DURHAM are hoping that the weather allows them to build today on the flying start to their Royal London Cup defence provided by Paul Collingwood's highest one-day score.

The forecast is not good, but they will not fancy a reduction of the 50-overs-a-side contest at home to a Worcestershire team who did the double over them in the Twenty20 Cup.

Collingwood scored a century in the championship win at Worcester two months ago but had endured a lean run since, not helped by poor lbw decisions, until he made a magnificent 132 at Northampton on Saturday.

His 97-ball innings took Durham to 313 for eight after being put in as they began their cup campaign with a 54-run win.

He would have been run out for 93 had Mohammad Azharullah not suffered a brainstorm.

The seamer did well to stop a drive off his own bowling and appeared to be confused when Collingwood set off for a run, hesitated, then kept coming.

He was well short of his ground when Azharullah shaped to take off the non-striker's bails then inexplicably threw the ball to the wicketkeeper to run out Ryan Pringle.

As the bowler realised his error and sank to his haunches with his head in his hands, a grinning Collingwood offered him a handshake and capitalised by reaching his hundred off 85 balls in the next over.

He then plundered a further 32 runs off 12 balls as 60 runs came off the last five overs when the previous five had yielded a disappointing 28.

The veteran of 197 one-day internationals, in which his highest score was 120 at Melbourne in 2007, had a previous one-day best for Durham of 118 not out against Nottinghamshire in 2002.

The let-off was crucial in a match which threatened to be a replica of the opening 50-over match at Taunton last season, when Collingwood's 113 took Durham to 311 for seven.

Somerset slipped to 106 for five before an unbroken stand of 209 between James Hildreth and Lewis Gregory carried them home with 3.2 overs to spare.

Northants threatened a similar recovery after the irrepressible Chris Rushworth reduced them from 33 without loss to 37 for four.

A sixth-wicket stand of 125 in 17 overs between South African Richard Levi and former England Under 19 star Ben Duckett gave Northants real hope.

After carefully holding things together in the first half of the innings, opener Levi began to pepper the boundaries, while Duckett raced to 50 off 45 balls.

They had Durham rattled until John Hastings returned to take two wickets in an over.

After picking up a single when badly dropped off the last ball of an Usman Arshad over, Levi swung across the line at the next ball and was bowled for 87.

Steven Crook then dragged an attempted pull into his stumps, but it still wasn't over as Rory Kleinveldt hit a six and two fours off an Arshad over.

The target was 73 off nine when a big gamble paid off as Scott Borthwick, who had conceded 42 in five, was recalled and had Duckett well caught at deep backward square by Pringle.

Kleinveldt lofted a catch to deep mid-wicket as Northants were dismissed for 259, Hastings finishing with four for 35 and Rushworth four for 41.

Collingwood went to the crease with Durham on 72 for three in the 16th and was soon scoring more fluently than Phi Mustard in a stand of 61.

Mustard, dropped in the slips on six off the impressive Kleinveldt, reached 50 off 63 balls, while Collingwood got there off 43.

He went down the pitch to lift Azharullah over extra cover then brought out the reverse paddle when Rob Keogh bowled the only two overs of spin.

Mustard was neatly stumped by Duckett for 65 at the halfway point, then Gordon Muchall contributed 45 to a stand of 92 in 15 overs.

They did well to keep the board ticking at a healthy rate as the pace and bounce of Olly Stone caused problems and David Willey tightened up after an expensive opening burst.

Hastings went in at the start of the 40th over but was unable to make an impact as, with 300 the minimum target, the required acceleration didn't arrive until Collingwood celebrated his century by hitting Kleinveldt over mid-wicket for two sixes.

He was out in the penultimate over when he edged Azharullah to Duckett, leaving Arshad and Keaton Jennings to garner a few more scraps.

Jennings was included because, as with Collingwood, his medium pace variations can be effective in one-day cricket. But filling the fifth bowler's allotment proved a problem as Jennings, Borthwick and Pringle conceded 92 in ten over between them until the leg-spinner's risky return paid off in the 42nd over.

Duckett had made a highly impressive 69 but failed to connect properly with a pull and Pringle atoned for dropping a sitter earlier by holding a good catch.

Durham are likely to be unchanged today, although Calum MacLeod is available. He failed to set the ICC World T20 qualifiers alight, making a duck in Scotland's easy semi-final win against Hong Kong on Saturday. Yesterday's final against the Netherlands in Dublin was washed out.