Ian Blackwell celebrates the first-ball dismissal of Francois du Plessis
Ian Blackwell took a season's best 6-85 as Durham shaded another spin-dominated day against Lancashire at Old Trafford.
Responding to Durham's 270, only VVS Laxman (87) and Mal Loye (60) of the Lancashire top order made runs as the home side slumped to 123-6.
Kyle Hogg (42) and Laxman then put on 84 for the seventh wicket before Tom Lungley and Gary Keedy shared an unbroken last-wicket stand of 39.
Five of Blackwell's wickets were lbw as Lancs closed on 252-9, just 18 behind.
Blackwell's efforts matched Keedy's 'six-for' the previous day. But, on such a spin-friendly track, not surprisingly, there was little success for Durham paceman Graham Onions, who bowled three spells but remained wicketless.
Onions undertook the shift expected of international seamers as he attempted to prove his form in advance of next week's deciding Ashes Test. But he finished with 0-46 from 19 overs.
Instead, he was upstaged by Blackwell, whose persistence and accuracy was matched only by the artistry and class of Laxman, who took his tally of Championship runs to 475 in nine innings.
It was Laxman who helped Loye repair the Lancashire innings after the home side found themselves 16-2 inside eight overs of the morning.
By lunch, which Loye took with the unwelcome appetiser of a fearful blow in the box by Onions, the pair had taken the total to 80 and their partnership to 65.
But the complexion of the match was transformed in an eight-over period in mid-afternoon as Lancashire lost four wickets for 22 runs.
Loye was the first to depart when he top-edged a pull off a short delivery from Blackwell which turned and bounced more than the batsman expected.
The decline of the Lancashire innings then accelerated when Blackwell had three lbw appeals answered in the affirmative by Neil Mallender in the space of five balls.
Mark Chilton played no shot, Francois du Plessis went back but was beaten by a quicker one and Luke Sutton attempted a sweep.
Of the three, only du Plessis seemed to have nothing to grumble about.
Lancashire were in danger of conceding a cripplingly large first-innings lead but Laxman and Hogg began the rescue.
Laxman was finally removed by an outstanding one-handed catch at midwicket by Liam Plunkett off medium-pacer Dale Benkenstein. And Hogg and Newby then became Blackwell and Mallender's fourth and fifth lbw victims of the day.
But on-loan Lancashire debutant Tom Lungley and England Lions spinner Keedy claimed an unlikely second batting bonus point in taking their last-wicket partnership to 39 by the close.
Batsman VVS Laxman told BBC Radio Lancashire:
"It was quite tough because the ball was not coming on to the bat because of the slow nature of the wicket.
"It was also turning for the left-arm spinner, so it was a pitch where you had to apply yourself and play a patient innings.
"It's similar to the wickets we find in India, but probably slower. It's usually on the second and third days in India that the pitches tend to get slower, not on the first day.
"But that was plan against the Durham attack because we've got two quality spinners in our team and we wanted to use that advantage. Hopefully we will come out with a win if we do well over the next two days."
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