BAD luck, the absence of Melvyn Betts and a fairly docile pitch conspired to thwart Durham's attempt to drive home their half-time advantage against Somerset at the Riverside yesterday.

There was also the small matter of their inability to take the seventh wicket returning to haunt them as Peter Bowler and Graham Rose put on 157 in 70 painful overs.

Other examples this season include: Lancashire 123-6, 263 all out; Leicestershire 128-6, 336 all out; Kent 80-6, 177 all out; Leicestershire (at Grace Road) 110-6, 222 all out.

Somerset recovered from 88 for six to make 280, only 12 behind, and Durham had reached 73 for three when bad light ended play.

Skipper Nick Speak had been in for only three overs when the light was first offered.

Only two of the five warning lights were on, Simon Katich had just driven Paul Jarvis for two fours, and Durham need to win a game in which they were already struggling to make up for lost time.

But the captain could not afford to risk a collapse and off they went, which rather summed up the approach of two sides anxious not to be relegated.

They returned at 6.40 with the light little better and after six balls they trooped off again, having lost 21 overs of the day's play.

From a position of such strength 24 hours earlier, the threat of defeat was looming for Durham when Michael Gough edged to second slip for the second time in the match, Jon Lewis was bowled with bat aloft and Paul Collingwood was lbw playing across the line to Jarvis.

It had not been a good day. Although Betts's absence with a recurrence of his knee problem was a major factor, the regularity with which the ball passed the outside edge suggested a seventh-wicket curse.

Simon Brown, Neil Killeen and John Wood all suffered, and while Killeen conceded only 52 runs in 32 overs, he was unlucky to take only one wicket.

Wood finished with five for 88, his third five-wicket haul in six games taking him past 250 first-class wickets.

Coming on after Brown had bowled eight overs from the Lumley End, Wood might have had Bowler on 71 in his second over of the day had second slip not been prematurely removed.

The fact that the edge brought the day's first four emphasised that Bowler was not exactly blazing the ball to all parts on his 37th birthday and Durham needed to stay on the attack.

It was bad enough for Durham when John Morris made an impact on his return to the Riverside, but his business partner, Bowler, proved an even bigger thorn in the flesh.

At least a Morris century is always rich in entertainment, whereas Bowler's was a six-hour grind, and it was a blessed relief when Brown swung one through an attempted drive to bowl him for 107.

Perhaps Morris and Bowler will complement each other well - one to provide the flair, the other the substance.

But on this occasion there was barely a hint of bloom even from Rose, who knows how to give the ball a clout but served his side's needs admirably with 82 not out from 212 balls.

He was almost run out on 39 by a smart piece of work from Paul Collingwood.

But the only real chance came when Bowler was dropped by Katich at first slip off Killeen. As he was on 105 it made little difference.

Club cricketers who were almost drowned a few miles south on Saturday would not have believed that there was no rain at Chester-le-Street.

Play progressed uninterrupted until 7.13 thanks to the slow over-rate and only 221 runs were scored in the day.

This was partly the result of a lifeless pitch, but had more to do with the anxieties created by the fear of relegation, which will be all the greater for Durham if they don't win today.

It is proving difficult to make up for the loss of 31 overs on the first day, and after Betts contributed 33 not out as Durham's last five wickets added 77 on Saturday their best hope was to enforce the follow-on.

That looked likely as Betts and Brown skidded excellent deliveries through to bowl danger men Jamie Cox and Marcus Trescothick, then Keith Parsons edged a lavish drive at Killeen and Wood's accuracy was rewarded with three wickets.

Somerset still needed 55 to avoid the follow-on when Rose joined Bowler, but they had added 56 by the close and stayed together until after lunch yesterday.

l DURHAM have decided that there will be no admission charge for the final day today