County Championship: Derbyshire miss first win
An attacking declaration by Paul Collingwood gave Derbyshire's batsmen a chance to secure their first championship victory of the season but, at the conclusion of a gripping final session, Luke Sutton could score only two off Brad Williams' final delivery and the visitors finished three short of their target.
In the morning session Durham added 112 runs to their overnight lead of 167 but they also lost five wickets, highlighting the value of Collingwood and Dale Benkenstein's 206-run partnership for the fourth wicket, a stand which ended when Collingwood clipped the slow left-armer Ant Botha to Andy Gray at mid-on in the third over of the day.
Benkenstein and Gareth Breese shared a lively fifth-wicket partnership of 80 but, from a prosperous 345 for four, Durham lost four wickets for nine runs, three to Jon Moss's medium pace, and it required a combination of Benkenstein's orthodox excellence and Brad Williams' bucolic thumps to set up the lunch-time declaration.
Derbyshire's openers Michael Di Venuto and Steve Stubbings began cautiously - only 16 runs were added in 13 overs in one mid-afternoon spell - but put on 89 without loss off 35 overs in the afternoon session.
At tea Sutton and his players realised they needed to score at more than six an over and decided to have a thrash. Di Venuto was brilliantly caught by Breese over his head at third man off the bowling of Williams and Christopher Bassano perished at long-on after a rapid 22, but by that time he had helped Stubbings add 51 for the second wicket in only seven overs.
The momentum of the by now exhilarating pursuit was maintained by Hassan Adnan and Stubbings in their stand of 45 for the third wicket, this despite the reintroduction of Durham's one-day specialist Neil Killeen. But the medium-pacer exacted revenge when he bowled Adnan for 17.
Stubbings reached his century, which included 11 boundaries, off 175 balls, but Derbyshire's hopes were dealt two major blows when Moss was brilliantly run out by Collingwood from backward-point and Stubbings chipped Liam Plunkett to Jimmy Maher at midwicket. Sutton's side still needed a run a ball and just failed.