A magnificent 133 by Greg Blewett, on his debut for the county, helped Nottinghamshire to a first innings lead on day 3 of their Division Two match with Durham.

Blewett's innings, comprisinq 21 sparkling boundaries and coming from 237 balls faced, makes him only the seventh player in the county's history to score a century on debut.

Beginning the day on 38—1 Notts progressed to 148—3 by lunch, losing the wickets of Darren Bicknell and Usman Afzaal. Bicknell looked to be unhappy with his lbw decision whilst Afzaal edged the ball to gully.

During the afternoon session Blewett looked to be a major acquisition by Clive Rice for this season, stroking the ball majestically to all parts. Paul Collingwood spilled a difficult return offering when the Australian was on 87, but he promptly smashed the next two balls to the boundary and reached his century in the next over.

Paul Johnson looked in reasonable form on his way to 30 but Kevin Pietersen only made 2 on his debut.

The spin of Michael Gough finally accounted for Blewett, as keeper Andy Pratt took a sharp stumping. The standing ovation from the members spoke volumes for the quality of the innings.

Paul Franks and Chris Read nudged Notts past the visitors total before bad light and then heavy rain forced the players from the field after just 6 overs of the final session. They later returned to take the score on to 344 for 6, a lead of 60.

With just one day of this match remaining a draw looks inevitable.

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