Brendon McCullum’s 131 led New Zealand to 303 for 8 at the Sheikh Zayed stadium in Abu Dhabi, and paved the way for them to level the three match series at 1-1

Cricinfo staff06-Nov-2009
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outBrendon McCullum’s 131 was his second ODI century, and his first against serious opposition•Associated Press

Brendon McCullum, it is fair to say, hasn’t had the best year, or in fact the best time of it since he launched the IPL into orbit two years ago. Expectation has generally overtaken him, he has been dropped as vice-captain and questions about his suitability to opening have been asked. But an immaculately constructed 131, McCullum’s second century in 162 ODIs, led New Zealand to 303 for 8 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, and paved the way for them to level the three-match series at 1-1.There were periods of acceleration, uncertainty and consolidation in New Zealand’s innings and McCullum stood firm through it all, falling only in the 47th over, the last of the batting Powerplay. Pakistan’s chase needed a similar effort but none was forthcoming. They seemed to have a plan: the top order batted cautiously, preserved wickets and steadily built a platform for the middle and lower order to fire from. The launchpad was there – they reached 124 for 1 – but the asking-rate had risen to over seven an over, heaping pressure on the likes of Shahid Afridi. And when the time came for Pakistan’s thrust, Scott Styris nipped out three crucial wickets in two overs. The plan had failed and the exodus of fans from the venue began as early as the 28th over.The match, though, was McCullum’s. His innings was everything his many, unfulfilled contributions haven’t been. The early harassing – the shimmies down the tracks, the moving around – was there but it wasn’t until Martin Guptill arrived, that McCullum really settled in.Guptill implemented the truism that the easiest singles in cricket are found in Pakistan’s 30-yard circle. It was selfless stuff, for the real beneficiary was McCullum. Umar Gul was driven and cut, though mostly the violence was reserved for Abdul Razzaq, who, had he been actually handing out chocolates, could not have been friendlier: a short ball was pulled over square leg, before he was cut just as hard. McCullum, soon, was celebrating a fifty. Spin threatened circumspection but not for long as Guptill danced down to loft Saeed Ajmal for six in the 20th over. McCullum deposited Afridi for six over midwicket and within a trice, the century stand was up.McCullum’s real work began after a needless slog from Guptill began a mini-collapse, at the end of which three wickets had gone for not much. As in the first game, New Zealand’s huff was running out at the halfway mark and McCullum now needed to shepherd. His captain helped, for so obdurately does Daniel Vettori stick around that he could be the crease’s chalk: he gave McCullum support in a fifty-run partnership which stealthily stole momentum back.McCullum reined himself in. The singles he kept picking but neither did he forget his basic intent. A brace of drives, off pace and spin alike, were sudden, sharp reminders to Pakistan of his strength. As further wickets fell, the significance of the Powerplay grew, and when it came, so too arrived the McCullum of IPL knock.The century had come a couple of overs earlier and now the gloves were off. The McPaddle had a second coming as both Gul and Aamer suffered. He later flicked a six off his hips so pure, it made you wonder why he would try such contrived shots. Jacob Oram stole handy runs at the end and New Zealand now had their best chance to win their first ODI against Pakistan in the UAE.Pakistan’s selectors had done away with the fiery Champions Trophy opening combination of Imran Nazir and Kamran Akmal, preferring stability instead. Salman Butt and Imran Nazir took few risks, despite an asking-rate of more than six from the start of the reply. Butt began by punching Kyle Mills through point for four and thereafter Pakistan hit a four in every over between the fourth and the tenth.Despite the frequency with which they found the boundary, though, Butt and Latif were unable to score rapidly, because New Zealand’s excellent in-fielding prevented the singles that were so easily available when Pakistan were bowling. Latif’s innings was ended by Vettori, who came on in the 17th over and struck immediately, trapping the opener lbw with an arm ball.Vettori and Mills bowled tidily, and with Younis Khan and Butt shunning shots, the asking-rate climbed: it was seven an over in the 20th and 7.5 by the 25th. Younis had plodded to 19 when he chipped his 37th ball – in Styris’ first over – towards midwicket. Ross Taylor leapt to his right and took the catch with one hand. The captain departed with Pakistan needing 180 off 136 balls and Afridi entered to his customary, rousing welcome from a hopeful crowd. A ball later, he was striding back, having chipped to Taylor at midwicket again for a duck. Pakistan promoted Kamran Akmal ahead of Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malik, who perished while driving Styris to short cover. Pakistan had gone from 124 for 1 to 133 for 4.If the contest wasn’t over then, it certainly was when Butt and Yousuf had a moment’s misunderstanding, one which led to Butt being run out for 59 and Pakistan needing 170 off 120 balls. The platform had been shattered and the game was lost.

Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid missed out on centuries, but MS Dhoni scored his third, and led India to their highest Test score

The Bulletin by Sidharth Monga04-Dec-2009
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were outMuttiah Muralitharan denied Virender Sehwag his triple-century•AFP

In the fourth over of the day, Muttiah Muralitharan got one to dip on Virender Sehwag. For a change Sehwag played in front of his body and scooped it back to Murali, who took the catch after a juggling act. Having added nine to his overnight 284, Sehwag became the fourth man to be dismissed in the 290s. And just after the standing ovation, the cricket came out of a trance. The ball started turning again, the bowlers bowled to a plan again, the scoring settled to a more human rate, and India moved – albeit slowly – to a big first-innings lead. Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid missed out on centuries, but MS Dhoni scored his third, and then left Sri Lanka just three overs to negotiate in the evening. Despite Dhoni’s late hitting, India scored only 283 runs today – Sehwag alone scored 284 yesterday.By the time Sehwag got out, he had put India 63 ahead. Dravid, after surviving an edge that the umpire missed, followed him, edging Chanaka Welegedara to the keeper having added 12 to his overnight 62. In between those wickets, though, Tendulkar played his shots, vertical-sweeping Murali twice just to the left of the keeper and pulling and driving against the turn for two other boundaries. By the time Dravid got out, Tendulkar had reached 22 off 26 but he slowed down after that, knowing he needed to make sure India batted just once.The slowing down was also because Rangana Herath and Murali found some rhythm. Murali even bowled a maiden – his first in 75 overs from the second innings in Ahmedabad. He kept VVS Laxman quiet by bowling from round the stumps, with a strong leg-side field, and India scored 49 runs in 18 overs between Dravid’s dismissal and lunch. In the last over before lunch, there was reason to cheer for Sri Lanka: the innings run-rate came below five.Post lunch, Tendulkar crossed 50 for the 97th time in Tests. Laxman opened up after a dry spell, taking 12 runs off one Welegedara over that included the drive from outside off to wide of mid-on. In the next over, though, Nuwan Kulasekara breached Tendulkar’s defence with an offcutter.Laxman continued punishing Welegedara and went from 27 in 64 balls to 50 in 79. But soon, looking for a big shot off Murali, he was done in by a doosra.The story of the first two sessions, though, was Herath. Easily the pick of Sri Lankan bowlers, he had the batsmen guessing, mixing his offbreaks and straighter ones to good effect. The carrom ball stayed in the batsmen’s minds too, but it seemed everyone – the umpires, his own keeper and slip fielders – had conspired against Herath.First the umpire had missed that edge off Dravid. Then Herath had a close lbw shout against Tendulkar when the batsman was 35. The umpire thought it would have missed leg, Hawk-Eye said it would have just hit. Then he had Yuvraj Singh groping as if blindfolded. When Yuvraj finally stepped out and missed another arm ball, Prasanna Jayawardene, arguably the best keeper to spin, couldn’t collect it. That miss cost them only 15, though, as Yuvraj sliced the same bowler to deep mid-off. But that wasn’t the end of Herath’s rotten luck: two balls later he got MS Dhoni to edge one and Mahela and Dilshan – at slip and second slip – saw it go through that little gap. And then, when looking to dismiss the tail early, he saw Prasanna drop Zaheer Khan.Murali, who was bowling with an injured right hand and using his feet to field, representing very much the beaten figure his team had been reduced to, enjoyed better luck. Harbhajan was bowled when going for a reverse-sweep, Kulasekara took a good tumbling catch to dismiss Zaheer.But again, Herath remained instructive of how the day went. Dhoni was on 50 when No. 11, Pragyan Ojha, walked in. Ojha contributed five to the unbeaten 56-run stand. Dhoni hogged the strike, choosing to score mainly in sixes. And he whiplashed Herath for five of them, three straight, one over midwicket, and the final one over long-on and out of the stadium. He also hooked Welegedara for one. In the whole record-breaking spree, the last one belonged to India: they scored their highest Test total, beating the 705 for 7 against Australia in Sydney.

