Ian Blackwell wreaked havoc with Nottinghamshire’s middle order as Durham forced the follow on day two at Trent Bridge.
Blackwell finished with first innings figures of 6-3 off six overs to compound a disappointing day for the Nottinghamshire batsmen, his left-arm spin accounting for Ali Brown (36), Chris Read (48) and Andre Adams (6).
Read was denied his half-century by a debatable lbw decision having been dropped at short leg minutes earlier.
Steve Harmison’s introduction struck fear into Nottinghamshire openers Matt Wood and Bilal Shafayat who each scored only a single to reach 2-0 after ten overs although Director of Cricket Mick Newell conceded that their defensive approach was neccessary.
"Harmison bowled aggressively with the new ball and Matt and Bilal did well to cope with that," said Newell.
"They had to deal with what was in front of them and there was no real need to attack. What cost us was pretty ordinary shot selection from three of our top five batsmen and we didn't make Durham work hard enough for their wickets.
"We're up against it but we have to try and find a way to win the game and the staring point is to bat well tomorrow. It's a good pitch to score runs on and we'll stay positive."
Harmison bowled seven maidens in his first eight over spell, having Wood caught for 12 by Mark Stoneman, fending off a bouncer. His second spell was expensive though with Chris Read punishing anything short.
Durham had resumed on 257-5 with Blackwell hitting 38 off 45 balls before edging to Adams off Sidebottom who finished with 4-65.
Phil Mustard was caught behind for 40 runs and Sidebottom had Thorp lbw to leave Durham all out for 356, a total which would give them a first innings lead of 185.