WAITING around until 4.30 for play to resume after more rain at Taunton yesterday seemed to inflict a severe case of mental paralysis on Durham.

In 90 minutes they turned potential victory into almost certain defeat until, for the second time in the match, Marcus Trescothick threw his wicket away when in full cry.

Needing 195 to win, Trescothick scored all his 28 runs in fours and had already cracked Neil Killeen through the covers four times in ten balls when he tried it again and edged to wicketkeeper Andrew Pratt.

In view of the darkening clouds and with more rain forecast today, the England opener had some excuse for his haste in his half-century stand with Peter Bowler, but he might have given himself a couple of balls to adjust to Killeen's new angle from round the wicket.

Following Trescothick's exit in the first innings Somerset slumped from 91 without loss to 171 all out and they were wobbling again when Killeen hit the top of Mike Burns' off stump in his next over.

But Bowler and Jamie Cox survived the remaining nine overs and Somerset closed on 75 for two, needing a further 120.

Javagal Srinath has been the one bowler in the match to bowl better from the river end, but he opened up at the old pavilion end and began with a no-ball.

Another quickly followed and he never really settled in his six-over spell, while Stephen Harmison's three erratic overs at the river end seemed to suggest that Durham were deeply deflated after shamelessly surrendering their five remaining wickets in 35 minutes.

Thursday evening's graft, which left them 167 ahead, gave way to reckless abandon as they left Srinath unbeaten with 13 of the 27 runs they added.

Danny Law, who had played well to reach 35, pushed forward to the third ball of the day and lost his off stump to Nixon McLean.

That may have been excusable, but what followed was not. After driving Richard Johnson nicely down the ground to reach 27, Andrew Pratt tried to repeat the shot and offered the simplest of catches to mid-off.

Nicky Phillips quickly invited ridicule with a horrendous swipe well wide of off stump and a back-foot four cracked through extra cover failed to settle him down as he edged to second slip.

Killeen went first ball, pushing too firmly at Johnson and edging to wicketkeeper Rob Turner.

Four wickets had gone down in five overs and it was almost as if Somerset skipper Burns was taking pity on the visitors as he replaced McLean with Simon Francis.

Srinath immediately took ten off three successive balls with pulls for four and two followed by a lofted off-drive.

Harmison sensibly left anything wide of off stump from Johnson and did well to dig out a yorker, but when he got to the other end he tried to pull Francis and edged to Turner.

Durham were all out for 180, five fewer than in the first innings and without the 78 and 50 contributed by skipper Jon Lewis they would have been in a sorry plight.

But they still have the chance to snatch an unlikely victory today, when South African paceman Dewald Pretorius joins them and will be considered for tomorrow's National League match.

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