CRICKET: Michael Vaughan shaped a century right out of the Geoff Boycott mould to stop Yorkshire from crumbling in the championship match against Durham at Riverside yesterday.

The opener never once lost his patience in compiling an unbeaten 118, first saving Yorkshire from the follow on and then taking them to 235 for eight by the close when they were still 102 runs in arrears.

This was the fifth consecutive innings in which Vaughan has completed his 50 but the first occasion this season that he has gone on to his century.

Vaughan had a moment of good fortune on 66 when he was caught behind by Martin Speight off a no-ball and another eight runs later when Paul Collingwood made a valiant attempt to hold on to a one-handed catch at full-stretch at first slip, but otherwise his powers of concentration never wavered.

He was at his most fluent during a breezy opening stand of 62 in 17 overs with Anthony McGrath but slowed down as wickets fell at regular intervals .

His first 50 took him 86 balls and included four boundaries, but his second 50 required a further 139 deliveries.

Yorkshire's early charge was halted by the extra pace of Steve Harmison who accounted for both McGrath and David Byas in his three overs before lunch, but the bowler Vaughan faced for most of the time was off-spinner Nicky Phillips who sent down 42 consecutive overs, thoroughly deserving four wickets for the first time in his career.

He can take particular pride in luring Darren Lehmann down the pitch, causing him to stumble slightly and not being able to regain his crease before Speight had whipped off the bails.

Phillips also snared Matthew Wood lbw for only a single.

Almost miraculously, the rain held off all day and Durham in the morning took their first innings score from 311 for seven to 337 all out, skipper David Boon finishing unbeaten on 139 .

The main incident during this passage of play was the removal from the attack of Paul Hutchison for running on to the pitch during his follow through.

The left-arm paceman had received two official warnings from umpire Graham Burgess the previous day.

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