Mason dismantles Durham

County Championship D2, Worcester, day three:
Worcestershire 218 & 198 beat Durham 120 & 265 by 31 runs Worcestershire 18 pts, Durham 3

Full scorecard

Mason's second innings figures were the best of his career

Leaders Worcestershire improved their promotion chances as Matt Mason and Gareth Batty bowled them to a fourth win of the season.

An intrigiung finish was in prospect when Durham began on 145-3, with their sights set on a victory target of 298.

Mason removed Gordon Muchall (11) and Batty bowled Vince Wells (18) but the crucial blow came when Gary Pratt was sixth out with the total on 229.

He had reached 85 with 13 fours when Mason found the edge and Steve Adshead made no mistake with the catch.

Batty (4-78) dismissed Phil Mustard for 20 without any addition to the total and Durham only just survived until lunch, which arrived with their score on 249-9.

The end came in the sixth over of the afternoon session as Mason claimed the wicket of Steve Harmison, caught by Batty, for figures of 6-68 - and 9-112 in the match.

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Worcestershire: S D Peters, A Singh, Kadeer Ali, B F Smith (Capt), J M Kemp, S C Moore, G J Batty, S J Adshead (Wkt), M S Mason, M A Harrity, M Hayward.

Durham: J J B Lewis (Capt), M A Gough, M L Love, G J Muchall, G J Pratt, V J Wells, P Mustard (Wkt), L E Plunkett, Shoaib Akhtar, N C Phillips, S J Harmison.