Tea on the second day: Yorkshire 184 v Durham 304-8 (85.1 overs)

There is no question about Durham being on top now. At 161-6 at lunch, the game was nicely balanced. By contrast, in the afternoon session Yorkshire's visitors have added 143 runs for the loss of two wickets, all of those runs contained in a record stand between Phil Mustard and Liam Plunkett.

Yorkshire took the new ball when it became due -- and another three overs later after the first one given them was damaged when Plunkett smashed Tim Bresnan into the East Stand for six -- but have not been able to stem the momentum of the Durham duo, whose partnership has set a new eighth-wicket record for the county.

It betters the 132 put on by Anderson Cummins and David Graveney at Edgbaston in 1994, during the match in which Brian Lara struck his world record individual score of 501.

Mustard, who has been short of runs in the Championship until now, will kick himself for falling to what became the last ball of the session, caught behind in an expansive drive at Tim Bresnan to be out just eight runs short of what would have been a well-deserved century. The Durham wicketkeeper last reached three figures in August 2006.

Yorkshire struck a blow immediately after lunch when Paul Wiseman was bowled by Bresnan but Mustard and Plunkett have taken the game away from the Division One leaders, who now trail by 120 runs. Plunkett has picked up a couple of sixes -- hooking Matthew Hoggard just after lunch before his blow against Bresnan --- to be 53 not out at tea, his biggest first-class score since last August.