THE burgeoning talent of Ben Stokes was unveiled in all its glory for the first time to Emirates Durham regulars yesterday.

The 19-year-old left-hander made a magnificent 120 to save the match against Somerset, eclipsing his previous best score on the ground of 53 against Kent last season.

Stokes has made centuries at Trent Bridge, Canterbury and the Rose Bowl, but by reaching three figures off only 113 balls yesterday he confirmed to Durham members that he is everything he's cracked up to be.

His fourth-wicket stand of 170 with Dale Benkenstein might have been billed as a case of the craftsman and the apprentice. But the senior statesman needed to do little more than offer congratulations and encouragement as Stokes wiped out the 146-run deficit Durham faced at the start of the day.

Benkenstein resisted for 207 minutes to make 66, and when he was out 30 minutes after Stokes a Somerset win was still possible.

But after two-and-a-half days in the field without a recognised spinner they wilted in the final session and Phil Mustard secured the draw for Durham in partnership with Scott Borthwick.

Durham were 489 for six, 116 ahead, when hands were shaken on a draw at the start of what would have been the final hour.

Only three wickets fell on the final day and only 22 in total over the four days, suggesting that the art of groundsmanship has become too advanced. This pitch looked more durable than a newly-surfaced motorway.

Durham needed a further 146 runs to avoid an innings defeat at the start of the day, but at 2pm they moved in front without having lost a wicket.

On six overnight, Stokes reached 86 at lunch. He moved straight into top gear when the new ball was taken in the day's second over, driving Gemaal Hussain's opening delivery to the cover boundary.

A straight-driven four followed in the same over and the drives he guided effortlessly just to the on-side of the stumps bore the hallmark of real class.

Several back-foot punches through the covers were also out of the top drawer and when Somerset turned to the slow left arm of Arul Suppiah, he was driven for two huge sixes in the space of three balls.

A brief shower at 11.20 interrupted Stokes' fast start and on 40 a ball from Charl Willoughby skidded on to him, striking him in the unmentionables.

But he turned the next ball to the mid-wicket boundary and had ten fours in his 59-ball half-century.

A back-foot four through the covers off Suppiah took him to his century but the wonderful entertainment ended when he drove outside off stump at Willoughby and got an inside edge into his stumps.

Benkenstein was on 52 at the time - his sixth half-century in nine innings - and on 58 he survived a confident appeal for caught behind off Steve Kirby.

He finally edged the same bowler to first slip, leaving Ian Blackwell to continue the resistance against his former team-mates.

Again batting with a runner, Blackwell seemed disinclined to knuckle down. He survived a chance to Willoughby at mid-on off a miscued pull, but later in the same Kirby over he sliced a drive to gully to depart for 18.

Durham led by only 43 at the time, but Mustard and Borthwick shared an unbroken stand of 73 and Somerset looked resigned to the draw long before hands were shaken.

* Former Durham player John Morris has been sacked in his fourth season as Derbyshire's Director of Cricket. New chairman Chris Grant consulted the players and skipper Luke Sutton said the backing for Morris was "overwhelmingly negative".