Durham v Middlesex (County Championship) : Day Four

DURHAM could face a huge selection dilemma if both Steve Harmison and Liam Plunkett are available for the championship match against Nottinghamshire starting at Trent Bridge on Wednesday.

The chances are that England will want Harmison to replace Plunkett for the second Test on Thursday week but they will be keen for the young Teessider to go back into county cricket.

Leaving out two bowlers after Saturday's 135-run win against Middlesex at Riverside would present a real headache for Durham, who would also like to find a place for Mark Davies before the season is much older.

Graham Onions improved his career-best figures for the second time in the match when he finished with four for 56 following his four for 82 in the first innings.

"We bowled brilliantly with the new ball and the way Graham is coming on is very exciting, " said coach Martyn Moxon. "He has worked very hard on all aspects of his game.

"He's very keen to improve and is bowling with genuine pace. It's rewarding for all of us who have worked with him in strengthening his action to stop him falling away.

box "We have tried to put together a unit of seam bowlers to see us through the season and I think we'll need them all eventually."

Although delighted with the second win in three championship games, Moxon felt there was room for improvement as the middle order did not capitalise fully on the hard work of Jimmy Maher in the first innings and Jon Lewis in the second.

Middlesex's Director of Cricket, John Emburey, felt the match hinged on Maher being dropped at slip on four on the first morning before going on to make 106.

"It was a big moment, " admitted Moxon. "But the same thing happened to us against Lancashire. It was good for Jimmy to score a century because it will settle him down. We knew that Jon was capable of battling hard and his innings of 99 was worth 150."

Resuming on 87 for four on Saturday in pursuit of their target of 368, Middlesex were all out for 232 when Chris Silverwood slogged Onions to mid-off in the fifth over after lunch.

When play began on schedule in damp conditions which did not help the bowlers, Jamie Dalrymple and Nick Compton took 31 from the first five overs.

Compton survived a close call for lbw in the opening over from Mick Lewis, otherwise neither batsman was in any difficulty as the conditions forced Durham captain Dale Benkenstein to introduce his own gentle medium pace.

Compton had contributed 33 to the stand of 85 when he drove at Ottis Gibson and Phil Mustard dived a long way to his left to hold the inside edge.

Wicketkeeper Ben Scott played with even greater fluency, while Dalrymple stroked 13 fours in reaching 71 off 97 balls before chasing a slower ball from Benkenstein which drifted two feet wide of off stump. The resulting edge gave Mustard his seventh catch of the match.

Scott hit nine boundaries in making 49 from 62 deliveries before dragging a ball from Callum Thorp into his stumps.

Having bowled only two overs at the start, Onions returned after lunch to complete the job he began by clean bowling Ed Smith and Ben Hutton in the second over of the innings on Friday.

Johann Louw played round a straight one to be lbw then Melvyn Betts was had his off bail trimmed by Gibson before Silverwood surrendered.

Middlesex had scored their runs at four an over when three would have sufficed and had they mustered a fraction of the application shown by Durham's openers it could have been a much tighter contest.

Scorecard

Durham v Middlesex at Riverside(Durham Won Toss)

Durham First Innings Close
J J Lewis lbw b Dalrymple 21
(over-balanced trying to sweep 95b, 2-4s)
J P Maher c Scott b Louw 106
(edged ball which left him off pitch 207b, 16-4s)
G J Muchall c Scott b Silverwood 17
(edged drive to keeper 29b, 2-4s)
G J Pratt lbw b Betts 8
(half forward, ball swung in 24b, 1-4)
D M Benkenstein c Hutton b Betts 19
(clipped to mid-wicket 28b, 4-4s)
G R Breese b Dalrymple 8
(played inside straight ball 28b, 1-4)
P Mustard b Silverwood 78
(played back to ball which kept low 114b, 10-4s,
2-6s)
O D Gibson c Scott b Silverwood 38
(edged excellent away swinger 65b, 7-4s)
C D Thorp lbw b Silverwood 4
(beaten for pace 8b)
G Onions not out 22
(33b, 3-4s)
M L Lewis lbw b Louw 6
(played across slower ball 13b, 1-4)
Extras (lb4 w1 nb16 pens 0) 21
Total (106 overs) 348
Fall: 1-78 2-119 3-131 4-159 5-192 6-208 7-296
8-302 9-327
Bowling: Silverwood 27-4-88-4. Louw 30-6-99-2.
Betts 9-1-29-2. Richardson 18-4-71-0. Dalrymple
22-4-57-2.

