Law man to the rescue before Durham are shot down

For the most part they failed miserably to build on Thursday's good start until along came the substantial consolation of producing the day's second last-wicket stand of more than 50.

After Durham collapsed from 133 for three to 176 for nine against Worcestershire, Law and Nicky Hatch put on 84 to give them a first-innings lead of 33.

It was the third highest last-wicket stand in Durham's first-class history and was 19 short of the record held by Melvyn Betts and David Cox when Law fell for 64 just before the close.

He had hit 11 fours and a six in his 81-ball innings when he edged Australian Andy Bichel to wicketkeeper Steve Rhodes.

Left-arm swing bowler Alamgir Sheriyar had taken five wickets in 26 balls when Law thrashed him for 25 off two overs, including a straight six.

His previous best championship score of the season was 39 against Nottinghamshire, and he has made only one half-century in one-day games.

He shielded Hatch, particularly from Sheriyar, declining singles and relying on his powerful strokes to find the boundary.

But when Bichel returned and tried to unsettle Hatch with a bouncer, the youngster responded by clipping him over mid-wicket for four.

After also making 24 against Sussex, Hatch went on to provide further proof that he is two places too low in the batting order as he made 21 not out, with five fours.

Law might have been out on 47, driving a difficult chance off Bichel to long-on. But the fielder misjudged it and the ball went to the boundary to take Law to his 50 off 60 balls.

As in the innings defeat at Lord's, Martin Love and Paul Collingwood were the only top-order batsmen to offer serious resistance, with a little help from Nicky Peng.

There was a little uneven bounce, otherwise the pitch was entirely blameless as Durham collapsed when they had the chance to repeat Essex's feat here last season of amassing 462 when batting second to set up a ten-wicket win.

Until Law set about him, it was Sheriyar's day, despite an inoccuous opening spell.

He embarrassed Durham during a last-wicket stand of 54 then took five wickets in five overs during his second spell as the batsmen struggled to counter his swing.

It was a sad transformation from the time in mid-afternoon when Love made batting look ridiculously easy. He raced to a 38-ball half-century, 42 of them coming in boundaries, only to fall to the next ball he faced. Yet to be bowled in the championship, he pushed half forward and was lbw to Stuart Lampitt, whose introduction he had greeted by pulling him for two fours and a six in his first over.

Love had seven other fours in his 50, which was his tenth of the season in the championship. But he has only once gone on to make a hundred and remains 17 short of his 1,000 runs.

After the loss of more than half a day on Thursday, only two balls were bowled yesterday before rain intervened. Seven overs were lost then Durham took two wickets before they were frustrated by a combination of further rain and questionable tactics.

Last man Sheriyar, with a career batting average of 8.14, was only one short of his career-best score of 21 when he edged to Andrew Pratt.

Skipper Jon Lewis has a tendency to leave bowlers on for long spells, and it was a mystery why he didn't try Hatch yesterday until Law and James Brinkley had got through ten overs each.

Hatch had been the best bowler on the first day, but the tenth-wicket pair had put on 40 before he replaced Law, while spin was not tried at all.

Employing tactics which rarely work in these situations, the field was pushed back to give Lampitt singles, which he was quite happy to take as Sheriyar hit several boundaries off Brinkley.

The ball was still swinging and things were still looking good for Durham when, after the first break for rain, Law had Bichel caught at second slip by Love after adding only five to his overnight 32.

Brinkley yorked Matthew Rawnsley for six, but when 15 overs had been bowled the rain returned with Worcestershire on 185 for nine.

A further eight overs were lost, taking the match total to 77, and in the second over after an early lunch both batsmen survived very difficult chances off Brinkley.

Sheriyar was on six when Lewis dived to get one hand to a cover drive, and the next ball was driven through mid-off for four.

Three overs later Lampitt brought up the 200 by pulling Law for four then steering the last ball of the over, a bouncer, over the vacant slip area for another boundary.

Four byes followed as Durham began to look ragged, and Lampitt was unbeaten on a best-of-season 42 when Sheriyar finally nicked Brinkley to Pratt.

Durham got off to a poor start when Lewis played back in the fourth over to a ball from Bichel which skidded on to him and bowled him off his pads.

Bichel looked distinctly sharp at times, particularly in an impressive burst before tea when he got rid of Peng for 22.

But he bowled poorly at Love, his Queensland teammate. In the first full over Love faced he was able to leave the first five balls and tucked the last away off his legs for four.

Sheriyar was posing little threat, bowling too short for a man who relies on swing. But when he did pitch one up Jimmy Daley drove at it and edged to first slip for seven. It was a poor way to get out for a player in need of a good score.

Collingwood began by cracking a short, wide ball from Sheriyar to the cover boundary, but was happy to sit back while Love treated the bowling with disdain in a stand of 62.

On Love's exit, Collingwood shared another promising stand of 46 with Peng, but both had their difficulties when Bichel returned, steaming in from the railway end.

He followed the recent trend of peppering Peng with short deliveries, but it was a fuller ball, fast and moving away, which Peng edged to Steve Rhodes.

After tea it was Sheriyar's turn to bowl at the railway end and he swiftly derailed Durham as Michael Gough was lbw on the front foot then Collingwood was bowled for 47 when going for a fierce pull.

Pratt and Graeme Bridge were bowled for ducks, leaving Bridge with a total of six runs from five first-class innings.

Hatch has done rather better than that and after yesterday's face-saving effort a move up the order must be imminent.