THANK goodness for Paul Collingwood. Without their England one-day star Durham might well have been sunk inside two days at Cardiff yesterday.

But with help from Gordon Muchall, Collingwood has given Durham a chance of victory as they go into the third day 196 ahead with one wicket left. First Collingwood made the breakthrough with his sixth ball after the frontline bowlers had toiled for 90 minutes, then he rescued Durham from the perils of 41-4 in their second innings with a superb display which ended one short of a century.

Muchall also played a huge part in the rescue act, surviving a chance to first slip on six to complete his first championship half-century. He passed the 69 he made against Sri Lanka last week by fearlessly pulling Simon Jones in front of mid-wicket for four, but then the paceman took revenge.

He struck Andrew Pratt a painful blow in the ribs then took three wickets in nine balls, including that of Muchall for 77. Pratt played on, Muchall tried to take evasive action and was caught off the back of his bat at second slip, and Graeme Bridge was beaten for pace and comprehensively bowled.

In between all this Ian Hunter recklessly drove Robert Croft to mid-on to continue a miserable performance. The loss of four wickets for four runs had tilted the balance again, but Jones overdid the short stuff at Mark Davies, who added 18 with Neil Killeen before Durham closed on 239 for nine.

The fifth wicket pair put on 140, and were racing along after tea before Collingwood shaped to hook a short ball from Michael Kasprowicz, but changed his mind and gloved it to the wicketkeeper.

While Collingwood had made 78 out of the total of 126 at tea, Muchall became the chief aggressor on the resumption.

Despite coming in 15 minutes after lunch with Durham on none for two, Collingwood never looked in any trouble. A lovely on-drive off Jones gave him his seventh four and took him to 50 off 68 balls, and with the pacemen seen off Collingwood greeted Adrian Dale's medium pace with two cracking back-foot fours through the covers.

The total was 94 when Muchall was missed by Croft off Jones, but when the youngster began to blossom so richly after tea Collingwood seemed content to go steadily to his hundred. He was moving rapidly through the 90s, however, and was clearly hugely disappointed to be out to the 146th ball he faced.

Resuming on 117 for five in the morning, 45 behind, Glamorgan progressed to 177 before Collingwood's first ball was edged for four by Jon Hughes.

Five balls later the 20-year-old Pontypridd product shaped to drive and had his off stump knocked back. Collingwood also had Croft caught at first slip by Muchall as the last five wickets went down for 24 runs with the help of a run out and two deserved wickets for Bridge. Although Davies bowled well enough at the outset, Hunter had wicketkeeper Pratt diving around like a goalkeeper in a penalty shoot-out.

At least two balls an over were fired down the leg side and Killeen also bowled too much of a leg stump line. After Hughes was out for 30, wicketkeeper Mark Wallace was caught at short leg by Muchall off Bridge, Croft was next to go, then Darren Thomas was run out after facing only two balls.

Michael Powell turned Bridge towards square leg and Andrew Pratt scampered after the ball, turned and threw down the stumps with Thomas just short.

In the first over after lunch last man Jones took 12 off Bridge's first five balls then holed out at long-off. The eventful start to the afternoon continued as Jon Lewis played forward to Kasprowicz's first ball and was lbw and ten balls later Gary Pratt suffered the same fate against Thomas.

It looked a harsh decision for the luckless left-hander as he was well forward and there must have been a chance that the swinging ball would miss leg stump.

But Durham were none for two and it became 30 for three when Martin Love fell for a trap set by Kasprowicz, his Queensland teammate. After cutting him uppishly a second gully was posted plus a deep backward point and a short cover and Love was taken by the squarer of the gullies for 13.

Nicky Peng hit one glorious cover drive before for the second time in the match he fell trying to whip a full-length ball from Thomas to leg. Durham were still two behind and Muchall would have been lbw to Kasprowicz before he had scored had he not got a faint nick on the ball.

That was the difference between a two-day defeat and a possible victory for Durham, but on a pitch now looking full of runs the odds are stacked against them.