Chanderpaul belts unbeaten hundred for Durham

CHESTER-LE-STREET, England, CMC – West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul smashed an unbeaten hundred yesterday and propelled Durham to a handsome first innings advantage over Somerset in their English County Championship Division One match.

Replying to Somerset’s first innings score of 174, Championship leaders Durham compiled 272 all out with the gritty Chanderpaul providing a pivotal innings of 117 not out at Durham’s Riverside Ground.

At the close of the second day, Somerset had reached 41 without loss, trailing by 57 runs.

After left-arm spinner Ian Blackwell (5-7) and pacer Liam Plunkett (3-65) had reduced visiting Somerset to their flimsy first-innings score, Durham resumed their reply at 110 for three overnight with Chanderpaul not out on 49.

The 35-year-old Guyanese, nominated Wednesday in two LG ICC Awards 2009 categories, paced himself to his first County hundred of the summer.

He shared in a 57-run fourth-wicket stand with South African Dale Benkenstein (30) and also added a vital 69 for the seventh wicket with Plunkett (32) to give the home side command after a sudden middle-order slide.

Durham had lost three wickets for five runs, sinking rapidly from 161 for three to 166 for six after losing Benkenstein, former Somerset player Blackwell (0) and Phil Mustard (2) in the space of five overs.

Chanderpaul, set to miss the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa because of a players’ dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) over contracts, reached his hundred off 193 balls with 12 boundaries.

His complete innings of 220 balls lasted 347 minutes and contained 14 fours.

Bowling for Somerset, the South African fast bowler Charl Willoughby was the chief wicket-taker with five for 56 off 22 overs and fast-bowler Ben Phillips snared three for 46.

The Anguillan West Indies all-rounder Omari Banks bowled two overs, costing 15 runs.

Marcus Trescothik (18) and Arul Suppiah (21) then steered Somerset to their close of play position without any glitches.

Elsewhere, Barbadian medium pacers Dwayne Smith and Corey Collymore enjoyed some success for Sussex in a rain-hit game against Lancashire at Old Trafford.

Smith picked up two for 29 off 13.1 overs and Collymore claimed one for 26 off 12 overs to reduce Lancashire to 131 for five after they won the toss and chose to bat.