Darren Pattinson injury adds to Nottinghamshire's bowler shortage

It is a good job Nottinghamshire have a decent cushion at the top of the Championship table, because they are starting to run out of bowlers. Ryan Sidebottom has almost certainly made his last appearance for the county having been called away, after two days of this game, on England one-day duty for the next two weeks, and his nominated replacement, Darren Pattinson, then sprained an ankle bowling his first ball in Durham's second innings. The over had to be completed by Andre Adams as Pattinson left the field for treatment. Although the best-known former Grimsby roofer in history returned for another crack after lunch, he could manage only two feeble overs that went for 26 before calling it quits. With Charlie Shreck and Andy Carter also injured, and Stuart Broad otherwise engaged, Notts could well be down to three fit seamers not only for the rest of this match but for next week's game against title rivals Yorkshire at Trent Bridge. However, they are only a reasonable batting performance away from a draw here that would secure nine points and extend their lead over second-placed Somerset to 25, with Yorkshire a further three points back. So draws from their remaining two games, against Yorkshire and then Lancashire at Old Trafford in the last round of matches starting on Monday week, would almost certainly be enough to regain the Championship title they last won in 2005. Pattinson played his part with the bat as they restricted Durham to a first innings lead of 29, resuming the innings Sidebottom had started late on Wednesday and blocking sensibly for most of the morning session until he was last out for a season's best 19. That allowed the three remaining fit seamers – Paul Franks, Adams and Luke Fletcher – to play some shots as Notts added 84 for the last three wickets after Steven Mullaney had gone to Liam Plunkett in the first over of the day. The admirable Adams then dismissed Durham's left-handed openers cheaply, but Gordon Muchall took the game away from Notts with his attack on the hobbling Pattinson after lunch. The tall 27-year-old, who was in line for a new contract before this innings even though he has still to fulfil his potential consistently in the nine seasons since he made his debut, raced to 50 from 52 balls and completed his 10th first-class century with his 16th boundary. Durham will resume on the last day with a lead of 308 after Dale Benkenstein and Ian Blackwell each reached 50, but the injury that has ruled Mark Davies out of their attack for the rest of the match is likely to rule out any bold declaration by the champions, who are not yet mathematically safe from relegation. Warwickshire took a huge step towards avoiding the drop by polishing off Kent to complete their second consecutive victory. The England Lions seamer Chris Woakes ended with match figures of 11 for 97 in addition to making two crucial contributions with the bat as the Bears climbed 18 points clear of Kent, who are now in the relegation zone with Essex.