England opener Emilio Gay made 141 as Durham dominated the first day of their County Championship match against Lancashire, with the visitors ending on 355-5.

Gay's high-class century at Emirates Old Trafford was his fourth in 10 Championship innings this season and it helped his side make good on their pledge not to take it easy even though the Division Two title is won. Gay put on 114 with Ben Mc Kinney, who made 71 and reached 1,000 first-class runs for the season. He then added 168 with Mayank Agarwal before being caught at second slip off Ben Walkden.

A tough few hours for Lancashire's bowlers was eased a little when they took three wickets in the evening session, though it is doubtful whether this will assuage the pain of dropping four catches, all off Durham's highest scorers. The shape of the day was already clear by lunch, when the visitors were 112-1 with Mc Kinney unbeaten on 64.

Those wickets left Durham on 306-5 but Ollie Robinson and Kasey Aldridge had steered their side to a third bonus point at the close. Noman Ali finished the day with figures of 2-110.