Powered by Virat Kohli’s unbeaten ton, his second in ODIs, India made short work of the target of 248 against Bangladesh in Mirpur

The Bulletin by Dileep Premachandran11-Jan-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Virat Kohli brought up his second hundred and fifth score of over fifty in his last six innings to make short work of Bangladesh’s score•Associated Press

With a place in the final already clinched and nothing much at stake, most of India’s batsmen batted sloppily. However there was no such charity from Virat Kohli as he struck a mature unbeaten century to ensure that India went into Wednesday’s game on the back of three successive wins.Shakib Al Hasan’s 85 and a 106-run partnership with the lively Mahmudullah had lifted Bangladesh from a dismal 95 for 5 to 247 for 6, but on a placid track and against a line-up in form, it was nowhere near enough. India cantered home with seven overs to spare.Kohli played with commendable concentration until victory was in sight, driving and cutting beautifully even as wickets fell around him. He got his first reprieve on 83, when Mohammad Ashraful put him down at deep midwicket off Syed Rasel, and the butter-fingers epidemic appeared to catch on, with Mushfiqur Rahim fluffing a stumping off Shakib in the next over. Ashraful’s woeful outing continued when he dropped Suresh Raina two balls later. It summed up Bangladesh’s evening in the field though the match was as good as over by then.The only interest towards the end of the game centred around whether Kohli would get to his second century. The first 50 had taken just 47 balls, and he was especially severe on Shafiul Islam in his final spell, off-driving and pulling with authority. Naeem Islam was punched off the back foot for four and when Rasel decided to test him with a short one, he pulled it behind square for four. Victory and three figures were completed in a hurry, with an off-drive and a leg-side swish off Shakib.Bangladesh needed early wickets to send any tremors through the Indian ranks but they didn’t get them. Shafiul bowled some fine deliveries, but also offered width that Dinesh Karthik was quick to capitalize on, cutting powerfully past the inner ring for fours. With Gautam Gambhir glancing anything directed at his pads and Karthik easing one through the covers, India were off and away.When Abdur Razzak came on, Karthik greeted him with a fierce heave over midwicket, but his cameo ended on 34 when he under-edged Shafiul to the keeper. Shafiul continued to be expensive though, with Gambhir taking three fours in an over, and it was left to Naeem to strike in his first over and give the team some hope.Gambhir sauntered down the track to Naeem and swiped airily, only to see his stumps broken. But with Kohli cutting Shakib for boundaries and playing a gorgeous on-drive, the asking rate was in no danger of climbing.
Yuvraj Singh was becalmed against spin though, and after a superb cover-drive, Naeem had him playing down the wrong line to be trapped in front. MS Dhoni glimmered briefly for 32 before clipping Shakib to mid-on, but there were no further alarms as Raina and Kohli saw it home in dew-heavy conditions.Naeem had contributed a brisk 22 late in the Bangladesh innings as they took 47 from the batting Powerplay and 95 from the final 10 overs to reach a respectable score. Mahmudullah continued his good form against India, remaining unconquered on 64.
Shakib was dropped by Dhoni off Yuvraj when he had made just 38 and he took advantage with some punishing strokes in the final stages of the innings. A huge six over midwicket off Ravindra Jadeja started the acceleration, and he took Amit Mishra in the same direction when he dropped short.There was some fortune, with a top edge clearing Dhoni for four, but there was also plenty of ability, with Sudeep Tyagi being pulled for two fours and then scooped impudently down to fine leg. But when he tried to repeat the stroke off Ashish Nehra’s slower ball, he only found Dhoni’s gloves.Mahmudullah had started off with a thump over cover off Mishra, and he then lofted Nehra to long-off for four more. Sreesanth was cut powerfully to the ropes and Mishra hit over long-on for six as the runs came far more freely in the final stages. Naeem swung Nehra for a six at the end and slashed another four as the sparse crowd celebrated a frenetic finish to the innings.India had started much the better. After a maiden from Tyagi, Imrul Kayes had flailed twice through the off side as Sreesanth pitched too wide, but when he tried the same approach against Tyagi, Kohli snaffled him at point.
Ashraful had no thoughts of consolidating – after playing one reckless shot to third man, he decided to give Sreesanth the charge and played on via the pads.Raqibul Hasan played some chancy strokes, and a delightful pull off Tyagi, while Tamim Iqbal, after a cautious start, lofted Sreesanth over mid-on and then pulled him for four. But again, a wicket fell when they could least afford it, with Tamim driving Nehra on the up to mid-off, where Tyagi took an excellent catch on the run.Raqibul was then run out as Yuvraj managed to deflect a Shakib drive on the stumps, and though Shakib gave the fans something to cheer with some crisp strokes through the off side, Mushfiqur lobbed a slower one from Yuvraj straight to the man at cover to leave the side in disarray with half the overs remaining. Honour was partially restored by the end, but once again India were just too strong, even with Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan not taking the field.

