Kyle's run of form continues

THE rapid transformation in Kyle Coetzer's fortunes continued with a perfectly-constructed innings of 91 against Yorkshire at Riverside yesterday.

With Dale Benkenstein continuing his prolific form by remaining unbeaten on 64, Durham closed the second day on 293 for four in reply to 393.

A good day for Durham began with Ottis Gibson taking three of the remaining four Yorkshire wickets to finish with his championship-best figures of seven for 81.

But Coetzer dominated the afternoon as he scored 85 runs in the session without threatening to succumb to the rushes of blood which ended his innings of 74 and 46 against Kent and Warwickshire.

He maintained impeccable control until the tea break disturbed his concentration. Having coped admirably with Yorkshire's four high-class seamers, plus Adil Rashid, the 23-year-old Scot shaped to drive the medium pace of Anthony McGrath through cover and got an inside edge into his stumps.

Coetzer had cause to kick himself as Phil Mustard immediately set about McGrath on his way to 53 not out, but the Aberdonian's innings was a significant step forward, especially as it was fashioned from a rocky platform.

Coetzer looked determined to build an innings from the moment he walked in with Durham wobbling on 17 for two to face Darren Gough and Jason Gillespie.

He was on four at lunch and it was the fifth over after the break before he added to his score as he took 65 balls to get into the 20s.

A new spell by Gough prompted his impressive acceleration to a 101-ball half-century, which he reached with two fours in an over off leg-spinner Rashid.

For the first he took a step down the pitch to drive through extra cover and the second was punched in front of point off the back foot.

On 53 he hooked Tim Bresnan for a big six and he had hit 14 fours in reaching 89 at tea, only to depart in the third over afterwards.

Following the first innings totals of 407 and 400 against Kent, another excellent four-day match is unfolding, although there is a little more life in this pitch.

Benkenstein needed treatment after being struck on the right hand by Gillespie on six. But the captain knuckled down to reach 10,000 first-class runs on ten and 3,000 for Durham on 19. He also passed 500 championship runs against Yorkshire in the last two seasons on 48.

He made 83 in the first innings of Durham's defeat at Headingley last month, then had a brief run of failures before beginning his current hot streak with 77 not out in the second innings against Kent.

He followed that up with 93 not out at Edgbaston last week and an unbeaten 97 in the Friends Provident Trophy at Northampton on Sunday, so he has totalled 331 since he was last dismissed.

Six days after Graham Onions' eight for 101 at Edgbaston he had to take the last Yorkshire wicket to prevent Gibson nudging him out of second place in the Durham record books.

Gibson had taken the first three wickets of the day and had figures of seven for 81 when Gillespie chopped Onions into his stumps.

After resuming on 361 for six it was a disappointment for Yorkshire not to secure maximum batting points, especially as two slip catches were put down during the 50 minutes it took to lose their remaining four wickets.

Jacques Rudolph had not added to his overnight 104 when an edged drive off the day's sixth ball was put down by Benkenstein off Onions.

The captain was at first slip, the position normally occupied by Gareth Breese, who held 13 catches last season but is currently out of the team.

Second slip was Durham's problem position last season, with Jimmy Maher the main culprit, and Michael Di Venuto's only catch there this season has been in a Friends Provident match.

Yesterday he failed to hang on to a sharp knee-high chance just to his right offered by Gillespie, with Onions again having cause to reflect on how the fates can change within a few days.

Neither miss proved costly as Rudolph added only seven before he pushed forward and had his off stump rattled by an excellent ball from Gibson.

Three balls later Gibson extracted steep bounce to force Simon Guy to edge to Mustard and the same combination accounted for Darren Gough, who followed an away swinger after making 17.

Gillespie gave Onions his only wicket of the innings after he and Gibson had bowled throughout the 50 minutes.

Slip catches continued to go to ground as Gordon Muchall was missed twice off Deon Kruis, although one of them was off a no-ball. He was on 18 when he bisected second and third slips, with Younus Khan getting a hand to the ball, and the majority of Muchall's 48 runs came in the third man area.

Just when it seemed Muchall's emergence from his struggles might really blossom he fell over towards the off side and was lbw to the third ball of Gillespie's second spell.

Di Venuto never looked secure and edged Gillespie to Guy for 11 then Will Smith played on to Gough.

Glamorgan have been docked eight LV County Championship points by an England and Wales Cricket Board pitch panel for preparing a poor wicket in their match against Middlesex.

SCORECARD

Durham v Yorkshire at Riverside.

Overnight: Yorkshire 351-6 (J A Rudolph 104 no,
C White 64; O D Gibson4-70).

Yorkshire First Innings
J A Rudolph b Gibson 111
S M Guy c Mustard b Gibson 25
D Gough c Mustard b Gibson 17
J N Gillespie b Onions 15
G J Kruis not out 0
Extras (b4 lb2 w2 nb36 pens 0) 44
Total (115 overs) 393
Fall: 1-24 2-35 3-145 4-158 5-233 6-294 7-
359 8-360 9-387
Bowling: Onions 26-6-99-1. Claydon 17-0-94-
0. Gibson 28-8-81-7. Davies 18-5-44-2. Wiseman
19-6-43-0. Benkenstein 7-0-26-0.

Durham First Innings
M J Di Venuto c Guy b Gillespie 11
W R Smith b Gough 6
G J Muchall lbw b Gillespie 48
K J Coetzer b McGrath 91
D M Benkenstein not out 64
P Mustard not out 53
Extras (lb10 nb10) 20
Total 4 wkts (84 overs) 293
Fall: 1-17 2-17 3-83 4-214
To Bat: O D Gibson, P J Wiseman, M E Claydon,
G Onions, M Davies.
Bonus Pts: Durham 3 Yorkshire 4
Bowling: Gough 12-3-47-1. Gillespie 15-4-32-
2. Bresnan 20-6-68-0. Kruis 12-3-55-0. A Rashid
17-3-48-0. McGrath 8-1-33-1.