Date-stamped : 12 Jul95 - 06:27 ====> DAY 1 Persistent Boiling is rewarded By Tim Wellock at Durham First day of four: Worcestershire 248-5 v Durham WORCESTERSHIRE were indebted to David Leatherdale for absorbing the lesson that James Boiling is not to be taken lightly as Durham's perseverance with the off-spinner was rewarded with four wickets. Leatherdale played fluently but without risk in approaching his fourth half-century in five innings on a day of attrition as Boiling shared top billing with Durham-born Phillip Weston. No Durham spinner had taken a wicket on home soil since Aug 1 last year until Boiling had Gavin Haynes caught at slip. With nine wickets at 97.1 for Durham prior to this match, the former Surrey player looked like ending the drought with more of a torrent than a trickle. He held on to a stinging return catch from Weston, who made 80 off 215 balls, then Tom Moody fell into the trap of thinking Boiling offered easy pickings as he chipped to wide mid-on. Finally, Stuart Lampitt drove to deep mid-on before bad light ended play with 12 overs left. Durham lost the toss for the seventh successive championship match, but on a good pitch Weston took 30 balls to get off the mark and survived a difficult chance to the wicketkeeper during an excellent opening spell from Simon Brown. As conditions eased, Weston began to drive through the off side and looked set for his second hundred of the season until he perished seeking another big hit after driving Boiling for six. ====> DAY 2 Moody's plan reaps reward By Tim Wellock at Darlington Second day of four: Durham (157-6) trail Worcs (424-8 dec) by 267 runs WORCESTERSHIRE reaped a healthy dividend as the depth of their batting allowed them to insure heavily against the possible frailties of their shallower bowling resources. Having adopted crease occupation as the wisest tactics on the slow pitch, they batted for 156 overs and the approach was fully justified as they made swift inroads into Durham's reply. Tom Moody was rewarded for the skilful shuffling of his bowlers as Parvaz Mirza and Gavin Haynes both struck in their first overs after Phil Newport did the initial damage. Only David Leatherdale played with any fluency for Worcestershire, batting flawlessly until he fell seven short of his first hundred of the season when he drove his 169th delivery to mid-on. Worcestershire's other Yorkshireman, Steve Rhodes, seized the opportunity to play himself slowly back into form, turning a 131 ball half-century into an unbeaten 70, his highest score of the season. Paul Thomas generated enough life from the pitch to rattle the side of Mike Roseberry's helmet, but the Durham skipper hooked three boundaries before he was given out shouldering arms to Stuart Lampitt. ====> DAY 3 Newport polishes off Durham in three days By Tim Wellock at Darlington Worcs (424-8d and 25-0) bt Durham (191 and 255) by 10 wkts UNDER the captaincy of Tom Moody, Worcestershire's surge showed no sign of abating yesterday as Durham reverted to their habit of losing in three days. Victory in the last two games seemed a distant memory for Durham as they narrowly staved off an innings defeat after following on 233 behind. They left Worcestershire to score 23 for the fifth win in their last six championship games, and Tim Curtis stroked five fours as the target was reached in 1.3 overs. In a team packed with all-rounders, the lack of front-line bowling is clearly not a problem for Worcestershire as long as Phil Newport continues to perform with the sustained accuracy which undermined Durham's first innings and polished off the second. Newport's match analysis of nine for 72 was a laudible achievement on the easy-paced pitch, although there was little resistance as he took four of the last five second-innings wickets at a cost of six runs in five overs. Three of the other bowlers - Paul Thomas, Parvaz Mirza and England Under-19 player Vikram Solanki -began the game with only seven championship appearances among them. Thomas is searching for accuracy to go with the pace that generated enough bounce from a lifeless pitch to rattle Mike Roseberry's helmet on Friday. Losing the toss for the seventh successive championship match should not have contributed to Roseberry's problems on this pitch, but the Worcestershire bowlers put the ball in the right place. But it was a huge disappointment to see Durham bat so meekly in their first innings, with the last four wickets going down for 34 when they resumed on 157 for six. Prabhakar added only eight to his overnight 51 before slicing an intended drive off Newport to gully and the 33-year-old seamer completed a spell of three for one in 25 balls when he had Alan Walker and Simon Brown caught at the wicket. The innings ended in farce when James Boiling, having run one overthrow, called Melvyn Betts for a second following another inaccurate shy at the stumps, only to see the No 11 run out. Newport, who finished with five for 45, his best figures of the season, had bowled 10.4 overs in the morning and was spared new-ball duties when Durham went in again. There was no let-up, however, as Roseberry's deputy, Stewart Hutton, fell for nought when he edged Stuart Lampitt to first slip. Durham lunched on 13 for one, but, when Newport returned to action after the break, John Morris hit him for successive fours off the back foot and 21 runs came from the six-over spell. The lack of support for the tiring Newport was exposed as Morris twice clipped Mirza through the leg side for four. But, having moved serenely to 37, he turned Mirza into the hands of Gavin Haynes at square leg. Prabhakar came out with all guns blazing, reaching 50 off 52 balls and sharing a fourth-wicket stand of 119 with Darren Blenkiron. But Lampitt removed them both and Newport did the rest. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)