England have announced they intend to lodge an official complaint following Graeme Smith’s controversial reprieve by the third umpire, Daryl Harper, during the second day of the fourth and final Test at Johannesburg

Cricinfo staff15-Jan-2010England have announced they intend to lodge an official complaint following Graeme Smith’s controversial reprieve by the third umpire, Daryl Harper, during the second day of the fourth and final Test at Johannesburg.Smith, who top-scored for South Africa with 105, his 20th Test century, appeared to be given a let-off on 15 when he attempted a cut against Ryan Sidebottom and appeared to feather a nick through to the keeper, Matt Prior.Although the onfield umpire, Tony Hill, initially turned down England’s appeals, the captain, Andrew Strauss, immediately used one of his team’s two reviews, and the TV replays seemed to indicate an audible snick as the ball passed the bat.However, Harper upheld the onfield decision, claiming that he could not hear any noise on the replay that he was being shown in the third umpire’s booth. An angry England coach, Andy Flower, claimed that this was because he had the volume too low on his television set, and confirmed that an official complaint was being made to the match referee, Roshan Mahanama.”He has obviously hit it because you can hear the nick on the replays,” said Flower. “I don’t blame him for standing but certainly with the technology available and everyone can hear the nick on referral, I find it very surprising that he hasn’t been given out.”Umpire Harper was at the centre of a previous review controversy involving England on their tour of the Caribbean in the spring, and Flower did not seek to mince his words. “I am not surprised he didn’t hear it because he didn’t turn the volume up on his speaker,” he said.
“I find it strange if you are listening for a nick you don’t turn the volume up on your speaker.”The initial belief, among confused commentators, was that the SABC feed used by the third umpire must have come from a different source to those used by Sky and Supersport, on which the noise was clearly audible. However, after seeking clarification from Mahanama, Flower discovered that this was not the case.”We found out that wasn’t correct and one audio feed is used for everyone, and the second time [Mahanama] said that Daryl Harper had not switched up the volume on his mike and that is why we have heard the nick but the third umpire hasn’t. If it wasn’t such a serious match for us I would have found it amusing, I think it’s very disappointing.”They said they did not deem it necessary to turn up the volume. But in the pre-series match referees meeting both Dave Richardson from the ICC and Mahanama explained on caught-behind referrals the volume would be turned up.”For cost reasons, neither Snickometer nor HotSpot are being used in this series despite their successful application in other parts of the world, a state of affairs that Flower described as “illogical”. “We were assured that, because we don’t have that technology available, they would turn up the volume to listen for nicks,” he added. “They didn’t do that today and I find that hard to understand.”Smith, for his part, did not deny there had been a noise, but maintained that he had stood his ground with good reason. “There definitely was a noise but I didn’t feel I’d touched the ball,” he said. “Even talking to Ashwell [Prince] as the review was going on I didn’t feel the ball hit the bat. That can happen, maybe it did, maybe it didn’t.”I thought it was my thumb on the bat handle, and I still don’t feel like I hit it.”

