Durham v Yorkshire (County Championship) : Day Four
YORKSHIRE'S ex-Durham coach, Martyn Moxon, admitted he would be happy for the County Championship table to remain exactly as it stands after Durham moved into second place, 4.5 points behind the Tykes, following Saturday's six-wicket win at Riverside.
It's a big reversal in fortunes since Durham went to Headingley for the final match of last season, when a draw allowed both teams to escape relegation by the skin of their teeth.
After Graham Onions took Yorkshire's one remaining wicket with the day's second ball, clean bowling Deon Kruis to finish with five for 53, Durham needed 131 to win.
They were rocking on 35 for three, but Michael Di Venuto's fifth half-century in nine innings put them within sight of their third win in five games and skipper Dale Benkenstein completed the task with an unbeaten 32.
It was Yorkshire's first championship defeat of the season and Moxon said: "We let our concentration slip for ten to 15 per cent of the game and it proved decisive.
"I expected Durham to do well this season. They have a strong squad and they played very hard for two days at Headingley and all the time here."
Durham last stood in second place after seven games in 1998, before the championship was split into two divisions. But they failed to add to their three wins and finished fifth from the bottom.
Coach Geoff Cook acknowledged: "It's nice for all of us who has been involved for a long time to have this success. There have been a few trips up and down the emotional graph.
"The trick is to keep it going and it's good when the younger lads make a contribution. It gives them a standing within the team and that was one of our aims at the start of the season.
"Rarely have Durham played such strong, resilient cricket over four days where we had to fight for every position we got into.
"We have to take huge psychological benefits from beating the top team. Yorkshire are tough opponents, but we stood up to them.
"There are a lot of debates in English cricket over things like Kolpak players, but the bottom line is that there a lot of very strong cricketers and all games are tough."
The experience of 38-year-old Ottis Gibson was crucial to Durham as he took ten wickets and scored 71, and Cook hopes to persuade him to continue beyond this season.
"Ottis has terrific pride and he took on the responsibility of moving up to No 7," said Cook. "Yorkshire are a team he traditionally does well against and he loved being involved in this contest. He's looking for other things to do with his life, but he still has a lot to offer on the field."
Michael Di Venuto's fifth half-century in nine innings set Durham well on the way to their target of 131 before he edged a good ball from Jason Gillespie to give wicketkeeper Simon Guy one of his three catches.
Di Venuto had made 53 out of 77 when a square drive off Gillespie gave him his tenth four and took him to 50 off 63 balls.
Two balls later Gillespie moved one away off the pitch to have the Tasmanian left-hander caught behind, but Phil Mustard joined his captain to contribute 22 to their unbroken stand of 54.
Reluctant to gamble on leg-spinner Adil Rashid, who was wicketless in the first innings, skipper Darren Gough carried most of Yorkshire's hopes.
He had Will Smith lbw for three with the score on ten then Gordon Muchall fenced at a good ball, which left him, to give wicketkeeper Simon Guy the first of his three catches.
After his 91 on Thursday, Kyle Coetzer was quickly off the mark when he drove Gough wide of mid-off for four. But he added only two more runs before he tried to hook Tim Bresnan and lobbed a catch to Guy.
Benkenstein enjoyed a slice of luck on two when he gloved Bresnan over the slips for four, but otherwise he was in command as he took his championship aggregate against Yorkshire to 641 in three seasons.
Gough brought on Rashid for one over before lunch with the score on 87 for four and Mustard promptly drove him for a straight four.
When the leg-spinner returned only 26 were needed and in his second over Mustard thrashed two successive balls for four to hasten Durham to victory.
England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff was left out of Lancashire's rain-affected Friends Provident Trophy defeat against Scotland as a precautionary measure.
But Lancashire desperately needed Flintoff's services in a 10-run defeat that virtually ended their chances of qualifying for the semi-finals and handed Scotland their first win of the campaign.
Visiting captain Ryan Watson blasted 41 off 43 balls to lift his side towards 142 for seven in a shortened 22-over contest.
Lancashire were bowled out for 132
SCORECARD
Durham v Yorkshire at Riverside.
Overnight: Durham 481 (K J Coetzer 91, O D Gibson
71, D M Benkenstein68, P Mustard 59). Yorkshire
393 (J A Rudolph 111, C White 64; O D Gibson7-
81) and 218-9 (J A Rudolph 79, A McGrath
62; G Onions 4-53).
Yorkshire Second Innings
J N Gillespie not out 23
G J Kruis b Onions 7
Extras (lb7 nb4 pens 0) 11
Total (59.2 overs) 218
Fall: 1-0 2-6 3-17 4-104 5-107 6-116 7-176
8-199 9-200
Bowling: Onions 15.2-3-53-5. Gibson 15-1-63-3.
Claydon 11-0-45-1. Davies 14-3-49-0. Wiseman
4-3-1-1.
Durham Second Innings
W R Smith lbw b Gough 3
M J Di Venuto c Guy b Gillespie 53
G J Muchall c Guy b Gough 6
K J Coetzer c Guy b Bresnan 6
D M Benkenstein not out 32
P Mustard not out 22
Extras (b1 lb4 nb4 pens 0) 9
Total 4 wkts (33.5 overs)131
Fall: 1-10 2-22 3-35 4-77
Did Not Bat: O D Gibson, P J Wiseman, M E Claydon,
G Onions, M Davies.
Bowling: Gough 9-1-18-2. Gillespie 7-0-29-1.
Bresnan 10-2-25-1. Kruis 5-0-34-0. A Rashid 2.5-
0-20-0.
Durham (22pts) beat Yorkshire (7pts) by 6 wkts
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