Onions' seven sends Durham top

Durham 433 and 22 for 0 beat Warwickshire 276 (Bell 79, Harmison 5-44) and 177 (Bell 57, Onions 7-38) Scorecard

A day after Steve Harmison staked his claim for an Ashes place, it was the turn of Graham Onions to prove his Test credentials. Onions claimed seven for 38, bowling with pace and accuracy, to help Durham to a ten-wicket victory that puts them back on top of the Championship table. They have now won three games in succession and look certain to mount a sustained defence of their title.

This was a highly impressive performance. Not only had Warwickshire prepared a pitch to negate the threat of Durham's fast bowlers, but almost a day had been lost to poor weather. Indeed, Durham's head coach, Geoff Cook, referred to the performance as "one of Durham's best wins."

Certainly their fast bowling attack is the envy of their rivals. While many teams would delight in one fast bowler, Durham seem to have a production line of them. Though Liam Plunkett is rated as "nowhere near playing" by Cook, Mark Davies will return for the second XI next week after an ankle injury. The club are better placed than most to withstand either injuries or England call-ups.

Harmison and Onions complemented each other perfectly in this match. Between them they claimed 13 for 230 in this game, with Harmison using his height to extract bounce, and Onions bowling fuller and straighter. Onions appeared slightly the quicker.

Onions seems to like bowling at Edgbaston. In his last appearance here, in 2007, he claimed career-best figures of eight for 101. But it's not the pitch that helps him. The ground remains a bowlers' graveyard; slow and unhelpful. Instead, his success - and that of Harmison - raises questions about the technique and application of Warwickshire's batsmen against pace. Quite simply, some of them don't fancy it.

If there was one cloud on the Durham horizon it would be the quality of their spin bowling. Though he beat the bat several times, Ian Blackwell was unable to take advantage of highly favourable conditions and Gareth Breese was rarely used.

This result ended Warwickshire's long, unbeaten run. They had not lost a championship game since the end of 2007 - a run of 20 matches - and had only lost once at home in the last three years. It was also Ashley Giles' first experience of championship defeat as director of cricket.

While one defeat in 18-months is hardly cause for panic, it should cause some concern. They have only won once at Edgbaston since April 2007 and face a tough end to the season with away games at Lancashire, Nottinghamshire and Durham. A relegation struggle looms.

They can take some comfort in the fact that they will rarely come up against attacks of Durham's class. And it's just as well, for several Warwickshire players looked more than a little uncomfortable against the pace and aggression of Harmison and Onions.

Only when Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott were together did it appear that Warwickshire could avoid defeat. The pair of them added 72 before Bell, who had oozed class in compiling his second half-century of the match, played at one he could have left only to see an inside edge send his middle-stump cart wheeling.

It precipitated a sharp decline. Onions claimed three for four in 12 deliveries as Trott edged a back foot push into the slips and Jim Troughton, who looks deeply uncomfortable against pace, prodded tentatively down the wrong line. Tim Ambrose edged as he pushed at a good one that bounced before Neil Carter, who had just pulled three successive boundaries off Harimson, then obligingly cut straight to the short third man placed for the shot.

Chris Woakes edged a perfect ball he had to play, while Jeetan Patel, who does not so much go back and across as back and away was beaten for pace. Ant Botha and Boyd Rankin resisted until deep inside the final hour but, by the time the latter edged to slip, the target was only 21 and Durham had eight overs left. They duly won with four overs to spare.

Perhaps the key moment came much earlier in the day. Warwickshire came within eight of saving the follow-on, before Rankin played-on against Onions.

They were soon in trouble second time around. Tony Frost fished at a good ball on off stump, before Ian Westwood's torturous stay - his eight runs occupied 56 balls - ended when he turned one to short leg. In the end, Warwickshire were out-classed by a highly impressive Durham.