THE sort of rain break which gets cricket a bad name did Durham no favours yesterday as it seemed to galvanise a previously becalmed Warwickshire side.

The visitors had crawled to 185 for six in the 81st over when the merest shower had their batsmen scurrying for the pavilion like rats up a drain.

Two overs were lost and on the resumption 42 runs flowed from the first nine overs as Dominic Ostler plundered boundaries off Danny Law and Nicky Phillips.

Having taken 113 balls over his 50, Ostler needed only a further 68 balls to reach his century, and in those final 20 overs Durham's position of strength was swiftly eroded.

With wicketkeeper Keith Piper making an unbeaten 30, Warwickshire closed on 270 for six.

Three of their top five have first-class averages of over 48 this season, yet they mustered only 18 runs between them yesterday.

It was left to Nick Knight, averaging 35.7, and Ostler (42.85) to achieve respectability on a day of total contrast to Wednesday's C and G Trophy run feast.

While 525 runs were scored in 90.2 overs two days earlier, it was not until the 88th over that Warwickshire got their run rate above two and a half an over against persistent rather than menacing bowling from a depleted attack.

His cover driving apart, there was nothing classical about Ostler's batting but he can give it a decent whack and was quick to punish anything short, as Law found when he was hit for three successive fours.

The same thing happened to Paul Collingwood, who had previously conceded only 20 runs off 15 overs, as Ostler swept to his second championship hundred of the season with 18 fours.

Until the 5pm shower, Warwickshire batted as though the pitch had not improved since they ground out a victory in the inaugural first-class match here six years ago.

On that occasion Knight and Adrian Moles - an applicant last winter for the post of Durham coach - compiled a painstaking first-wicket stand of 172.

There seemed every reason to fear a repeat as Knight put on 44 with opening partner Michael Powell yesterday, but Warwickshire lost wickets steadily as they sauntered along on the benign surface.

This time Knight was positively fluent compared with his partners, scoring 75 of the first 117 runs before he reached for a wide ball from Law and was very well caught by Nicky Phillips at third man.

Four of the other six victims were caught by wicketkeeper Andrew Pratt, while Phillips turned one just enough to beat left-hander David Hemp's forward push and hit off stump.

Jon Lewis lost the toss for the sixth successive championship match, consigning Durham to a day of hard work in a blustery wind.

They stuck to their task well, helped by the fact that the visitors rarely showed any positive intent until the final 20 overs.

Nicky Hatch produced his steadiest bowling so far but was slightly lucky to make the first breakthrough as Powell drove well wide of off stump and edged to Pratt.

Despite dominating the strike in the first few overs, the visiting captain made only 12 in 19 overs, while Mark Wagh, who smashed a run-a-ball century against Durham at Edgbaston, scratched around for 16 to make six.

He gave a leg-side catch to Pratt off Simon Brown just before lunch and there was some alarm for injury-hit Durham when Brown retired for an hour in the afternoon with a leg injury. His place in the field was taken by Academy boy Hiran Marambe, from Bishop Auckland.

Knight hit ten fours, mainly behind square, in his 149-ball innings and his surprising exit made it 117 for four.

Ostler put on 44 with Dougie Brown, who edged to Pratt when driving at an out-swinger from Collingwood.

The only other success came when Simon Brown returned to have Neil Smith caught by Pratt and at 181 for six Durham could be delighted with their efforts. But the curse of the seventh wicket stand returned to haunt them.