England, already having surrendered the series, would have been desperate to end on a high and avoid a 1-4 scoreline. They owed the win to Danielle Wyatt, who struck 25 not out off 26 balls and shepherded them home with a ball to spare

Cricinfo staff01-Mar-2010
Scorecard
The nervy finish at the Bandra Kurla Complex provided the perfect end to the one-day series between the teams and set up the Twenty20s wonderfully. World champions England, already having surrendered the series, would have been desperate to end on a high and avoid a 1-4 scoreline. They owed it mostly to No. 7 Danielle Wyatt, who struck 25 not out off 26 balls and shepherded them home with a ball to spare. India though fancied their chances with fine fifties from Harmanpreet Kaur and Mithali Raj taking them to a competitive total.Heather Knight looked to have given the visitors a solid start during the reply with a patient 49. But with the Indian bowlers striking regularly, the task at hand appeared difficult. At 161 for 6, with seven more overs to go, Wyatt was joined by Danielle Hazell, who provided some late momentum hitting three fours en route to a 11-ball 18. Even as Hazell departed, Wyatt held her nerve to reduce the equation to three off the final over.Put in by England, India were in trouble from the start with Nicky Shaw and Katherine removing four batsmen in quick time. But the experienced Raj along with Kaur put on 80 for the fifth wicket to keep India in the game. Raj was caught behind off Brunt soon after her half-century, but Kaur continued the good work with Soniya Dabir (31 not out). Kaur missed out on a well-deserved hundred, finishing on 84 with nine boundaries, and became Jenny Gunn’s second victim.

England women began their tour of India with a big win over the Board President’s XI in Bangalore, two days before their first ODI against India

Cricinfo staff17-Feb-2010
Scorecard
Lydia Greenway’s 81 took England to an emphatic win•Getty Images

England women began their tour of India with a big win over the Board President’s XI in Bangalore, two days before their first ODI against India. Lydia Greenway’s 82-ball 81 and Sarah Taylor’s 52 took England to 273 for 9. Then spinners Laura Marsh and Charlotte Edwards ensured the win was completed with more than eight overs to spare.The Board President’s XI had reason to cheer early in the game after dismissing Edwards (17) and Ebony Rainford-Brent (1) by the sixth over. But Greenway put on half-century stands for the next two wickets – 77 with Taylor and 66 with Beth Morgan – and that took the momentum away from the home side.Left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht was one of the most economical bowlers for the Board President’s XI, conceding only 48 for one wicket in her 10 overs. Medium-pacer Harpreet Dhillon took 1 for 19 in her six overs.Chasing a steep target, the home side tripped at the start, losing opener Latika Kumari for a duck off the fifth ball. They crawled to 33 for 3 in 12 overs. Captain Babita Mandlik top scored with 33 before falling in the 24th over, caught off Marsh. The last four wickets fell in successive overs.It was a clinical performance by the England side but for one blip; they conceded 21 wides – as compared to Board President’s 13 – with Isa Guha being the main culprit, bowling seven wides and a no-ball.

