DURHAM'S acting captain Paul Collingwood and Dale Benkenstein both hit centuries to pass 1,000 championship runs for the season yesterday as they skilfully averted the threat of an embarrassing defeat by bottom club Derbyshire.

At 59 for three in the second innings when they came together, Durham were still 37 behind, but by the close of the third day they were 263 for three, leading by 167.

With Mike Hussey also having reached the milestone it is the first time Durham have had three past 1,000 in the championship in one season. Last year there were none.

No-one had made more than three championship centuries in a season either, but Collingwood now has six and Benkenstein four.

Ironically, it was also 59 for three when the same pair joined forces at Derby in July, when they shared Durham's record fourth wicket stand of 250.

They need 47 to beat that today, by which time Collingwood will be pondering whether to go for the victory which would virtually guarantee promotion or play safe by batting the visitors out of the game.

Although there were a couple of scares, Collingwood's 111 not out was a superbly-constructed innings. Arriving at the crease in the second over, he dug in with such determination he took 28 balls to get off the mark, then had to take extra care again after being involved in the run out of Gordon Muchall.

That happened in the eighth over of the afternoon, by which time conditions were good for batting and Muchall had just driven Ian Hunter to the off-side boundary three times in an over.

Benkenstein, whose unbeaten 102 meant he had passed 35 for the eighth successive championship innings, quickly took advantage of the conditions and his good form to reach 50 off 73 balls, 59 faster than his partner.

Both were on 55 at tea, when they had added a steadily accelerating 96 in 30 overs, but Collingwood looked lucky to survive an lbw appeal by Graeme Welch on 63.

It was in keeping with the decisions of John Holder and Graham Burgess throughout the match as they have turned down several lbw shouts which have looked plumb and given some dubious ones.

One of those to suffer was Durham's newly-arrived Australian Jimmy Maher, who thrust his pad well forward to the seventh ball of the second innings and looked horrified to be given out.

With only one more championship opportunity, he made nine and seven in this match and also dropped a catch at second slip yesterday morning as Durham took the three remaining Derbyshire wickets for 38 runs.

Liam Plunkett was the bowler to suffer and he went unrewarded in a superb spell, while Brad Williams had Ant Botha adjudged lbw then Neil Killeen took the last two.

Mo Sheikh was bowled through an airy drive and after looking very assured in making 12 Hunter tamely offered a catch to short extra cover.

Plunkett, Williams and Killeen all finished with three wickets, but Derbyshire's total of 326 gave them a useful lead of 96.

Maher straight drove balls from wide of off stump off Welch for four and three in the first over of Durham's second innings, only to fall to Sheikh's first ball.

It was 42 for one at lunch, but Gary Scott went without adding to his 21 when he pushed forward and edged Jon Moss to wicketkeeper Luke Sutton.

Muchall's run out came when he fended a ball just in front of square and both batsmen set off, only for Collingwood to change his mind. Hassan Adnan, coming in from mid-wicket, hit the stumps and was given the benefit of a very tight call.

Every time Derbyshire have got into a winning position this season they have let it slip and they didn't have the firepower to trouble the experienced Durham duo.

The visitors came into the match with two spinners, which no-one ever does at Riverside, but the lack of turn suggested they had made a mistake by preferring ex-Yorkshire player Andy Gray to Zimbabwean Travis Friend, who batted so well against Durham at Derby last month.

An off-drive off left-arm spinner Botha for his 15th four took Collingwood to his hundred off 225 balls with Benkenstein on 91.

The South African hadn't put a foot wrong, but having been out once for 98 he plotted a careful course through the nineties to his second century in successive matches, reaching the target off 169 balls.

The first task this morning will be to avoid a collapse, but once that mission is accomplished they will surely press on before taking that tricky declaration decision.