TWENTY20 CUP, NORTH DIVISION, Riverside:
Durham 177-4 beat Nottinghamshire 169 by eight runs (Durham 2pts, Notts 0pts)

Mitch Claydon finished with 5-26, his best bowling figures in Twenty20

Australian all-rounder Mitch Claydon dashed Nottinghamshire hopes for the second time in a week as Durham pulled off a dramatic eight-run victory.

In the opening Twenty20 Cup tie at Trent Bridge last Monday, Claydon hit the winning runs off the last ball.

This time he had to bowl the last over as Notts, chasing 177-4, needed 10 to win with two wickets standing.

But Claydon bowled Luke Fletcher with his second ball and Mark Ealham with his fourth as Notts fell short on 169.

Claydon, 26, finished with 5-26, comfortably his best in Twenty20, and only the second five-wicket haul for Durham in the competition's seven-year history.

Needing 178 at the Riverside, Nottinghamshire were 132-7 in the 17th over when Andre Adams joined Ealham and thrashed 20 off eight balls.

With 21 coming off the 18th over, bowled by Gareth Breese, the visitors got it down to 20 off two.

But, after hitting Neil Killeen for his second six, Adams drove a full toss to long-on, where Will Smith held an excellent catch above his head.

Michael Di Venuto had earlier made his best Twenty20 score for Durham, hitting 55.

But the real fireworks for the 5,000 crowd came from Dale Benkenstein, who went to the crease in the 15th over and smashed an unbeaten 48, including five sixes, as Durham ended only six short of their highest Twenty20 total.

By completing the double over Notts, Durham climbed off the bottom of the North Division to join Derbyshire and Yorkshire on four points.

But then men from Trent Bridge are struggling, joint bottom with Leicestershire, both sides having won just one of their four games.

Durham's five-wicket hero Mitch Claydon told BBC Sport:

"It's great just to be getting a game. All I've wanted for two years is the opportunity, but it's been a tough side to get into.

"I used to try to bowl at 100mph, but you can't do that day in, day out, so I've worked hard on my control."

Notts batsman Will Jefferson told BBC Radio Nottingham:

"We were close. We didn't get off to a good start, which didn't help, but there are certain areas that we need to work on.

"We want to be getting to the quarter-finals, so we should be winning games like these.

"Every game is big for us now. We need to win at least five of our last six group games."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version