Davies and Colly give Durham great start

By Jon Steer
April 21 2005

Career best figures of 6-32 from Mark Davies reduced Worcestershire to 171 all out. Mike Hussey fell cheaply to Chaminda Vaas before Paul Collingwood led the Durham innings with 88 not out as they reached 139-2 at the close.

Davies and Collingwood put in great individual performances but the day showed the strength of this seasons Durham squad. The stars of last week's record breaking victory over Leics were relagated to supporting roles as others took to the spotlight.

Liam Plunkett couldn't find the breakthroughs that rocked Leicestershire but Mark Davies took the first six Worcs wickets in a devastating spell which was then continued when Colly took the vital wicket of Grahame Hick and Harmison polished off the tail with the final three wickets.

The batting hero of last week Mike Hussey was out for just 2 as Durham started their reply. Chaminda Vaas struck as the Durham openers found scoring very difficult. Last week Colly's arrival at the wicket signalled a slow down in the run rate but today it was quite the opposite - he found the gaps and got the scoreboard moving. Soon Jon Lewis was also scoring more freely as the two put together a century partnership before Lewis was out for 37.

Colly was joined by Gordon Muchall who will be looking to better his 82 against Leics last week. Durham finished at 139-2 with every possibility of getting a decent first innings lead against one of the best teams in the division.