Ricky Ponting has called Michael Clarke a definite starter for Friday’s first Test against New Zealand in Wellington

Cricinfo staff13-Mar-2010Michael Clarke will join Australia’s Test squad in New Zealand on Monday after ending his personal leave to deal with the breakdown of his two-year engagement. Clarke has confirmed his departure with Cricket Australia and a spokesman told Cricinfo he would fly from Sydney on Monday morning with the five-day specialists.Clarke, the vice-captain, has been at home since leaving the one-day squad early last week and will be pleased to exit the intense local spotlight. Ricky Ponting is looking forward to getting his deputy back and Michael Hussey has said any sledging of Clarke’s personal situation by the New Zealanders would be “going a little bit too far”.”I don’t know, we’ll have to wait and see really,” Hussey told reporters in Wellington. “He’s such a mentally tough person. He’ll be fine. It’s important we don’t get caught up in that by-play.”Phillip Hughes, Steven Smith, Simon Katich and Marcus North will fly to Wellington with Clarke, who finalised his travel plans with Michael Brown, Cricket Australia’s deputy, over the weekend. Ponting is confident Clarke will not have any problems readjusting to life in the Test side and he is a definite starter at the Basin Reserve on Friday.”He’ll get himself prepared for the first Test,” Ponting said after losing the final match of the one-day series. “It’s obviously been a tough time for him the last few days at home.”All the guys here have given as much support as possible and he was given as much time as he needed to get everything sorted at home. He’ll come back for us as the vice-captain and an experienced player in the Test side.”

Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, the Pakistan allrounder, has filed an appeal against the one-year ban from the national team, and the Rs. 2 million fine imposed on him by the PCB

Cricinfo staff08-Apr-2010Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, the Pakistan allrounder, has filed an appeal against the one-year ban from the national team, and the Rs. 2 million fine imposed on him by the PCB.Naved is the third player after the Akmal brothers – Kamran and Umar – to file an appeal, following the punishments meted out by the board following Pakistan’s disastrous tour of Australia.”What I was told by the cricket board was that my performance in the Twenty20 match against Australia was not up to the mark,” Naved told reporters. “I don’t think it is such a big crime and I hope I will get justice. Performing well in all the matches is not in the hands of a player.”Naved scored one run off nine balls and played out a maiden over from Mitchell Johnson in the closing stages of that match, as Pakistan fell short by two runs.Naved’s appeal will be scrutinized by the three-member appellate tribunal appointed by the PCB, which comprises two retired supreme court judges, Munir Sheikh and Jamshed Ali Shah, and former high court judge Irfan Qadir. PCB has set Apr. 16 as the deadline for all the players to file appeals.Meanwhile, Shoaib Malik, who is in India for his planned wedding, sent a legal notice to the PCB but he is also likely to be asked to lodge a formal appeal. Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi have previously sent letters to the PCB inquiring about their punishments but have been told by the board to lodge formal appeals. “All the penalised cricketers have already been informed in detail under which rules and laws they were penalised. Now they can appeal against the punishments, in the way to challenge the verdicts and pray to waive it,” PCB’s legal advisor Tafazzul Rizvi told .

