Scott Borthwick scored his maiden LV= County Championship century to help Durham battle back against Warwickshire after difficult start to Day Two of their clash at Edgbaston.
Borthwick along with skipper Paul Collingwood (73) put on a record seventh wicket partnership against the Bears of 153 to help the visitors bounce back after being reduced to 50-6 before Tea.
The 22-year-old fell for 101, eight overs before the close of play as Durham posted a respectable 284 in their first innings, trailing the hosts by 61 runs.
Earlier in the day, Graham Onions took three quick wickets in the morning session to bowl out the Bears for 345, as they added just 46 runs to their overnight total for 299.
Durham struggled early in their reply as, Mark Stoneman was out for a duck in the third over when he was caught behind by Tim Ambrose off the bowling of Keith Barker.
Barker struck again in the fifth as he removed Will Smith for a duck in identical fashion and he was quickly followed back to the pavilion by Dale Benkenstein for five, leaving Durham reeling at 5-3.
Ben Stokes and Keaton Jennings eased the situation for the visitors as they added 33 runs before Barker struck again when he had Jennings caught at slip by Rikki Clarke for seven.
Stokes looked comfortable in the middle and was playing some impressive strokes while at the crease but he fell to England seamer Chris Woakes as he was undone by late movement and was bowled for 33.
Phil Mustard joined Collingwood at the crease but didn’t last long as he became Woakes’s second victim when he departed for a duck with the score at 50-6.
With the odds stacked against them, Colingwood and Borthwick salvaged the Durham innings with some solid batting as the skipper compounded his battling reputation with a gutsy knock as he earned his side’s first half century of the 2013 season.
Borthwick was going along nicely but was given a life on 40 when he was dropped by Clarke off the bowling of Barker. He took full advantage of this as he joined his skipper powering his way to 50 with back-to-back boundaries off Chris Wright.
Durham’s concerns over the follow-on target of 196 were abated when Collingwood blasted a Jeetan Patel delivery to the boundary to move to 199 and their partnership to 149.
This put the pair in the record books, as they set the highest seventh wicket partnership against Warwickshire beating the previous record of 148 set by Ottis Gibson and Benkenstein in 2006.
Borthwick added four runs to their tally, to bring up the 200 but the partnership was broken at 153 when Collingwood’s resistance was finally broken when he edged a Woakes delivery straight to Clarke at slip.
The young leg-spinner took up the mantle in the captain’s absence and powered his way into the 90’s with some aggressive hitting.
When on 97 he got the three runs he needed as he knocked a Woakes delivery down the ground and earned the applause of Edgbaston as he recorded his second first-class ton.
Two overs later, however, he fell for his joint-highest first-class score of 101 as he knicked a Clarke ball to Varun Chopra at slip, bringing an end to a fine innings.
Chris Rushworth added late runs with some explosive hitting but confusion between him and Callum Thorp caused a run out which brought an end to the innings leaving Durham all out for 284.
There was time for two overs of the Bears’ second innings before the close of play and they added six runs for the loss of no wickets, as they lead Durham by 67 going into Day Three.