Onions gave the England selectors a nudge with his performance

England bowling hopeful Graham Onions took eight Warwickshire wickets at Edgbaston before Durham struggled with their reply in difficult conditions.

Onions finished with 8-101 as Warwickshire were finally dismissed for 335 after 94 overs.

Durham reached 214-5 at close of play, with several batsmen getting a start but none pushing on as yet.

Captain Dale Benkenstein was not out on 57 after Dale Steyn had dismissed Kyle Coetzer (46) and Michael Di Venuto (9).

With the match still to enter its second innings, there seems no way out of stalemate for a fixture robbed of its first four sessions by rain.

Resuming on 267-5, Warwickshire initially made solid progress, adding another 36 without further loss, but then fell in a heap to Onions and the second new ball.

Kumar Sangakkara added only another 18 runs to his overnight 131, but his 149 - from 230 balls with 22 fours and a five - was an innings of the highest class.

Durham's Will Smith and Gordon Muchall batted diligently to add 59 for the second wicket, mostly in steady drizzle, before both played on.

Coetzer holed out to deep square leg for 46 but skipper Benkenstein reached a responsible half-century from 118 balls.