JUBILATION turned to frustration for Durham yesterday and for the second successive match they will have to bowl out their opponents on the final day of a game they have dominated.

After Yorkshire held out last Saturday it will be a gross injustice if Somerset do likewise today, but in the hour and half’s play yesterday they showed no sign of capitulating as they had in their first innings.

When a team are all out for such a paltry total as 69 then follow up with a vastly-improved display the explanation is usually to be found in the pitch.

But on this occasion the answer was that Graham Onions didn’t bowl quite as well, Steve Harmison has yet to combine his top pace with accuracy, and Marcus Trescothick was in commanding form.

After following on 474 behind, Somerset moved on from their overnight 83 for one to 178 for one with Trescothick reaching 90 and James Hildreth 52.

The hosts are still 296 behind and the forecast is good for today, but with the pitch remaining sound and Somerset determined to atone for Wednesday’s humiliation it promises to be hard work for Durham.

When play began at 1.45 yesterday Harmison bowled a lengthy spell in which he appeared to concentrate on accuracy after he lost his radar the previous evening when trying to unsettle Trescothick with short-pitched stuff.

But the former England opener was back at his commanding best after looking distracted during the first two days, when he dropped three catches and was out for 12.

He twice cut Harmison for four in the early overs, then twice drove Onions to the cover boundary as he reached 50 off 92 balls with nine boundaries.

Callum Thorp gave Trescothick more trouble than the pacemen when he replaced Onions, but the rain returned after an hour’s play.

Onions returned on the 3.30 resumption and beat Hildreth on 45, but the youngster went to his half-century with his tenth four just before persistent rain arrived.

The championship pennant which Durham had made last week was left hanging limp after fluttering proudly on Wednesday.

The saga of the pennant began when Durham were asked if they would be flying it at Lord’s for the MCC v champions match.

They assumed it would be passed on by the 2007 champions, but it transpired that Sussex had their own made after the original went missing several years ago.

Durham enlisted a local flag-maker to provide two pennants, one to fly at home and one to take to away matches.

They carry the wording “LV County Championship winners, 2008.”

LV COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION ONE

Overnight: Durham 543 (D M Benkenstein 181, G J Muchall 68, M J DiVenuto 53, I D Blackwell 50). Somerset 69 (G Onions 6-31) and 83-1.

Somerset Second Innings Close

M E Trescothick not out ......................90

J C Hildreth not out .............................52

Extras (lb7 pens 0).....................7

Total 1 wkt (48 overs).............178

Fall: 1-49

To Bat: J L Langer, Z de Bruyn, C Kieswetter, P D Trego, O A C Banks, A C Thomas, D A Stiff, C M Willoughby.

Bonus Pts: Somerset 2 Durham 8

Bowling: Onions 12-2-58-0. Thorp 13-6-36- 0. S J Harmison 15-5-58-0. Claydon 6-1-14- 1. Blackwell 2-0-5-0.