Durham resumed on 132-2 on day two against Somerset at Emirates Durham with Dale Benkenstein and Gordon Muchall in the middle.
The pair acquired the run to achieve the hundred partnership before Benkenstein was caught in the slips by Marcus Trescothick off Afonso Thomas for 72. Durham were 160-4 when Gordon Muchall was caught behind off Phillips for 37.
Ian Blackwell and Ben Harmison put on 57 before the former was out lbw to Peter Trego for 23. Harmison became Trego’s second victim when he was caught by Suppiah at square leg on 35, leaving Durham 222-6.
Ten more runs were added to the total by the lunch break.
Scott Borthwick added nine before he was caught by Trescothick off Phillips with the seventh delivery using the new ball. Willoughby claimed his second wicket when Plunkett edged it the slips having added 11 to the score, bringing debutant Ruel Brathwaite to the middle to join Mustard.
Willoughby struck for a third time, bowling Mustard on 42 as Durham reached 284-9. Brathwaite was the last man to fall, out lbw to Phillips for 2.
Durham posted 286, claiming two bonus points.
The hosts managed to pick up just one wicket before the tea break, that of Suppiah, who was caught and bowled by Plunkett for 18 as Somerset reached 48. Trescothick and Nick Compton guided the visitors past the hundred mark in the 36th over, including a fifty from 65 deliveries for the opener.
Rain and bad light brought play to a halt at 4.50pm with 19 overs remaining of the session. Play resumed at 5.15pm without any overs lost.
Ben Harmison picked up the prize wicket of Trescothick with the first delivery of his fifth over when he was caught behind on 75, leaving Somerset 132-2.
Four from Compton pushed Somerset passed the 150 mark but the batsman was out lbw next ball on 46 to Harmison.
Somerset were 180-4 once Kieswetter was trapped lbw by Rushworth for just 10 with less than nine overs remaining in the day.
At the close of play Somerset were 226-4 with Hildreth 31* and Trego 33*.
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At the close of play we spoke to Ruel Brathwaite about his Durham debut, “It was a bit tough in the field with Trescothick in form but the guys played well out there. I really enjoyed it, they are a good bunch of lads at Durham and they’ve made me feel really at home.
“Being the first game there was always going to be some pressure for me coming into bowl but I really enjoyed it and having to bat first did ease a bit of the pressure.
“I’ve been doing a lot of training with the coaches, working on my areas and it seemed to pay off. I thought I was pretty close to getting a wicket – I thought I’d have got one to be honest but that’s cricket, sometimes you bowl good spells and you don’t get wickets and there are times when you bowl badly and pick them up. Hopefully tomorrow I can come back and do something better for the team.
“They are still 60 runs or so behind us and they’re going to have to come out tomorrow and work pretty hard to get them.”