WORCESTERSHIRE'S bowlers worked well as a unit in the bright April sunshine at New Road, but the batsmen failed to fire as day one of the LV County Championship clash ended with Durham in the ascendancy.

New signing Doug Bollinger was one of the highlights of the day for Steve Rhodes as the Aussie paceman claimed three wickets on his debut.

However, the County director of cricket was disappointed to see his side lose five wickets after tea.

Chasing 313, the home side slumped from 87-1 to 110-5 overnight and Rhodes said: "I think Durham definitely edged the day. We were hoping to bowl them out for slightly less than they got, but taking all 10 wickets was a real positive for us.

"Losing the last two wickets late on was tough for us to take and I think that probably swung the balance in Durham's favour.

"Having said that, I have a lot of optimism and confidence having Graeme Hick and Steve Davies at the crease and there is a fair bit of batting still to come. If we can get close to their score, it will be a one innings game and I believe we will have a good chance of chasing down whatever we bowl them out for."

Michael Di Venuto's belligerent unbeaten 155 held together the Durham innings and, with a little wag of the tail, the visitors were able to post 313.

It was a score they would have gladly taken when Hick's fine reflex slip catch to remove Gareth Breese left them reeling at 183-6.

The day started well for Worcestershire with Bollinger striking twice to account for Durham debutant Will Smith and Gordon Muchall.

Pacey Bollinger was too quick for Smith, trapping him lbw, while Muchall feathered a catch through to wicketkeeper Davies.

Nadeem Malik also picked up two wickets before lunch, while Gareth Batty helped stem the flow of runs as he picked up three wickets.

Bollinger enjoyed his first taste of county cricket and is keen to build on the good start.

He said: "The guys bowled well and fielded well. I tried to stay patient and I was happy to grab three wickets first up.

"Hopefully, I can get a few more wickets in the second innings. We could have knocked them over for even less, but Di Venuto batted really well. He's a great player - he put the bad balls away and stuck around for his team."

Worcestershire's reply got off to a decent start with openers Phil Jaques and Stephen Moore compiling 43 in good time, before the former fell.

Skipper Vikram Solanki joined Moore and they took the score on to 87, but a flurry of late wickets hampered the hosts' reply.

Worcestershire's hopes depend heavily on veteran Hick and Davies forging a significant partnership.