TWO Durham batsmen making their debut made sizeable contributions as they took control on the second day of their Championship game at Sophia Gardens. Glamorgan ended on 79 for 7 in their second innings, still needing 62 more runs to avoid an innings defeat.

Alex Lees, formerly of Yorkshire, opened and made a fluent 69 from 98 balls with 12 fours, to lay the foundations for 296, then Indian all-rounder Axar Patel helped his team recover from a mid-innings collapse.

Patel was unbeaten on 95 and looked crestfallen as No 11 Chris Rushworth was bowled by Michael Hogan.

Durham resumed on 75 for 0, with Lees and Cameron Steel extending their partnership to 94, before Steel shouldered arms to Ruaidhri Smith and was bowled off stump. Gareth Harte was dismissed in identical fashion, and when Graham Clark and Michael Richardson both edged Smith to the keeper, Durham had subsided to 144 for 5.

Patel, who has not played a Test but has appeared in 38 ODIs and 11 T20 games played an attractive innings with most of his 12 boundaries struck in the region between cover point and mid-off.

Stuart Poynter gave him valuable support as he contributed 29 in a seventh wicket stand of 61, which enabled Durham to gain a lead of 141 on a pitch which continued to help the seamers.

After they were dismissed in 49.1 overs in their first innings, Glamorgan slumped to 40 for 4 in the 16th over. Nick Selman was the first to go when he was strangled down the leg side, then Kiran Carlson and Jack Murphy fell to Rushworth.

David Lloyd became the fourth victim when he gave Poynter his third catch, and when Cooke nudged Patel to the keeper –the batsman reluctant to leave the crease – half the team had gone for 51.

But before the next batsman had reached the middle, rain forced the players indoors.

They reappeared with Connor Brown, not off the mark until his 30th delivery, beginning to play with more freedom. However, when Steel was brought on with his occasional spin, he dismissed Brown with his first ball and also got Andrew Salter.

The game would surely have finished on the second evening had the rain not returned with 14 overs remaining and Glamorgan facing the prospect of being dismissed for under 100 for the third time in the last four innings.