THE blossoming of Keaton Jennings continued yesterday as he led Durham into a commanding position against Somerset at Emirates Riverside.

For the last 11 overs the floodlights were on for the first time in championship cricket, but nothing could outshine the performance of the 23-year-old opener.

Three overs from the close he lofted left-arm spinner Roleof van der Merwe wide of mid-on to become only the third Durham player to score two hundreds in a match.

Following the diligent graft which took him to 116 in the first innings, he unveiled an array of high-class strokes in reaching 105 not out.

On 223 for four, Durham lead by 300 after two days and surely only the weather can prevent them from opening their championship programme with a win.

Somerset provided modest opposition yesterday, especially when bowling such dross at the start of Durham's second innings that the first three overs yielded 32 runs, Lewis Gregory conceding 24 in two.

With 66 on the board, Mark Stoneman pulled the first ball of the 11th over for six off Tim Groenewald, but only two more runs were added before he surrendered in van der Merwe's first over.

With England selector James Whitaker watching, Stoneman probably did himself no favours by driving a catch straight to short mid-wicket to depart for 41.

Jennings proceeded to 50 off 63 balls, compared with 130 in the first innings, but the only hint of extravagance was a reverse sweep off van der Merwe.

It was followed by a sumptuous drive through extra cover and he continued to profit from anything short and wide of off stump. Somerset's offerings in that area suggested they had learned nothing from the previous day.

The afternoon offered the best batting conditions and when the morning cloud returned after tea the torrent of runs dried to a trickle until Paul Collingwood emerged to reach 39 off 51 balls.

After playing himself in carefully, Scott Borthwick advanced nicely to 25 before slicing a drive to gully, then Jack Burnham made five before slapping a long hop straight to extra cover.

For the second time in the match Michael Richardson was adjudged lbw, but Collingwood swiftly atoned for his first ball exit in the first innings with some high-class strokes.

Superb bowling by Graham Onions, assisted by the run-out of visiting skipper Chris Rogers, saw Durham reduce Somerset to 102 for eight in the morning.

Peter Trego and Lewis Gregory then counter-attacked in a stand of 66 before the visitors were all out for 177, Onions finishing with four for 64.

The first hour was expected to be tough in cloudier conditions than on the first day, but Rogers somehow survived a torrid examination by Onions.

With James Hildreth doing the bulk of the scoring, the stand was worth 50 when Onions struck after 45 minutes.

Hildreth was drawn forward by a ball which moved enough to take the edge on the way to Ryan Pringle at third slip. Jim Allenby was only half forward to the next ball, which swung in to have him lbw.

Four overs later Somerset again lost two wickets in two balls. Van der Merwe drove at another in-swinger, which took the inside edge and was well caught by wicketkeeper Richardson.

Trego pushed the next ball to mid-off and ran, but Rogers was unable to beat Stoneman's direct hit and was gone for 23. No wonder he looked annoyed after battling through the first hour.

There were two wickets for championship debutant Brydon Carse, the quickest bowler in the match.

Wicketkeeper Ryan Davies, signed from Kent, tried to fend a short ball to leg and lobbed it back to the bowler and Trego was last out for 45 when he slogged the first ball of Carse's second spell to mid-on.