STEVE HARMISON raised his arms to the skies in triumph.

So what if his first Test victim at Riverside hadn't been bowled by a 90mph missile, or caught fending off a vicious lifting delivery?

After seeing Richard Johnson steal his Chester-le-Street thunder, Harmison had finally got in on the act.

Andy Blignaut had casually flicked Harmison away to long leg, only to see James Anderson run round the boundary to take a comfortable catch.

It was hardly a classical fast bowler's dismissal - Anderson wasn't even out for the hook - but Harmison's celebration betrayed his relief.

Before tea, Harmison had been at his frustratingly erratic best. Four balls in his first over were way down the legside; a fifth took the edge of Tatenda Taibu's bat and flew for four over the slip cordon.

But with his 15th Test match delivery at Durham, and third after the resumption, Harmison had a wicket to his name.

It was a strange day for Harmison. With the bat, he looked relatively assured, even playing an incongruous paddle sweep off Raymond Price early in his innings.

"He's practiced that shot for about three years. He'd love to launch into the spinners, but he reckons no one in the world expects him to play the paddle sweep," the watching Paul Collingwood said.

Soon after edging for four to third man - one of two boundaries for the lad from Ashington - Harmison fenced a rising ball from Heath Streak to second slip.

That was the fun over with; now for the serious stuff.

But Harmison never had the opportunity to become the England hero - Richard Johnson saw to that.

Zimbabwe were already five wickets down and out when Nasser Hussain introduced the local boy into the attack.

Harmison wanted the new ball; now he'll do well to prise it from Johnson and James Anderson's hands after their displays thus far this summer.

The wicket was not conducive to Harmison's style of bowling, and he could not even exploit the variable bounce that was seeing the occasional ball keep low.

He ought to have mopped up Zimbabwe's tail sooner. Perhaps he was suffering from nerves, but Harmison did not look all that threatening yesterday.

He did secure a second wicket when he finished off the tourists' first innings, snaring Raymond Price leg before, but the 24-year-old was a member of the supporting cast.

Harmison might have been one of the hosts, but his party was gatecrashed by the Richard Johnson Show.