THE remarkable alliance of Dale Benkenstein and Ben Stokes allowed Durham to make up for lost time yesterday as they built a commanding position in the top-of-the-table clash with Lancashire.

After the morning session was washed out, Stokes reached his third championship century of the season off the last ball as an unbroken stand of 185 took Durham to 279 for three at the close of the second day, 34 behind.

Benkenstein and Stokes put on 140 in the first match at the Rose Bowl then shared a stand of 170 in the last home match against Somerset. Both came in the second innings of drawn matches, but this time they have given Durham the chance of a victory which would take them above their visitors into top spot.

The power of Stokes' back-foot shots through the covers had selector James Whitaker in even greater raptures than England's demolition of Sri Lanka. And it was one of those, off Steven Croft's off-spin, which brought his 14th four and took him to his hundred.

With the match evenly poised at the start of the partnership, Stokes played with great maturity as both batsmen reached 50 off 94 balls. But his second 50 came off only 55 deliveries and he enjoyed a two slices of fortune.

On 55 he got an inside edge for four off Luke Procter which just missed his stumps, then on 84 he survived a sharp chance to Paul Horton at slip off Gary Keedy.

Otherwise Stokes, who will be 20 on Saturday, was again a joy to watch for the Durham members as he followed up his maiden home century against Somerset three weeks ago with an even better one.

Benkenstein's half-century was his eighth in 12 innings and he looked as solid as Lumley Castle in remaining unbeaten on 67.

Earlier a brief stoppage for bad light seemed to have done Durham no favours as within two overs of the restart they slipped from 86 for one to 94 for three.

Both Gordon Muchall and Will Smith were going well when umpires Martin Bodenham and Jeremy Lloyds decided to go off at 3.04.

They returned seven minutes later and there was just time for Muchall to complete his sixth championship half-century of the season before both batsmen departed.

Smith fell for 30 when he drove wide of the off stump at medium pacer Procter and edged to wicketkeeper Gareth Cross. Then Muchall was lbw for 54 when half forward to Tom Smith.

Durham began their reply to 313 by losing Michael Di Venuto to Glen Chapple in the third over.

It was almost a replica of his dismissal at Edgbaston last week as he tried to withdraw his bat and edged to the wicketkeeper, again walking without waiting for the umpire's decision.

Both Muchall and Smith edged Chapple wide of third slip for four but neither encountered much difficulty against Kyle Hogg following his 11-wicket match haul at the Rose Bowl last week.

When Procter, the 22-year-old Oldham all-rounder, replaced Hogg his first over cost 17 runs, although he could count himself unlucky.

Muchall tried to cut the first ball and chopped it wide of the slips then edged the next two to the third man boundary. The first was just wide of the slips and the second bisected first and second.

Perhaps Muchall was surprised by Procter's strange action. Threatening to come off the wrong foot, it bears some similarity to Mike Procter, the former South African Test player, but the whirling action of Luke's left arm would initially be more disconcerting.

After playing mainly on "result" pitches this season, Lancashire were made to toil on another run-laden Chester-le-Street surface. As they seek another haul of maximum points, Durham have 39 overs to score 121 today and will want to build a big lead quickly enough to put Lancashire under real pressure.

SCORECARD

Durham v Lancashire
At Emirates Durham ICG.
Overnight: Lancashire 313 (P J Horton 94).
Durham First Innings Close
M J Di Venuto c Cross b Chapple 6
W R Smith c Cross b Procter 30
G J Muchall lbw b Smith 54
B A Stokes not out 100
D M Benkenstein not out 67
Extras (b9 lb4 w2 nb7 pens 0) 22
Total 3 wkts (71 overs) 279
Fall: 1-6 2-90 3-94
To Bat: I D Blackwell, P Mustard, S G Borthwick,
C D Thorp, M E Claydon, G Onions
Bonus Pts: Durham 3 Lancashire 3
Bowling: Chapple 16-3-63-1. Hogg 14-3-
46-0. Smith 14-1-43-1. Procter 10-0-57-1.
Keedy 15-2-44-0. Croft 2-0-13-0.