Somerset take control in Durham

Marcus Trescothick plays through the off side during his 75 at Chester-le-Street

Somerset took charge against Durham on day two at Chester-le-Street to boost their chances of the winning the County Championship for the first time. After resuming on 132-2, the hosts were bowled out for 286, with Ben Phillips picking up 4-60. The visitors then reached 226-4 by the close, with Marcus Trescothick making 75 and Nick Compton 46. Somerset's four bonus points sees them replace Nottinghamshire at the top of the Division One table. After a frustrating first day, Somerset made immediate inroads on the resumption when Alfonso Thomas had Dale Benkenstein caught at slip by Trescothick. Gordon Muchall (37) followed soon after, but the visitors were held up by useful contributions from Phil Mustard (42), Ben Harmison (35) and Ian Blackwell (23). However, Phillips and Charl Willoughby (3-81) mopped up the tail with the second new ball as Durham lost their last three wickets for nine runs.

Trescothick shared an opening stand of 48 with Arul Suppiah, who was caught and bowled by Liam Plunkett to signal the beginning of a second-wicket partnership of 84 between the Somerset skipper and Compton. Trescothick fell to Harmison shortly after a short break for rain, with Compton trapped lbw by the same man soon after. Craig Kieswetter could only contribute 10 before he swiped across the line to Chris Rushworth, but Peter Trego (33 not out) and James Hildreth (31 not out) combined for an unbroken stand of 46 that took Somerset to the close.

COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION ONE, Emirates Ground:
CLOSE OF PLAY, DAY TWO: Durham 286, Somerset 226-4
Durham 3pts, Somerset 4pts

Match ScoreBoard