ONE Flower blossomed while the other remained dormant as Durham's match against Essex at Southend built towards a fascinating finish yesterday.

Whether or not former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower's brother, Grant, is able to bat today could have a big bearing on the outcome as Essex resume on 129 for two in pursuit of a victory target of 299.

Andy reached 48 not out, while Grant remained in the pavilion nursing a finger injury, but it is likely he will bat if necessary as Essex need to win to stay in the promotion frame.

The initially suspect pitch at the new first-class venue of Garons Park could yet prove the winner as the scores have improved with each innings and there was little in it for the Durham bowlers in the final session yesterday.

Coach Martyn Moxon said: "We weren't sure what to do when we won the toss. The pitch was damp at one end, but we didn't know how it would last . We thought it would turn more as the game wore on and didn't really want to face Danish Kaneria in the fourth innings."

Ravinder Bopara opened for Essex in place of Grant Flower and fended a gloved catch to Gordon Muchall at short leg off Liam Plunkett with the total on 13.

But first innings century-maker Alastair Cook played fluently for 44, putting on 72 in 17 overs with Flower senior before becoming Mark Davies' 47th championship victim of the season.

Cook survived a confident appeal for a catch at the wicket in Davies' previous over but Phil Mustard had his reward the second time for a good leg-side take standing up to the stumps.

Skipper Ronnie Irani came in for the final hour and curbed his natural aggression to reach 18 not out.

Rain prevented any play until 1.25 and when Durham resumed on 275 for six, 229 ahead, they opted to grind out as big a lead as possible following the unfortunate early loss of Plunkett.

He faced every ball of the first two overs, adding one to his overnight 19, before Dale Benkenstein pushed Andre Adams to backward point and ran.

Bopara swooped and hit the stumps to run out Plunkett, whereupon Davies dug in as though his life depended on it.

Other than his 62 against Somerset at Stockton, Davies had yet to reach double figures in the championship this season but hung around for 118 balls to make 17 yesterday.

Benkenstein scored the four he needed to complete his second century by driving Kaneria to the cover boundary. He had faced 153 balls and hit 13 fours.

On 101 he edged the leg-spinner just wide of slip, but otherwise the Pakistani Test bowler did not pose the problems Durham feared coming into the match.

The eighth wicket pair had added 37 in 18 overs when Benkenstein departed for 124, his edged drive off Graham Napier flying just to Adams' right at head height at second slip.

The New Zealander clung on to a catch almost as stunning as the one he took to dismiss Paul Collingwood the previous day.

Mick Lewis made ten before he was lbw to Kaneria, who was driven for a lofted four by Graham Onions before picking up the last wicket when Davies sliced a drive to cover.

From the ominous beginnings of 13 for two, Durham's commendable total of 347 means an intriguing finish is in store.

* Durham are fielding a reserve line-up in tomorrow's 50-overs-a-side match against Bangladesh A at Riverside, which starts at 10.45.

The match will be played under the new one-day international rules, with both teams allowed a substitute and two lots of five-over fielding restrictions to be taken at the fielding captain's discretion following the initial ten-over requirement.

The tourists' squad includes several Test players, while Durham will include Ben Harmison, who was mysteriously left out of the England team for the second Under 19 Test against Sri Lanka.

Durham: J Lowe, N Peng, K Coetzer, G Hamilton, G Pratt, B Harmison, G Park, D Barrick, C Thorp, M Turner, N Killeen.

Read more about Durham here.