A round-up of the fourth set of matches in the SLC Inter-Provincial Tournament 2009-10

Sa'adi Thawfeeq27-Apr-2010Basnahira North, led by Thilina Kandamby, came up with another powerful batting performance to qualify for a place in the final of the Inter-provincial four-day tournament which resumed after a break of two weeks due to the country’s general elections followed by the Sinhala and Tamil New Year.Although their final league match against Wayamba ended in a draw due to interruption to bad weather in Moratuwa, Basnahira North gained enough points to remain on top of the league table and ensure their place in the final.Powerful career-best centuries from left-hander Dimuth Karunaratne (185) and wicketkeeper-batsman Kaushal Silva (158), and their massive partnership of 306 for the third wicket, helped Basnahira North run up their third total in excess of 500 in four matches. With a fine contribution of 71 from young Angelo Perera down the order, the total nearly reached 600. Wayamba didn’t have the batting to match Basnahira North and they could manage only 292, 100 of which came from Sri Lanka Test opener Michael Vandort. With little time to play for after a complete washout of play on the third day due to rain, Basnahira North did not enforce the follow-on but batted out the remaining time.Ruhuna took a step towards joining Basnahira North in the final when they grabbed vital bonus points in their drawn fixture against Kandurata at the P Sara Oval. A stroke-filled 154 from Tillakaratne Sampath, brother of Sri Lanka opener Tillakaratne Dilshan, saw Ruhuna make short work of Kandurata’s first innings total of 271, as they replied with an imposing 402 for 6 declared. With rain making play impossible on the third day, the game petered out into a tame draw. Kandurata opener Nadeera Nawala’s well-paced hundred and Geeth Alwis’ double of four wickets and 72 runs for Ruhuna were the other notable individual performances.Ruhuna meet third placed Basnahira South later this week and the outcome of that game will decide who will join Basnahira North in the final which his scheduled to be played at the SSC grounds from May 13.

Phil Mustard opened a new chapter in his career at Edgbaston, making his first century in the County Championship since taking over as Durham’s captain

30-May-2010
ScorecardPhil Mustard opened a new chapter in his career at Edgbaston, making his first century in the County Championship since taking over as Durham’s captain. He was last man out for 100 – his second 50 coming from only 38 balls – after countering a return of 8 for 114 by Warwickshire’s Imran Tahir.The Pakistan-born wrist spinner twice took two wickets from three balls in registering the best figures by a slow bowler against Durham since they joined the Championship in 1992. But Tahir’s outstanding performance, the best for Warwickshire since 2002, was not enough to dampen Durham’s resurgence after their recent problems.The reigning champions took their total to 379 before Mustard became Tahir’s final victim, holing out on the leg side immediately after reaching his third first-class hundred with his second six.Facing 140 balls in all, he also hit nine fours in leading his side into a strong position which was underpinned when Darren Maddy departed in Mitchell Claydon’s first over as Warwickshire replied with 18 for 1.Quickly rebounding from a heavy defeat by Kent last week, Durham began the second day strongly as Mark Stoneman and Gordon Muchall extended their second-wicket stand to 153 in 45 overs. Stoneman (77) compiled his first Championship half-century since scoring 64 in the corresponding fixture at Edgbaston last June and Muchall (60) went beyond 50 for the first time since his unbeaten 106 against Sussex at Hove in May last year.Things only changed with the introduction of Tahir. Relishing an opportunity to bowl on a dry pitch, he made a breakthrough with three wickets in 15 balls without conceding a run.After dismissing Muchall, lbw playing from the crease, he continued to use the googly to good effect. Richard Johnson, called up in place of the omitted Tim Ambrose, stumped Stoneman when the opener lost his balance, and Maddy held a slip chance from Ian Blackwell.Ben Stokes sparked off another clutch of wickets for Tahir after lunch with a slog to Jim Troughton at wide mid on. Dale Benkenstein was next to go, lbw for 26 and Scott Borthwick thrashed a long hop to midwicket.Tahir ended his two spells, one from each end, with 6 for 73 but a change of tack failed to pay off for Warwickshire. With Mustard restricting himself to four boundaries in his first 50, Durham were able to rebuild after the home side had taken the new ball.Liam Plunkett was a positive partner in an eighth-wicket stand of 95 from 28 overs. The former England seamer made 41 from 85 balls before he was bowled, playing defensively, on Tahir’s return to the attack.