Worcestershire v Durham (County Championship) : Day One

MICHAEL Di Venuto has previously been a Tasmanian Devil in Durham's eyes, but yesterday he proved a magnificent saviour.

In his first innings for the county, the 33-year-old left-hander remained unbeaten on 155 out of 313 after Durham chose to bat on a glorious opening day of the season day at Worcester.

Four other batsmen have carried their bat through a Durham innings - Wayne Larkins, Jon Lewis, Michael Gough and Mike Hussey - but Di Venuto is the first to do it on debut.

The failure of the other Durham batsmen looked likely to be punished as Worcestershire sped to 87 for one, but in the final half hour Ottis Gibson grabbed three wickets and the hosts closed on 110 for five.

As the River Severn has burst its banks four times this winter, the New Road ground has been more suitable for pedalo outings than cricket and the groundsman felt 225 might be a good score. But the ball travelled swiftly across the verdant outfield and it was swing which troubled the batsmen rather than any perils in a pitch which encouraged attacking cricket.

Runs continued to flow on a cloudless evening as South Africa-born Worcestershire opener Stephen Moore raced to 46 after surviving an appeal by the whole Durham team for caught behind off Steve Harmison on four.

But with things beginning to look ominous, Moore edged Gibson to first slip, then Ben Smith nibbled the expensive Callum Thorp to Phil Mustard and Gibson had Vikram Solanki and nightwatchman Kabir Ali lbw.

Harmison was Durham's second highest scorer with 30, but he was out of luck with the ball. His first two balls to right-hander Moore flew down the leg side, but in his second over he looked aghast to have that huge appeal turned down by Barrie Leadbeater.

Graham Onions was also twice unlucky not to snare Phil Jaques before having the Australian left-hander caught behind for 19.

Durham rattled along at almost five an over until lunch, when they were 144 for four, but Di Venuto settled into a more measured approach as he held things together in the afternoon.

He accelerated again at the fall of the eighth wicket on 232, but Onions and Harmison did their bit in adding a further 81.

Although he has made four of his 40 first-class centuries against Durham, including a double, Di Venuto had a reputation at Derby for surrendering once he got to 50.

While the importance to him of that initial landmark was evident from the length of time he spent on 49, there was no hint of relaxation once he had punched Nadeem Malik through extra cover off the back foot to reach 50 off 65 balls.

There were ten fours in that, the only streaky one coming with his score on 12, when he inside edged a drive at Kabir Ali narrowly wide of leg stump.

Di Venuto is known as an accomplished puller, and he was off the mark in the first over when he dispatched Australian left-armer Doug Bollinger to the mid-wicket boundary.

While he accumulated many of his runs behind square, as soon as he passed 50 he unleashed a sumptuous straight drive off Roger Sillence, and his cover driving persuaded Worcestershire to post a deep cover after lunch.

Durham left out Garry Park from their 12-man squad, despite his unbeaten century at Headingley in his final innings of last season.

But the decision to reinstate Gordon Muchall at number three went unrewarded as he edged Bollinger to the wicketkeeper after making six.

Durham were then 43 for two after coasting through the opening half hour to reach 33 before Will Smith fell lbw for five to a swinging yorker from Bollinger.

Skipper Dale Benkenstein looked comfortable, but after driving Malik to the cover boundary to reach double figures he fell in similar fashion to Muchall.

When Ben Harmison shouldered arms to Malik and lost his off stump, Mustard went in at 98 for four in the 23rd over and two overs later he was off the mark with successive fours off Malik, followed by a third later in the over.

Mustard was also out not offering a stroke, although Leadbeater's lbw decision looked questionable on height.

Ottis Gibson had two edged fours in his 25 but looked comfortable until he sallied down the pitch to Gareth Batty and was stumped by the width of the Severn as the off-spinner picked up three wickets. He posed no problems for Di Venuto, who hit 25 fours in his 227-ball innings.

SCORECARD

Worcestershire v Durham at New Road

Durham First Innings
M J Di Venuto not out 155
W R Smith lbw b Bollinger 5
G J Muchall c Davies b Bollinger 6
D M Benkenstein c Davies b Malik 10
B W Harmison b Malik 6
P Mustard lbw b Kabir Ali 23
G R Breese c Hick b Batty 3
O D Gibson st Davies b Batty 25
C D Thorp lbw b Bollinger 1
G Onions b Sillence 16
S J Harmison c Hick b Batty 30
Extras (b4 lb15 w2 nb12 pens 0) 33
Total (74.2 overs) 313
Fall: 1-33 2-43 3-80 4-98 5-164 6-183 7-229 8-
232 9-270
Bowling: Bollinger 14-3-60-3. Kabir Ali 15-0-76-
1. Malik 13-0-70-2. Sillence 13-2-52-1. Batty
19.2-5-36-3.

Worcestershire First Innings Close
P A Jaques c Mustard b Onions 19
S C Moore c Breese b Gibson 46
V S Solanki lbw b Gibson 24
B F Smith c Mustard b Thorp 0
Kabir Ali lbw b Gibson 2
G A Hick not out 1
S M Davies not out 5
Extras (lb10 w1 nb2 pens 0) 13
Total 5 wkts (29 overs) 110
Fall: 1-43 2-87 3-94 4-104 5-105
To Bat: G J Batty, R J Sillence, M N Malik, D E
Bollinger.
Bowling: Onions 6-2-27-1. S J Harmison 8-2-
31-0. Thorp 7-2-24-1. Gibson 8-2-18-3.