DURHAM were 208 for seven at tea, having lost a key wicket shortly before the break, just as they did in the morning.

They were 202 for five when Samit Patel came on for his first bowl and Michael Richardson took a stride forward to his third ball and missed.

Chris Read doesn’t miss opportunities like that and Richardson was stumped for 72 after holding the innings together with admirable tenacity.

In the next over John Hastings played back defensively and edged a good ball from Ajmal Shahzad to Read.

Calum MacLeod did not look comfortable against good bowling from Luke Fletcher and Shahzad after lunch. He was on six when a ball from Fletcher hit him on the pads and trickled on to the base of the stumps without dislodging a bail.

The burly seamer had his reward when Steven Mullaney held on to a low, right-handed catch at third slip to get rid of MacLeod for 18.

Paul Collingwood looked in terrific form as he cracked a couple of fours through the covers off 23-year-old seamer Jake Ball, who is playing only his third championship game.

But the captain may have been lulled into a false sense of security against a bowler who often strayed down the leg side and after making 22 he chopped an attempted cut into his stumps.

That brought in Gordon Muchall at seven, three places lower than when he made 158 not out at Trent Bridge in May. He has a top championship score of 37 not out since then and made a jittery start today, but was still there on 16 at tea with Paul Coughlin on four.