BRAD Hodge's determination to shake off his dreadful luck and make his mark with Durham paid off with a match-winning innings at the Riverside yesterday.

Proving the value of having a senior batsman at one end, the Victorian shared a stand of 129 with Gordon Muchall as Durham won their National League match against Somerset by six wickets.

Hodge broke his left thumb in the nets five days after arriving as Martin Love's replacement, but almost begged Durham to allow him to stay in the hope of playing in the last few games.

He couldn't have taken long to work out that his luck had changed yesterday as he faced some friendly bowling from a team in which only Marcus Trescothick and two debutants had much to play for.

But he had to knuckle down when Durham were 30 for two in the 11th over chasing their visitors' 204 for nine, and spent 71 balls over his first 50.

Durham still needed 46 when he went down the pitch and was stumped for 77 in the 38th over, but Muchall had the target down to 15 by the time he fell for 81 four overs later.

Andrew Pratt strode out to hit 15 not out off eight balls as he and his brother Gary steered Durham home with an over to spare.

Like a lot of small batsmen, Hodge proved very good off the back foot, with his delicate cutting providing the bulk of his early runs.

The only chance he gave was on 67, when Keith Dutch failed to hang on to a fierce drive at extra cover.

Hodge said: "It was good that I had time to occupy the crease after not playing for five weeks.

"It was important to come back in and make an impact and help the team get a win under their belts.

"I tried to take the pressure off Gordon and communicate with him, and I thought he played beautifully. He has had a run of low scores, but he just needed a bit of confidence."

Somerset fielded only five of the team which lost the C & G Trophy final against Yorkshire on Saturday, but they did include Trescothick.

The opener had been released from England net duties in an attempt to gain valuable match practice before Thursday's final Test against India at the Oval.

Needing a lengthy innings to prove his fitness, Trescothick looked in complete command, scoring fluently without taking any risks until Marc Symington lulled him into offering a catch to mid-off.

Symington's first over cost 14 runs and after being starved of the strike for a few overs Trescothick was guilty of careless driving and departed for 41 in the 16th over.

He said afterwards: "I was disappointed with the way I got out as I wanted to bat for 30-40 overs and rebuild my concentration.

"I haven't really given my thumb a true test yet as I've played on two slow pitches. I need to face Stephen Harmison and Andy Caddick on a track with some pace and bounce tomorrow before I can be sure I'm ready."

Trescothick's first 17 runs were all whipped either side of square leg before he cut Neil Killeen for four and greeted Symington's first ball with a back-foot four through the covers.

While he was at the crease, a Somerset total of at least 260 looked likely as he scored his runs off 44 balls with seven fours without breaking sweat in the glorious weather.

His exit was not immediately responsible for the decline as 19-year-old Malaysian Arul Suppiah, a product of Millfield School, played some wristy strokes in helping Keith Dutch to put on 50 in 11 overs.

The youngster then went down the pitch and was stumped by Andrew Pratt, giving Michael Gough the first wicket of his best one-day analysis of three for 26.

With Hodge also bowling four economical overs and acting captain Nicky Phillips getting through his full allocation, the 22 overs of off-spin played a big part in stifling the innings.

So did three careless run-outs, starting with the dangerous Ian Blackwell sacrificing himself when called for a suicidal single to mid-on by Rob Turner.

Then Wes Durston - like Suppiah making his competition debut - backed up too far and was run out by Gary Pratt after facing only three balls.

Dutch, who has had a lean season with the bat, revelled in the chance to bat at No 3. The batting hero of last season's C & G semi-final, he is not unknown to Durham, who looked like winning a NatWest Trophy match against Middlesex at Southgate four years ago until Dutch strode out to defy them.

He helped Trescothick put on 70 in 11 overs and went on to reach 64 off 77 balls before miscuing a full toss from Gough to Nicky Peng at deep mid-off.

Peter Trego was bowled trying to cut Gough and Turner's attempts to hold things together was also ended by Gough.

He was rolling round apparently hurt after a good stop at mid-on when he realised Turner was halfway down the pitch and instantly recovered to return the ball to Andrew Pratt.

Gough was presented with the Goldsmith's Player of the Month award, a £1200 watch, at the interval but failed to reproduce his recent batting form as he made seven before being adjudged lbw to left-armer Matthew Bulbeck in the 11th over.

Peng's poor run continued as he was out for a duck in the second over, punching a back-foot shot into Trescothick's hands at extra cover.

While that was bad news for Peng, it did at least get Hodge to the crease with time to play himself in, and while his innings didn't quite match the debut century of Durham's other Victorian, Dean Jones, in this competition, that was only because this was a much more low-key occasion.

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