Durham 1st innings: 401 for 5

GORDON MUCHALL played the innings of his life to give newly promoted Durham the opening day honours over Kent at the start of this year’s Liverpool Victoria Championship campaign.

Durham made use of some good fortune early on and a fair, if somewhat sluggish first-day pitch, to reach 401 for five with Muchall contributing a career-best unbeaten 193 in five-and-a-half-hours during a bitterly cold afternoon and after the visitors had elected to bat first upon winning the toss on a bright morning.

Kent await the arrival of their overseas professionals Andrew Hall and Justin Kemp and were without resting England keeper Geraint Jones.

While Durham were missing three international stars in Steve Harmison, Liam Plunkett and Paul Collingwood, and Mark Davies with a spinal stress fracture, they were also robbed of Australian Mickael Lewis when he pulled a hamstring in the warm-ups.

With seam movement to be had, Kent’s new ball pairing of Amjad Khan and Simon Cook beat both Durham openers outside off stump on numerous occasions, but no edges went to hand allowing the visitors to post 46 before Kent made their opening breakthrough.

Having switched ends to Nackington Road Simon Cook, with only his second ball down the slope, trimmed the off stump of Jon Lewis with a beauty then, three overs later, Robbie Joseph nipped one back up the slope to snare Jimmy Maher leg before for 25.

Kent lost their grip of the game either side of lunch allowing Gordon Muchall and Gary Pratt to tuck in to some friendly 'buffet' bowling as the pair added 48 in the eight overs prior to lunch and 46 in the eight overs after it.

Khan, though he bowled beautifully in his opening three bursts, failed to take a wicket in conceding 47 runs and might have had Muchall for a golden duck only for the batsman to see an edge fly through the slip cordon for a streaky four.

Durham’s third wicket partners added 118 in 24 overs before Pratt, making his first championship start in 18 months, allowed Min Patel to squeeze one through the gate after scoring 52 from 70 balls with seven fours.

It was Patel’s first ball of a new stint but new skipper Rob Key took him immediately out of the attack, preferring instead to attack the new batsman with the seam of Joseph.

Muchall was even quicker to the landmark, scoring 10 fours in his 58-ball half-century and generally in command for much of the mid-session.

He and Dale Benkenstein added a further 36 to post the first batting bonus point at 200 before Patel returned to bowl the Zimbabwean with one that turned to square up the right hander as he aimed to turn to leg.

Though he slowed before tea, Muchall, who scored a modest 754 runs last season, ploughed his furrow regardless of the losses at the other end to reach his first championship hundred since last June from 164 balls and with 16 fours.

It had proved a disappointing start to the campaign for Kent’s former England seamer Martin Saggers.

Having been troubled by a heel injury through pre-season training, Saggers was forced to miss the season’s opener as Key opted to go with a seam triumvirate of Khan, Cook and Joseph with modest back-up from Darren Stevens and Neil Dexter.

By 3pm Key had played every card in his hand with Dexter bowling to four on the leg-side ropes, but somehow the ploy paid off when Gareth Breese flat-batted a Dexter long-hop into the hands of Patel at backward point.

After tea Muchall went past his previous best of 142 not out against Yorkshire at Scarborough two summers ago, then went to his 150 in 269 minutes and with 23 fours.

Phil Mustard chipped in with a 93-ball 50 as the sixth wicket partners added a further 168 as Kent’s attack were made to look somewhat benign.

To make matters worse Fulton, positioned on the deep mid-wicket ropes, dropped a sitter when Mustard miscued an attempted pull off Cook with his score on 51.

* Mark Pennell's day two report will appear here at close of play.

Kent: Key, Fulton, van Jaarsveld, Walker, Stevens, Dexter, O’Brien, Patel, Cook, Khan, Joseph.

SCORECARD

Durham first innings

J J B Lewis b Cook 20
J P Maher lbw b Joseph 25
G J Muchall not out 193
G J Pratt b Patel 52
D M Benkenstein b Patel 22
G R Breese c Patel b Dexter 11
P Mustard not out 67
Extras 11

Total: 401 for five after 104 overs

Fall of wicket: 1-46, 2-52, 3-170, 4-206, 5-233.

Bowling: Khan 22-1-78-0, Cook 15-1-68-1, Joseph 21-6-68-1, Patel 21-4-79-2, Stevens 8-0-41-0, Dexter 17-4-60-1.

Bonus points: Kent 1, Durham 5.