A win's a win for Durham; Riversiders ever closer to retaining county crown.

Byline: Stuart Rayner

THIS will certainly not go down as the best win of Durham's season, but it could be one of the most important.

Nottinghamshire and Somerset will both draw today - or worse in Notts' case - after conceding monumental firstinnings scores. Durham have not been at their best either but, as is the mark of a good team, they have won anyway - with a day to spare. It takes a lot of imagination to work out how the Riversiders cannot win their second title, 12 months after their first.

Yesterday's eight-wicket success was their seventh of the County Championship season, one more than they won in the whole of 2008.

Their points tally of 186 is only four less, 47 ahead of second-placed Nottinghamshire before yesterday's points are added. With only four games left, the last at rock-bottom Worcestershire, they will have to do something they have not done all season in four-day cricket and lose. More than once. With their two home games being against the only sides who can catch them, the pair will need September's weather on their side.

That Durham won at a canter against a team who started slap bang in the middle of Division One (although without their two best batsmen) says everything about how much better they are than the rest. By the time they return to four-day action, against Somerset, they should be strengthened by Stephen Harmison and Graham Onions.

The frightening thing for Durham's rivals is that on the evidence of the last three days, there is plenty of room for improvement. Mark Stoneman still needs to convert starts into big scores, Shivnarine Chanderpaul ought to be better for yesterday's knock, Liam Plunkett and Mitchell Claydon must strive for greater consistency, and Mark Davies struggled after a back spasm in the game's first half-hour.

But once Callum Thorp's outstanding swing bowling put the visitors on the back foot, they were never allowed off it.

Patience was the order of day three, a lesson Warwickshire belatedly heeded. The value of Jim Troughton and Ateeq Javid batting for a combined 342 balls did not seem to be appreciated by those who came before or after. The debutant took 36 deliveries getting off the mark but that was not a criticism. He gave one chance, a very difficult one for the diving Phil Mustard, slashing at the ball on seven but it was an innings of admirable restraint which experienced international Sri Sreesanth would have been well advised to replicate after replacing him at the crease.

Troughton offered an extremely sharp caught-and-bowled chance to Thorp on 59 and only narrowly avoided a run-out when Will Smith shied from square on. But his four-hour century was fitting reward for the way he stepped up to the plate with Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott on Ashes duty. He prodded forward shortly before the new ball to give Blackwell a second wicket of the day after Rikki Clarke gifted him a first.

Davies was Durham's best performer with the ball second time around, although his back limited him to one spell. He too sensed the need for discipline, and reaped the rewards of bowling line and length to pick up three tail-end wickets.

He induced Javid to play and miss early in the 88th over, then went one better to give Mustard another catch. From there what had been frustrating resistance was crushed in six overs.

The modern trend when faced with trifling targets is to knock them off as quickly as possible, and Durham took 20.3 overs making 101.

Stoneman was out driving for five. As Tim Ambrose took a tumbling catch, Stoneman stared at the pitch but the blame lay squarely with him.

Smith was caught in slips for 11. But Michael Di Venuto is in imperious form and their departures allowed Chanderpaul to move up the order and spend time reacquainting himself with English conditions, which he did by punishing anything short and winning the game with a straight six.

Geoff Cook admitted it was not a flawless display. "Both teams were missing crucial players and it would have been very difficult to bowl them out if they'd had Bell and Trott, no doubt," he reflected.

"We talk all the time about bowling as straight as we possibly can, bowling as a unit and if we're going to be critical and analytical, we don't bowl well enough consistently." Durham are in Pro40 League action against Hampshire tomorrow, starting at 1.45pm.

CAPTION(S):

OUT Durham captain Will Smith congratulates Ian Blackwell after catching Naqaash Tahir off Mitchell Claydon. Picture: Tim McGuinness.