County Championship: Durham delayed by Warwickshire's Jim Troughton
Jim Troughton held up resurgent Durham as Warwickshire reached 299-7 at Edgbaston in the County Championship.
Last Updated: 18/04/13 7:16pm
Troughton top-scored with 84 from 173 balls with no one else passing a half century, although there were handly contributions from Laurie Evans (44) and Keith Barker (39no).
Durham skipper Paul Collingwood may have expected some help from the pitch when choosing to bowl first but his pace attack - fresh from taking 20 wickets in overcoming Somerset - made limited progress in gloomy, blustery conditions.
Graham Onions was the pick of the bowlers but Scott Borthwick's sharp reactions in holding an edge from Varun Chopra at second slip were not matched when William Porterfield was given two let-offs.
Durham did manage a second success when Chris Rushworth swung a good delivery into Ian Westwood's pads to remove the opener for 28, but with the floodlights on throughout the first session, Porterfield battled to 27 in a stand of 62 with Troughton.
Confidence
However, with confidence growing after a couple of fours off Rushworth, a front-foot drive off the same bowler was well taken by Smith at point.
This was Rushworth's 10th wicket in an impressive start to the season but it did not lead to the full-scale breakthrough that Durham wanted.
With Troughton rolling along towards 50 in 86 balls, he shared in another half-century stand with Laurie Evans.
This season could be a big one for the former Surrey batsman. After being given only five championship appearances in three years, he has an opportunity to cement a middle-order position.
New director of cricket Dougie Brown would have enjoyed some of his shots - seven fours in making 44 out of 77 - but perhaps not the loose drive off Thorp which resulted in a smart catch by Collingwood at first slip.
