COMETH the hour, cometh Big Ben. Just when Durham’s game against Nottinghamshire seemed certain to drift to a draw, Ben Harmison suddenly took three wickets in four balls.

He later added a fourth and the leaders were all out for 180 ten minutes before the start of the final hour to lose by 210 runs.

Nottinghamshire still took six points from the game and need only five more from two matches to ensure that Durham can’t catch them. But the door is now ajar for Yorkshire, who are 25 points behind and visit Trent Bridge next week.

At 24, the 6ft 5in Harmison has been something of a problem for Durham since featuring strongly in the first title campaign two years ago.

He seemed to have found a niche as the fourth seamer who could bat at seven, but the arrival of Ian Blackwell in the all-rounder’s role prompted Durham to prefer four specialist seamers.

Harmison did not play in the championship at all last season and wasn’t happy about it, while brother Steve has long agitated for his inclusion.

Ben has featured this season only because of injuries and had to come on for the fifth over yesterday after Liam Plunkett limped off. He had turned an ankle in a sprinkler head and managed only two overs with the new ball before joining Mark Davies on the sidelines.

As Scott Borthwick had been ill before the start, Durham were left with a threadbare attack and when Nottinghamshire were 51 for one just after lunch, a stalemate seemed certain.

As Nottinghamshire coach Mick Newell observed: “Ben produced an over out of nowhere and it cost us the game.”

It summed up the glorious unpredictability of sport as the only threat Harmison carried before lunch was that he might encourage Nottinghamshire to go for victory.

He conceded 24 in four overs and there was a wide in his first over after the break. But two overs later he suddenly got it right.

Alex Hales pushed forward and edged to Michael Di Venuto at second slip and the next ball, perfectly pitched on off stump, bounced steeply. Australian Adam Voges, also pushing forward, edged it to Phil Mustard.

The hat-trick ball was short and wide, allowing Samit Patel to collect two easy runs, but the next one swung in slightly then straightened off the pitch. Patel had played back and the ball brushed his pads, giving Trevor Jesty an easy lbw decision.

Harmison continued to mix good balls with bad in four more wicketless overs before he was rested, but a stand of 30 between Mark Wagh and Ali Brown was deservedly broken by Ian Blackwell.

He had beaten Wagh several times but finally had him lbw for 18 and went on to take three for 23 in 19 overs.

“Blackwell was crucial because he really spins it,” said coach Geoff Cook. “We took wickets with some really good balls, particularly those that got Voges and Patel.

“We would have loved to have Graham Onions and Steve Harmison taking wickets at the rate they did last year, but we have had to adjust.

“We are trying to stay competitive but we also need to develop a team to take us forward and this season has been a huge learning curve.”

When Harmison was recalled he struck with his fifth ball, visiting skipper Chris Read reaching for and edging low to third slip, where substitute Gareth Breese held a good catch. Nottinghamshire continued to show their lack of backbone when in a tight corner as Andre Adams slogged at almost every ball and skied a catch to mid-on off Mitch Claydon.

Like Harmison, Claydon blew hot and cold as he tried to take on the responsibility of leading the attack. He bowled a superb over – his fifth – just before lunch, troubling Wagh with almost every ball.

Late resistance came from Steven Mullaney, who took advantage of some more loose stuff from Harmison and left him with figures of four for 70.

Mullaney was last out for 68 when he skied an attempted pull off Borthwick for Mustard to take the catch.

The ease with which Mustard and Borthwick added 79 in an hour in the morning suggested the pitch was still full of runs.

Blackwell departed to the day’s sixth ball, caught behind without adding to his 50, but Borthwick played beautifully for the second time in the match, scoring 43 in the unbroken stand of 79 with Mustard, who was on 51 when he declared on 361 for six.

Plunkett will not play in today’s CB 40 match at home to Kent (12.45) but hopes to be fit for the championship game against Essex at Chelmsford, starting on Tuesday.

■ Durham have under 800 tickets left for the first NatWest Series ODI between England and Pakistan next Friday, priced from £35 adults, £10 juniors, available from the Box Office on 0844 499 4466 or online at www.durhamccc.co.uk

Scoreboard

Durham v Nottinghamshire At Emirates Durham ICG

Overnight: Nottinghamshire 343 (C M W Read 56, A D Brown 52). Durham372 (P Mustard 120, S G Borthwick 68, M D Stoneman 67, I D Blackwell 59; AR Adams 5-92) and 279-5 (G J Muchall 111, D M Benkenstein 58, I D Blackwell50 no).

Durham Second Innings

I D Blackwell c Read b Fletcher ...........50

P Mustard not out .............................51

S G Borthwick not out .......................43

Extras (lb5 w2 nb2 pens 0)......9

Total 6 wkts dec (85.5 overs)361

Fall: 1-20 2-35 3-179 4-191 5-242 6-282 Did Not Bat: L E Plunkett, M E Claydon, M Davies.

Total Bonus Pts: Durham 7 Nottinghamshire 6

Bowling: Fletcher 20-3-67-1. Pattinson 2.1-0-26-0. Adams 15.4-2-76-2. Franks 13- 1-51-0. S R Patel 30-3-113-3. Voges 1-0-2- 0. Mullaney 4-0-21-0

Nottinghamshire Second Innings

A D Hales c Di Venuto b B W Harmison ......36

P J Franks lbw b Claydon .....................8

M A Wagh c Mustard b Blackwell ........18

A C Voges c Mustard b B W Harmison .........0

S R Patel lbw b B W Harmison .............2

A D Brown lbw b Blackwell .................29

C M Read c Sub b B W Harmison .........0

S J Mullaney c Mustard b Borthwick ...64

A R Adams c Blackwell b Claydon ........9

L J Fletcher c Muchall b Blackwell .........5

D J Pattinson not out ...........................0

Extras (b5 lb2 w2 pens 0) ........9

Total (54.1 overs) .................180

Fall: 1-31 2-52 3-52 4-54 5-84 6-97 7- 103 8-128 9-170

Did Not Bat: R J Sidebottom.

Total Bonus Pts: Durham 7 Nottinghamshire

Bowling: Plunkett 2-0-8-0. Claydon 15-4- 61-2. B W Harmison 15-2-70-4. Blackwell 19-13-23-3. Borthwick 3.1-0-11-1.

Durham (23pts) beat Nottinghamshire (6pts) by 210 runs.