LIAM Plunkett is clearly not superstitious. He was sporting a beard when he recorded his career-best figures of six for 63 on the first day against Worcestershire, but appeared clean-shaven yesterday to complete his first ten-wicket match haul.

Whether Durham were to face a close shave seemed to depend on the game’s other star performer, Kabir Ali, but the lavish swing of the first two days was not available and they closed on 64 for one, needing a further 115 to complete their fourth successive championship win They will not have been counting any poultry overnight as this game has had a remarkable symmetry and Worcestershire reached 59 for one before collapsing yesterday.

Kabir followed Wednesday’s six for 68 by making 30 not out to lift the visitors from 124 for eight to 179 all out, but then conceded 19 runs in four overs as Michael Di Venuto sped to 43 not out.

Plunkett added an 11th wicket as he finished with five for 56 as division one’s top v bottom clash continued to follow a pattern.

Only one run separated the sides in the first innings, and as on the first day five Durham bowlers took a wicket each before Plunkett took command.

He grabbed two crucial wickets in another afternoon spell of sustained accuracy, in which he also bowled with enough pace to generate some hostility, allowing him to snare 19-year-old Dutch international Alexei Kervezee for an impressive 66.

With batting initially looking much easier in the fresher conditions, the opener had been largely untroubled until Plunkett came back for his second spell.

Suddenly Kervezee was in all sorts of difficulties, and he was stranded between a hook and evasive action when he lobbed a gentle catch to Phil Mustard.

As Plunkett had brought plenty of balls back into the right-hander it was a bad misjudgement by Gareth Batty to shoulder arms to one which ripped out his off stump. He departed with a long look at the pitch, which was entirely blameless.

Ian Blackwell, the fifth bowler to take a wicket, also chipped in with a second as he twice found enough turn to provide two more catches for Mustard.

As they struggled in the first 90 minutes, Durham must have rued the umpires’ caution in taking them off because of distant lightning the previous afternoon, when they had fancied making swift inroads into the visitors’ batting.

But two careless dismissals, with both Moeen Ali and Ben Smith caught at backward point by Kyle Coetzer, saw Worcestershire slip from 59 for one to 66 for three at lunch.

The ball did not swing significantly and the pitch looked flat as the openers put on 36. As in the first innings it was Mark Davies who made the breakthrough, again finding the edge for Di Venuto to take a good catch to his left to remove Daryl Mitchell for 15.

Davies has been sparingly used on his comeback, but he has had a useful workout and was always on the spot, conceding runs at only two an over.

The talented Moeen Ali, who appears to have modelled his left-handed stance on Shivnarine Chanderpaul, showed none of the West Indian’s application.

He would have run himself out for a duck had Will Smith’s shy from wide mid-off hit the stumps, but perished for ten when he sliced Plunkett to Coetzer, who held a good catch low to his right.

While the visitors had the ball changed twice on Wednesday, Durham had to complain four times about their’s going out of shape before the umpires granted a replacement and it brought instant rewards.

Plunkett almost had Ben Smith for nought when Worcestershire’s only experienced batsman edged low to third slip’s left, where Gordon Muchall dived to get a hand to the ball.

But Smith made only three before cutting Callum Thorp low to Coetzer, and after lunch left-hander David Wheeldon repeated his first innings dismissal by driving wide of off stump and edging to Di Venuto to give Mitch Claydon a wicket.

Plunkett and Blackwell did the rest, the latter conceding only 22 runs in his 16 overs and also ensuring that Durham’s over-rate was satisfactory.

They had 21 overs to bat and Coetzer initially matched Di Venuto with some pleasing strokes. Both were on 11 at the same time; thereafter the Tasmanian scored all but seven of the runs off the bat.

Coetzer departed with the total on 47 when he played back and edged Ashley Noffke to the wicketkeeper, then Will Smith was happy to scramble three singles as Di Venuto dominated.

He greeted Batty’s off-spin by advancing to drive his fourth ball for six over longoff, and barring more interference from the weather Durham should win today.

Their lead will be cut by four points, however, unless Lancashire can hold out at Trent Bridge.

Scoreboard

Durham v Worcestershire At Riverside

Overnight: Durham 194 (P Mustard 63 no; Kabir Ali 6-68). Worcestershire193 (A A Noffke 50; L E Plunkett 6-63) and 0-0.

Worcestershire Second Innings

D K Mitchell c Di Venuto b Davies .........15

A N Kervezee c Mustard b Plunkett .......66

M M Ali c K J Coetzer b Plunkett ...........10

B F Smith c K J Coetzer b Thorp ........... 3

D A Wheeldon c Di Venuto b Claydon .. 0

A A Noffke lbw b Blackwell ....................11

G J Batty b Plunkett ............................... 4

Kabir Ali not out .....................................30

J P Knappett c Mustard b Blackwell ...... 1

C D Whelan b Plunkett ..........................21

M S Mason c Thorp b Plunkett .............. 5

Extras (lb5 nb8 pens 0) ...............13

Total (74 overs) ......................179

Fall: 1-36 2-57 3-66 4-71 5-108 6-116 7-117 8-124 9-169

Bowling: Claydon 11-0-50-1. Thorp 13-6-27- 1. Davies 10-2-19-1. Plunkett 24-6-56-5.

Blackwell 16-7-22-2.

Durham Second Innings Close

M J Di Venuto not out ............................43

K J Coetzer c Knappett b Noffke ...........15

W R Smith not out .................................. 3

Extras (b2 lb1 pens 0) ................. 3

Total 1 wkt (21 overs)...................64

Fall: 1-47

To Bat: G J Muchall, D M Benkenstein, I D Blackwell, P Mustard, L E Plunkett, C D Thorp, M E Claydon, M Davies.

Bonus Pts: Durham 3 Worcestershire 3

Bowling: Kabir Ali 4-0-19-0. Mason 5-2-12- 0. Noffke 7-2-11-1. Batty 5-1-19-0.