Sam Curran upstaged future teammate Mark Stoneman when he removed him for 92 to complete his first six-wicket haul for Surrey in the Specsavers County Championship match at Chester-le-Street. The 18-year-old left-armer's sensational burst of four wickets in seven balls rocked Durham before Graham Clark counter-attacked with a 53-ball half-century.

Coming in at 83 for five, the Cumbrian put on 109 with Stoneman before Curran returned to have them both lbw when playing to leg. Durham were 213 for eight, leading by 247, when the murk which had forced the floodlights to be kept on all day was deemed to have got worse.

Play was halted with 22 overs still to be bowled, but there is still every prospect of an intriguing final day with Durham needing a win to ensure a 12th successive season in division one.

Stoneman frustrated next season's employees as he built steadily on a rapid start, passing 1,000 championship runs for the fourth successive season. He hit three fours in five balls from Mark Footitt early in his innings, the third being pulled just out of mid-on's reach. After that he throttled back, reaching 50 off 82 balls before slowing further.

The other Surrey signing, Scott Borthwick, remained 33 short of 1,000 when he took 18 balls to get off the mark then fell for 12 when he became Curran's first victim with the score on 77 for one.

Wicketless in the first innings, Curran returned for a second spell after being given only three overs in his first. Borthwick pushed forward to his second ball and edged to Ben Foakes. The next was slanted across right-hander Jack Burnham, who also edged to the wicketkeeper, then Ben Stokes was able to watch the hat-trick ball pass harmlessly by.

But in trying to withdraw his bat from the next he continued his disappointing match by edging to Kumar Sangakkara at first slip. Paul Collingwood ran a four to third man but in Curran's next over could only steer a ball rising towards his chest to third slip.

Three balls later Curran could have had another when Jason Roy got his left hand to an edge by Stoneman on 48. But Curran began to stray, helping Clark off to a confident start.

In nine previous championship innings, he had a top score of 36 and three ducks. But he is known as a powerful striker and on 31 he pulled Footitt behind square for a big six.

Two more powerful pulls off Tom Curran followed before Surrey turned to Zafar Ansari. Clark lofted the left-arm spinner over mid-on for his eighth four to reach 50, only to depart for 54 straight after tea.

Stoneman followed six overs later and Stuart Poynter made 19 before edging a drive at Footitt to first slip just before a halt was called.

Surrey's assistant coach, Stuart Barnes, said: "Sam Curran was outstanding. He has had a bit of a lean time, but he's so talented you know something is around the corner.

"When he bowls straight he has the skills to move it through the air and off the pitch. We had a lovely partnership in the morning between Gareth Batty and Stuart Meaker. It was exactly what we talked about because we knew it was important to get close to Durham's score."

Mark Stoneman said: "It was good to get to 1,000 and hopefully it will help to keep Durham in division one. It was important to have that partnership with Graham Clark. He was very positive, which was the way to play because it's the nature of the pitch that if the ball's in your area you have to commit to it."

TEA REPORT

A sensational burst of four wickets in seven balls by Sam Curran rocked Durham before Graham Clark counter-attacked strongly. Coming in at 83 for five, the Cumbrian hit a 53-ball half-century as he and Mark Stoneman took Durham to 189 for five at tea, leading by 223.

Stoneman frustrated his future employees as he built steadily on a rapid start to reach 90, passing 1,000 championship runs for the fourth successive season.

In nine previous championship innings, Clark had a top score of 36 and three ducks. But he is known as a powerful striker and quickly saw off Curran when he began to drop short.

Durham were 111 ahead on 77 for one when the 18-year-old left-armer returned for a second spell after being given only three overs in his first. He had not taken a wicket in the match, but Scott Borthwick pushed forward to his second ball and edged to Ben Foakes.

The next ball was slanted across right-hander Jack Burnham, who also edged to the wicketkeeper, then Ben Stokes was able to watch the hat-trick ball pass harmlessly by. But in trying to withdraw his bat from the next he continued his disappointing match by edging to Kumar Sangakkara at first slip.

Paul Collingwood ran a four to third man but in Curran's next over could only steer a ball rising towards his chest to third slip. Three balls later Curran could have had another when Jason Roy got his left hand to an edge by Stoneman on 48.

But Curran began to stray, helping Clark off to a confident start, and on 31 he pulled Mark Footitt behind square for a big six.

Two more powerful pulls off Tom Curran followed before Surrey turned to Zafar Ansari. Clark lofted the left-arm spinner over mid-on for his eighth four to reach 50 and was on 53 at tea.

LUNCH REPORT

Durham lost Keaton Jennings two balls before lunch after 35 minutes of batting in the Chester-le-Street murk took them to 40 for one, leading by 74. After his unbeaten 201 in the first innings, Jennings lost his off stump to Stuart Meaker for 11, Mark Stoneman remaining unbeaten on 24.

The floodlights were on from the start and after taking one of the three remaining Surrey wickets with the first ball Durham bowled as though they weren't keen to bat. They finally dismissed Surrey for 367, then Mark Stoneman and Keaton Jennings had 31 on the board after six overs before Mark Footitt replaced Sam Curran.

It was the younger Curran who edged the first ball behind to give Graham Onions his first five-wicket haul of the season, but it took Durham 68 minutes to strike again. Although he often beat the bat, Onions couldn't shift Gareth Batty or Meaker and finished with five for 90.

Mark Wood kept leaking runs off thick edges until 37 had been added and a third man was finally posted. There were also some forthright strokes, mainly off the back foot, from both batsmen inbetween the misses.

When Wood made way for Ben Stokes the England all-rounder beat the batsmen three times with in-swingers which narrowly missed the stumps. The first came just after Surrey gained the fourth batting point with Batty on 20.

There were only 14 balls left until the 110-over cut-off when Durham claimed the third bowling point. The stand was worth 62 when Batty had a swish at Brydon Carse and lost his middle stump for 29. Meaker hooked the exasperated Stokes for six to reach 35, but without addition Footitt slogged a catch to mid-off to give Carse a second wicket.

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