Yorkshire's season sank to a new low at Headingley yesterday when they lost to Durham in the County Championship for the first time since their opponents acquired first class status in 1992.

Set to make 261 for victory, Yorkshire slumped to 93 all out, so losing by 167 runs soon after tea on the third day.

Until this emphatic defeat, Yorkshire had won eight of the ten matches between the sides with the other two ending in draws.

Now they have slid out of the top three of the Championship's Second Division for the first time this season and their chances of promotion appear remote at the moment. Even finishing bottom of the table cannot be ruled out.

The Headingley pitch was not up to standard for a first class match with too much uneven bounce but Yorkshire can have no excuses because Durham adapted to the conditions so much better, particularly skipper Jon Lewis who played two watchful innings of rare quality without hardly ever putting a foot wrong.

In the first innings, Lewis stubbornly hung in there for 108 overs in making 124 out of 280 and second time around he was in for 64 overs while compiling 66 in a score of 200.

Yorkshire's only polished batting performance came from Michael Lumb whose first innings century temporarily held rampant Durham in check but he was unable to bring about a repeat yesterday as one batsman after another surrendered with barely a fight.

The morning went reasonably well for Yorkshire as Durham's last seven wickets fell for 101 with Chris Silverwood returning figures of 4-40, including the dismissal of Lewis who failed to hit him over the top of cover and was caught by Lumb.

But the rot set in as early as the third over of Yorkshire's chase when acting captain Matthew Wood bagged a pair by shouldering arms at Dewald Pretorius only to lose his off-stump.

Yuvraj Singh had his off-stump sent spinning out of the ground by Middlesbrough-born Liam Plunkett, who had marked his Championship debut by taking 5-53 in the first innings, and when Lumb forced Pretorius off the back foot to Michael Gough in the gully Yorkshire were sagging on 18-3.

Scott Richardson was unlucky to be given out lbw when he appeared to get an inside edge but the rest of the batting folded tamely and the innings was all over in 30.4 overs.

To rub salt into Yorkshire's wounds, Durham shrugged off the handicap of losing a frontline bowler during the first innings when Ian Pattison dislocated his right shoulder and was unable to take any further part in the match.

Durham's success was a personal triumph for their director of coaching, Martyn Moxon, the former Yorkshire captain, who would have returned to his native county for a second spell as coach this summer if Durham had not extended his contract.

"I though the lads showed tremendous character and application over the whole three days," said Moxon. "To lose Pattison and still win the match so emphatically speaks volumes for the character of the whole team.

"Lewis was quite outstanding in both innings and gave a superb lesson in how to bat on a pitch like this.

"I have suffered a few defeats at Yorkshire's hands since moving to Durham so it was a nice feeling to be involved in our first Championship win over them but I am far more pleased for the lads and just delighted with the way they stuck to the game plan."

Updated: 09:08 Monday, June 02, 2003