Brown was pulled for six when he dropped short while Daggett, straying in direction and length, soon had to be removed.

Asked to lead the attack, Daggett is promising but inexperienced and strained too hard for the breakthrough.

T h o u g h B r o w n h a d

Benkenstein caught behind attempting to cut, his reduced pace was unable to find the same devil in the pitch as had Durham's seamers. Harris struggled. The ability of left-handers to sweep him proved fatal.

Jimmy Maher (126 balls, 14 fours), with his second century of the season, and the increasingly impressive Ben

Harmison (84 balls, 13 fours) scurried to victory in a stand of 135 in 28 overs.

Had Trott clung on to a desperately difficult chance things might have been different. Harmison, on 12, edged Groenewald - the ball flew low through the slips. It was the two chances missed off Benkenstein in the first innings that proved more costly.

Streak, like Anyon highly unlikely to play on Sunday and a doubt for the next Championship match, said his absence was only one problem. "We under-achieved in our second innings," he said. "Had we taken our catches and bowled better it may have been different but we needed to set them around 300. The pitch was starting to ease. The turn

Harris found in the first innings was due to dampness in the pitch but that had dried out. Our season has been like this game. We are inconsistent."

They certainly are. Indeed, they were last year, too. Though they move up to third, another finish in mid-table is likely. It is probably a fair reflection of a peculiar season.