Chanderpaul and Di Venuto turn the screw

Durham 265 for 3 (Di Venuto 131*, Benkenstein 14*) lead Somerset 224 (de Bruyn 76, Harmison 5-84) by 41 runs
Scorecard

	Shivnarine Chanderpaul scampers a single on his way to 93 © PA Photos

It was a somewhat bland day's play in Taunton, apart from occasional bursts of rain and a rather quixotic period of batting from the ICC's newly-crowned Player of the Year, Shivnarine Chanderpaul. He shared a large partnership with the Tasmanian Michael Di Venuto that put Durham into a dominant position against Somerset - if the weather on the final day allows them the chance to take advantage of it.

Durham started the day at 45 for 1, an hour late after overnight rain. Their dogged approach was clear from the start, although they lost Will Smith early. Alfonso Thomas produced a faster ball, a low full toss that was as good as a yorker, as Smith was too late with his shot and comprehensively bowled, having added three to his overnight 21.

In came the man of the moment, Chanderpaul. Like a true professional, he did not scorn a match of mere domestic status for a team with which he has no ties apart from that of employment, and knuckled down with his crab-like stance to play an innings of worth, in partnership with fellow hired gun, Di Venuto. He was not, as suggested in some reports, in Dubai last night to receive his award, and there was quite definitely no double standing in for him at Taunton; it is inconceivable that the best-coached actor in the world could bat successfully using that crab-like technique.

Accumulation was the watchword for the overseas pair, as shown by the simple statistic that their century partnership came up in 45 overs, not long before the tea interval. Chanderpaul made 51 of these, his fifty coming off 125 balls, while his partner's took 127. Apart from a hard chance offered by Di Venuto at short extra cover when on 56, the pair played the percentages and concentrated on working the ball around the field in safety. Somerset used seven bowlers to try to part them, but in vain. The only thing to shift them from the crease was a short and very sharp burst of rain on the stroke of tea.

What on earth got into Chanderpaul during the hour the players were off the field? The first two balls after the break, from Ian Blackwell, disappeared with nonchalance wide of long-on, reminding us that the grim Test accumulator has an alter-ego capable of ripping any bowling attack to shreds within minutes.

Di Venuto reached his century a few minutes later, off 227 balls. He now began to attack the cover boundary vigorously, while Chanderpaul, having exploded an hour's worth of adrenalin in two balls, settled back into second gear, lulling spectators into a false sense of security before hitting Thomas for two deceptively powerful leg-side fours, which took Durham into the lead and himself into the nineties.

Then, unaccountably, Chanderpaul seemed to lose his timing, playing a couple of false shots. Then he cut at a ball from Charl Willoughby with poor footwork and dragged the ball on to his stumps. He made 93 (176 balls, nine fours, two sixes), and the partnership added 174.

Di Venuto, having witnessed the mercurial ending to his partner's innings, could only offer consistency in response, and he continued to accumulate steadily, playing well off his legs and keeping the board ticking over in company with Dale Benkenstein. He was still unbeaten at the close with an invaluable 131. Willoughby overall was the best of the bowlers, but Michael Munday, allowed only two overs of legspin that cost eight runs, must have wondered why he was playing. He is rather slow for a specialist fielder.