Yorkshire CCC fall agonisingly short as Durham win thriller
Yorkshire needed 20 from 16 balls with Donovan Ferreira, their overseas player, set at the crease and with five wickets remaining in pursuit of 171 for victory.
The match seemed as good as done on the back of a fine 54 from Adam Lyth and a momentum-changing innings of 33 from Will Luxton, who hit three sixes and a four in an 18-ball stay.
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Hide AdBut T20 is a game of fine margins and the pivotal moment came when Ferreira then launched a full toss from Ben Dwarshuis up to mid-wicket.


Nathan Sowter, racing in from the rope, was not quite able to make the catch, taking the ball on the first bounce, but the second prize was pretty good as he took aim with a direct hit from fully 40 yards that ran out the South African coming back for a second.
Ferreira was gone for 21 and although Yorkshire should still have won from there, later needing 13 from 11 balls with four wickets left, the mood changed.
Dom Bess was caught on the long-on boundary in a final over also bowled by Dwarshuis, the Australian left-armer, and George Hill, having executed a superb ramp shot for six to his third ball, was unable to repeat the feat with four needed from the final delivery, failing to make contact with a full toss that seemed tailor-made for the stroke.
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Hide AdIt was cruel luck on Hill, who hung his head in disappointment, and brought Yorkshire a fourth defeat to go with four wins in the 14-match North Group, a back-down-to-earth moment after their Roses heroics of the previous evening.
The match was a slow-burner mainly because of the pitch, with boundary scoring never easy, and the consequently pragmatic manner in which Durham built their innings after winning the toss.
After losing Alex Lees early, they were 92-2 in the 13th over before stepping up the pace towards the end, striking 64 from the last five overs. Graham Clark, Lees’s opening partner, was not removed until the penultimate ball of the 13th over, bowled for the top-score of 49 by Dan Moriarty, the pick of the bowlers with 2-26, closely followed by leg-spinner Jafer Chohan. Chief impetus came from the blades of Ollie Robinson, Bas de Leede and Michael Jones, who all struck at 150 or above.
A final score of 170-6, helped by 17 off the final over from Conor McKerr, felt slightly above par given the conditions, especially with Yorkshire also missing their captain, Shan Masood, after he was hit on the helmet batting against Lancashire, hence the call-up for Luxton.
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Hide AdHaving made only 11 runs in his three previous T20s, Luxton played splendidly, adding 53 with Lyth from 28 balls.
But Luxton was then bowled trying to pull Sowter, and after Lyth stepped across and was lbw to Ben Raine, the hosts held their nerve.
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