County Championship: Al Davies & Rob Yates help Bears dominate Durham on 490-1 at Edgbaston

Warwickshire enjoyed one of the most dominant days in their modern-day County Championship history as they made Durham suffer for putting the Bears in to bat at Edgbaston.

New skipper Davies was then joined by his predecessor Will Rhodes, who made an unbeaten 59 in a further unbroken stand of 147 as the hosts took a liking to the Kookaburra ball to pile up 490-1 in the day.

After winning the toss, on their first day’s cricket back in Division One after last week’s complete wash-out against Hampshire at Chester-le Street promoted Durham chose to bowl – but then took four and a quarter hours to claim their only wicket.

By that time, Davies and Yates had got within 34 of the Warwickshire county first-wicket record of 377, set by Norman Horner and Billy Ibadulla against Surrey at The Oval 64 years ago.

But Yates surprisingly holed out within nine runs of the second double century of his career, being taken by Ben Raine at long-off going for another six to earn Colin Ackermann the Durham attack that one scalp of the day.

Having rattled along at more than five an over to reach lunch on 146-0, with Davies on 88 and his partner on 55, it was Yates who actually took the whip hand after lunch.

Together, the Bears plundered 200 more in the session. of which Yates hit 136 – hitting five sixes and the majority of his 25 fours as he and Davies entered the record books for compiling the Bears’ record first-wicket stand in games at Edgbaston.

This was the 11th time the Durham bowling attack have been on the end of triple-century partnerships in county cricket – and four of them have been against Warwickshire, of which Brian Lara’s with Trevor Penney back in 1994 is undoubtedly the best remembered.

It remains to be seen, if and when last summer’s Division Two champions get a chance to bat on the second day – to face former Durham fast bowler Chris Rushworth for the first time – as to whether this game will have a more positive outcome than the Lara 501 game 30 years ago.