Nathan Smith and Matthew Waite featured in a record-breaking stand for Worcestershire on day three of the Vitality County Championship match with Durham at Kidderminster but their side went down by 185 runs.
The duo came together with Worcestershire facing an uphill battle at 135-6 in pursuit of a 458 target.
Smith and Waite took the fight to the visitors during a stand of 103 in 30 overs for the seventh wicket.
It surpassed the previous best for that wicket by Worcestershire against Durham of 101 by Ross Whiteley and Ben Cox at New Road five years ago.
Smith continued his excellent form after his half century at Trent Bridge and 33 not out in the first innings here by completing another fifty.
Waite also showed his quality with the bat in top-scoring with 62 before Worcestershire were bowled out in the closing stages of the day.
Worcestershire were set a 458 target after Durham extended their overnight score from 319-5 to 397-5 with Ollie Robinson and Graham Clark scoring unbeaten half centuries.
Opener Jake Libby again showed his class and determination in making his second half century of the match.
But only Gareth Roderick and Rob Jones of the other top six batters passed 30 and Worcestershire will be disappointed to have been bowled out twice in the space of 136 overs.
It was left to the seventh wicket pair to carry the fight before Durham wrapped up victory shortly before the close.
Their bowlers performed well in spells, such as Jason Holder’s post lunch burst on the opening day, but did not match the nagging consistency of the Durham attack.
They will now look to bounce back and reproduce the form demonstrated against Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire when taking on Somerset at Chester Road
Durham resumed on 319-5 and Ollie Robinson and Graham Clark scored 78 off 13 overs to set up the declaration after 50 minutes play.
Robinson completed a 65 ball fifty and Clark reached the same milestone from 91 balls at which point captain Scott Borthwick declared.
The fourth wicket partnership was worth an unbroken 132 in 28.1 overs.
Nathan Smith finished with 14-1-68-2, Adam Finch 15-1-57-1 and Joe Leach 14-0-84-1.
Worcestershire openers Gareth Roderick and Jake Libby made a confident start against the new ball attack of Ben Raine and Matthew Potts.
Roderick cover drove Potts for four and Libby cut Raine to the boundary as 49 runs came up in 13 overs before two wickets fell in the space of two balls from Paul Coughlin.
Roderick (34) was bowled off the inside edge and then Worcestershire Club Captain, Brett D’Oliveira, clipped the next delivery straight to mid wicket.
Rob Jones showed positive intent from the start and struck spinner Callum Parkinson for a huge straight six.
A straight drive for four by Worcestershire’s new signing off the same bowler brought up the 100 in 20.2 overs.
Jones raced to 39 from 23 balls but then provided Coughlin with a third wicket when caught at backward point.
Adam Hose (1) pushed forward to the returning Potts and was lbw at 103-4 while Jason Holder (4) was bowled through the gate by the same bowler.
Libby completed an 87 ball fifty with seven boundaries.
But the next delivery ended his determined knock when he tried to pull out of a hook shot against Raine and lobbed up a gentle catch to mid wicket.
Smith reached 50 off 87 balls before pushing forward to Raine and being bowled and, after Josh Baker was caught behind cutting at spinner Callum Parkinson, Waite went to his fifty from 110 deliveries.
Waite (62) was eventually strangled down the leg side to give Coughlin a fourth scalp and last man Adam Finch fell to Parkinson.
Worcestershire Head Coach, Alan Richardson, said: “Ultimately really frustrated and disappointed that we didn’t put together a performance I know we are capable of.
“Durham played really well and put us under pressure but a bit frustrated that we haven’t done ourselves justice.
“I would say a little bit scruffy with the ball at times which cost us. A decent reflection of that is no balls and there was a slight lack of discipline amongst that.
“That is something for us to look at and make sure we can contain and put pressure on for long periods of time.
“With the bat, we never really got going. We felt like we needed a decent couple of partnerships.
“We felt like we had a couple of okay ones but for us just being a bit more ruthless with the bat. We lost wickets in clusters at times.”
