Mustard holds Lancashire at bay

Lancashire 344 and 91 for 4 dec drew with Durham 216
Scorecard

Durham skipper Phil Mustard's unbeaten 71 ensured his side avoided the follow-on at home to Lancashire and the rain-ruined match meandered to the inevitable draw in pleasant sunshine.

Durham were all out for 216 shortly after lunch to trail by 128 and Lancashire reached 91 for 4 in their second innings. It could have been different had Glen Chapple's superb final fling with the ball brought even greater reward than his eventual figures of five for 65.

The key moment came when Durham were 20 runs short of the follow-on target with three wickets standing. Mustard, on 39, survived a sharp chance to Paul Horton at first slip off Chapple and hurriedly picked up the required runs at the other end.

Durham still needed 11 when Chapple yorked Callum Thorp with a ball which swung from outside leg stump, but Mustard gathered them all in one over from Tom Smith. He twice ran Smith to third man either side of driving a lofted straight four which took him to 50 off 86 balls.

With 99 needed when Durham resumed on 96 for five, the target looked like presenting no problem as Mustard and Ben Stokes comfortably added 50 in the first 55 minutes. Both left-handers started confidently as Stokes leg-glanced Chapple for four and Mustard drove him to the extra cover boundary.

After bowling three overs, Chapple gave Sajid Mahmood his first bowl of the match but he began with a leg-side wide and his accuracy scarcely improved in an over which also featured two no-balls. His five overs for 25 did Lancashire no favours.

Other than when he flashed wide of off stump at Anderson and edged over first slip for four, 19-year-old Stokes coped admirably against the England bowler. But he grew over-confident and sliced a drive to backward point to fall for 37, Anderson sending him on his way with a few words.

Anderson had bowled unchanged for 27 overs, taking three for 74, when Chapple replaced him and quickly had Liam Plunkett caught behind. Thorp swiftly followed but by the time Chapple wrapped up the innings by bowling Steve Harmison second ball it was too late.

Stephen Moore, Mark Chilton and Shivnarine Chanderpaul passed 20 as Lancashire meandered to the close, Ian Blackwell recording eyecatching figures of 9-6-5-1. Lancashire took nine points from the match and Durham seven.