1. Ackermann strikes with his fourth deliverypublished at 15:18 BST 9 September

    Essex 186-3 v Durham

    Martin Emmerson
    BBC Radio Newcastle

    Colin Ackermann was handed the ball and struck with his fourth delivery. He bowled Charlie Allison on 33.

    Essex now trail Durham by 146 runs in the sunshine of Chelmsford.

    Crucially though, Dean Elgar is still out in the middle and has 93. He got 120* in the bore draw here last season and from that experience Durham will know he is capable of batting all day.

    As for Ackermann, who is a part-time spinner, I think he will have a lot of bowling to do today because Durham have only got three seamers in their team.

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  8. Essex increase their lead over Durhampublished at 11:12 BST 9 September

    Essex v Durham 333.

    Martin Emmerson
    BBC Radio Newcastle

    Essex were the team above Durham at the start of this week, with 12 points separating the two in their relegation battle.

    But on a track which looks like a really good batting surface, Durham were all out for 333. They had been 189-1 yesterday. I don't think they got enough runs on the board in this first innings.

    It means Essex have taken three bowling points to Durham's two batting points, so they are now 13 ahead, albeit there's still a long way to go in this game.

    Jamie Porter did the damage just after tea yesterday and was on a hat-trick at one point. He took the final wicket today, bowling Callum Parkinson for a fourth ball duck. Porter finished with figures of 4-77. Four Durham players failed to get a run!

    However, they have struggled to bowl teams out this year and have only two main strike bowlers in Matty Potts and Ben Raine.

    Sam Conners is playing, but has only featured in one Championship match this season, so they really have their work cut out here.

    From a spinning point of view there's Callum Parkinson and part-timer Colin Ackermann.

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