Middlesex First Innings
E T Smith lbw b Onions 5
(ball kept low 12b, 1-4)
B L Hutton lbw b Thorp 9
(missed in-swinger 38b, 1-4)
O A Shah c Mustard b M L Lewis 68
(edged pull 132b, 9-4s, 1-6)
E C Joyce c Mustard b Onions 14
(glanced down leg side 50b, 1-4)
J W Dalrymple c Mustard b Onions 36
(pushed wide of off stump 38b, 6-4s, 1-6)
N R Compton b Breese 48
(heaved across line 66b, 6-4s, 2-6s)
B J Scott c Mustard b Thorp 4
(pushed at away swinger 10b, 1-4)
J Louw c Mustard b Thorp 0
(edged ball which swung and bounced 16b)
C E Silverwood not out 10
(14b, 1-6)
M M Betts b Onions 0
(yorked 1b)
A Richardson b M L Lewis 9
(missed in-swinger 15b, 2-4s)
Extras (b1 lb11 w1 nb26 pens 0) 39
Total (63.1 overs) 242
Fall: 1-11 2-54 3-101 4-137 5-149 6-161 7-215 8-
219 9-219
Bowling: M L Lewis 13.1-4-49-2. Onions 16-2-82-
4. Thorp 15-9-19-3. Gibson 13-1-66-0. Breese 6-
2-14-1.

Durham Second Innings
J J Lewis c Hutton b Richardson 99
(sliced front-foot shot to gully, balls291, 10-4s)
J P Maher lbw b Silverwood 8
(ball swung in 13b, 1-4)
G J Muchall c Hutton b Richardson 5
(edged drive to second slip 5b, 1-4)
G J Pratt c Hutton b Silverwood 20
(pushed forward, edged low to second slip, b89,
1-4)
D M Benkenstein c Hutton b Dalrymple 48
(edged drive, ball lobbed off keeper to be caught
by slip, b76, 8-4s)
G R Breese c Scott b Richardson 2
(pushed outside off stump, edged to keeper, b10)
P Mustard c Scott b Richardson 9
(skied attempted big hit, b24)
O D Gibson b Silverwood 17
(drove down wrong line, b18, 1-4, 2-6s)
C D Thorp b Silverwood 9
(beaten for pace, b11, 1-4)
G Onions c Shah b Silverwood 4
(edged drive to second slip, b7, 1-4)
M L Lewis not out 5
(b9)
Extras (b12 lb15 w2 nb6 pens 0) 35
Total (93.2 overs) 261
Fall: 1-16 2-27 3-84 4-170 5-193 6-217 7-239
8-243 9-248
Bowling: Louw 21-7-46-0. Silverwood 19.2-3-47-
5. Richardson 22-6-50-4. Dalrymple 23-2-70-1.
Hutton 8-1-21-0.

Middlesex Second Innings
E T Smith b Onions 3
(drove outside in-swinger, balls4)
B L Hutton b Onions 4
(pitched leg stump, hit off, b5, 1-4)
O A Shah lbw b M L Lewis 11
(shouldered arms, b18, 2-4s)
E C Joyce c Breese b M L Lewis 8
(edged to first slip, b23, 2-4s)
J W Dalrymple c Mustard b Benkenstein 71
(chased a slower ball, b97, 13-4s)
N R Compton c Mustard b Gibson 33
(inside edge to wicketkeeper, b b72, 6-4s)
B J Scott b Thorp 49
(dragged ball onto stumps, b62, 9-4s)
J Louw lbw b Onions 25
(played round straight one, b50, 4-4s)
C E Silverwood c Benkenstein b Onions 8
(slog to mid-off, b19, 1-4)
M M Betts b Gibson 7
(nicked off bail, b b6, 1-4)
A Richardson not out 0
(b3)
Extras (b6 lb3 nb4 pens 0) 13
Total (59.3 overs) 232
Fall: 1-7 2-8 3-24 4-41 5-126 6-166 7-197 8-
225 9-232
Total Bonus Pts: Durham 6 Middlesex 4
Bowling: M L Lewis 15-2-63-2. Onions 11.3-1-56-
4. Thorp 8-1-28-1. Gibson 14-5-49-2.
Benkenstein 9-4-22-1. Breese 2-0-5-0.

Durham (20pts) beat Middlesex (4pts) by 135 runs