Durham v Lancashire (Liverpool Victoria County Championship) : Day Three

IT WAS by no means the first time Durham have fallen foul of the Law yesterday, as Stuart of that ilk scored a century which left them struggling to save the game against Lancashire at Riverside.

Durham might also feel they have fallen foul of the umpires as they were set a target of 401 to win with 19 overs to survive last night and lost two wickets in fading light.

Two batsmen were unhappy to be given out by Jeff Evans in the first innings and when the Welshman adjudged Jon Lewis lbw to Sajid Mahmood the decision looked questionable on the basis of height.

After the umpires had consulted three times about the light, Lancashire brought on left-arm spinner Gary Keedy for the seventh over with immediate success.

After making 321 runs in his first two innings of the season, Gordon Muchall pushed forward and edged Keedy to the wicketkeeper.

That made it 14 for two and lefthanders Jimmy Maher and Gary Pratt survived several scares against Keedy before a halt was called six overs early with Durham on 30 for two.

Law was unbeaten on 111, his 72nd first-class century, when Lancashire declared at 268 for six. The prolific Australian, who played in one Test, gained British residency two years ago and seems to have been regularly milking runs off Durham for a decade.

He began by scoring 73 and 172 for Essex against them at Hartlepool in 1996 and it was something of a relief when he joined Lancashire in 2002 and Durham didn't have to face him in the championship.

For a man with a first-class career average coming into the season of 50.64, he had a lean time last year with 858 championship runs at an average of 39.0, but at 37 he is clearly determined to prove he's by no means finished.

Law was perhaps slightly lucky to come in at 32 for two in the 15th over just as Graham Onions and Ottis Gibson were starting to tire after causing all sorts of problems with the new ball.

First-innings century-maker Mal Loye could have gone at any time in making a tortured three off 23 balls, but for Durham it seems to be that if Loye doesn't punish them Law will.

Where the top three had struggled he made it look easy and after giving skipper Mark Chilton 15 overs start he passed him within three overs by pushing Callum Thorp's first ball wide of mid-on for his third four.

With Gibson looking dangerous, Durham gambled by leaving him on for 12 overs, in which he conceded only 23 runs. But they needed more than his one wicket if they were to have any chance of turning round the first innings deficit of 132.

Fit as he is for a man of 37, it also meant they weren't going to get much more work out of him for the rest of what became a day of toil.

It was clear from first thing, when Durham resumed on 277 for nine, that there was something in the pitch for the bowlers as Tom Smith brought one back sharply to pass over the stumps and defeat wicketkeeper Luke Sutton.

Despite the four byes, Durham could add only 12 before Glen Chapple claimed his fourth wicket when extra bounce forced Thorp to edge to Sutton.

The ball continued to move around as Onions had a very good shout for lbw turned down with Chilton on four, then had left-hander Iain Sutcliffe neatly taken by Muchall at third slip.

Gibson beat Loye three times in an over before pinning him lbw, but the gremlins seemed to vanish on Law's arrival.

He enjoyed some luck after reaching 20, however, as an inside edge for four off Thorp just missed his leg stump, then in Gareth Breese's first over he miscued a lofted drive which just cleared a disorientated Onions at mid-on.

Law was on 29 with Chilton on 20 out of 72 for two at lunch but it was the captain who accelerated afterwards, driving Breese for six as he became the first to the half-century mark.

On 57 Chilton drove too soon at a slower ball from Onions which nipped in through the gate to take out the off stump.

But the stand of 101 had ended any remote prospect of a Durham win and once a cover driven four off Onions took Law to 50 it would have needed a brainstorm from Lancashire to undermine their position.

The only hint of that came when a straight drive by Law ricocheted off the non-striker's stumps to Dale Benkenstein at mid-off but Law still called Paul Horton for a run which he had little chance of completing.

Sutton and Chapple hit a six each in dominating stands of 38 and 47, which allowed Law to move sedately along to his 167ball hundred.

Neil Killeen, who had Sutton caught at slip by Breese, looked unfortunate to have an lbw appeal turned down with Law on 101.

With the declaration looming Chapple tried to hook a bouncer from Thorp and edged it to Phil Mustard, but the declaration came as soon as Law took the lead to 400. The only time Durham have made more to win in the fourth innings was on the run-laden pitch at Taunton two years ago. Much as Riverside has improved, they are unlikely to repeat it here.

Scorecard

Durham v Lancashire at Riverside.

Overnight: Lancashire 421 (M B Loye 114, G
Chapple 82, L D Sutton 58; O D Gibson 4-106).
Durham 277-9 (G J Muchall 102; T C Smith 4-
68).

Durham First Innings
C D Thorp c Sutton b Chapple 10
N Killeen not out 5
Extras (b5 lb8 pens 0) 13
Total (95.4 overs) 289
Fall: 1-47 2-72 3-110 4-183 5-232 6-251 7-
259 8-277 9-277
Bowling: Chapple 27.4-5-74-4. Mahmood 22-
5-62-0. Smith 21-4-72-4. Keedy 22.3-3-67-1.
Chilton 2.3-1-1-1.

Lancashire Second Innings
I J Sutcliffe c Muchall b Onions 17
M J Chilton b Onions 57
M B Loye lbw b Gibson 3
S G Law not out 111
P J Horton run out 19
L D Sutton c Breese b Killeen 23
G Chapple c Mustard b Thorp 27
T C Smith not out 1
Extras (b1 lb7 nb2 pens 0) 10
Total 6 wkts dec (77 overs) 268
Fall: 1-23 2-32 3-133 4-180 5-218 6-265
Did Not Bat: D G Cork, S I Mahmood, G Keedy.
Bowling: Gibson 17-4-34-1. Onions 16-4-46-2.
Thorp 12-1-48-1. Killeen 13-0-39-1. Breese 18-
3-87-0. Benkenstein 1-0-6-0.

Durham Second Innings Close
J J Lewis lbw b Mahmood 2
J P Maher not out 14
G J Muchall c Sutton b Keedy 1
G J Pratt not out 8
Extras (b4 lb1 pens 0) 5
Total 2 wkts (13 overs) 30
Fall: 1-7 2-14
To Bat: D M Benkenstein, G R Breese, P
Mustard, O D Gibson, C D Thorp, G Onions, N
Killeen.
Bonus Pts: Durham 5 Lancashire 8
Bowling: Chapple 4-2-6-0. Mahmood 5-2-10-1.
Keedy 4-1-9-1.