otherwise Brinkley played very straight in defence and boldly in attack, striking Udal's off-spin for two big sixes on his way to a 67-ball half century.

Law entered the Durham record books for the second successive innings, following his 64 at Kidderminster, where his stand of 84 with Hatch was Durham's third best for the tenth wicket.

The previous best for the seventh was 119 between Martin Speight and Neil Killeen at Cardiff in 1999 and the fans applauded warmly when that was passed yesterday. After an excellent eight-over spell by Dimitri Mascarenhas in the morning, Hampshire's bowling became increasingly innocuous on a pitch offering little assistance after lunch.

There had been some uneven bounce, accounting for Peng and Martin Love. Word appears to have spread that Zimbabwean Neil Johnson posted three men on the leg-side boundary for Peng, who twice pulled him for four before turning away from a ball which reared from just short of a length.

It hit him just below the back of the helmet and he spent the afternoon in casualty waiting for an X-ray. Mild concussion was diagnosed and he was unable to return to the crease.

Peng was helping Love to repair the damage after Durham slipped to 44-3, but he was helped off just before lunch and there was further calamity in the first over after the break. One short of his 12th championship half-century, Love shaped to pull a ball from triallist seamer James Schofield, on his debut.

It kept low and as Love tried to readjust he got a bottom edge into his middle stump.

The next ball was slanted across left-hander Andrew Pratt, who guided it straight to third slip to bring in Bridge with a total of 150 looking unlikely.

Bridge unfurled several high-quality strokes before he was adjudged lbw by Tony Clarkson when trying to whip a second successive four through mid-wicket.

He had dominated the early part of his stand with Law, who played very responsibly throughout and was also content to play second fiddle while Brinkley was at his most fluent. The Scot was on 14 when he launched Udal high over long-on and on 25 he picked up the off-spinner for another six.

One of several immaculate back-foot fours through the covers off Udal took Law to his 50 off 100 balls. He needed only 68 balls for his second 50 and reached his century by cracking his 13th four uppishly through the covers off Alex Morris. Two balls later he went for a big drive and was bowled for 103, leaving Morris with four wickets.