Yorkshire Carnegie v Durham Dynamos: Yorkshire find their range to open Twenty20 account

Gone was the profligate bowling that had seen them concede 222 against Derbyshire and 208 against Worcestershire.

Instead Yorkshire produced a more polished performance as Durham were restricted to

156-7, the home team cruising to their target with four overs to spare.

Adil Rashid was the pick of the Yorkshire bowlers with 3-23 from four overs.

The leg-spinner displayed admirable control and was well-supported by Ajmal Shahzad, who showed why he was unlucky to be left out of England's squad for the NatWest Series with 1-21 from his four overs.

Faced with a target that was nonetheless testing, with the light indeterminate and the bowling competitive, Yorkshire made it look like a stroll in the park.

Herschelle Gibbs hammered an unbeaten 76 from 39 balls and Andrew Gale an undefeated 60 from 42 deliveries, the pair adding a Yorkshire record Twenty20 partnership of 137 from 71 balls, eclipsing the 129 added by Gale and Michael Vaughan against Nottinghamshire at Headingley Carnegie last summer – also for the second wicket.

Given that Yorkshire had been left to chase more than 200 in their first two games, when they too often failed to locate the right lengths, it seemed a brave decision by Gale to put Durham in to bat.

In view of the cold and cloudy conditions, however, which restricted the crowd to around 3,000, it was an eminently sensible move by the Yorkshire captain, who has displayed no lack of courage since taking the role and whose bowlers quickly warmed to the task.

Shahzad, inspired by his efforts with England, struck with the fourth ball of the match when he comprehensively bowled a charging Phil Mustard, who appeared to be trying to smash one of the numerous windows in the Carnegie Pavilion.

Shahzad conceded only 17 runs from his first three overs – six of those arriving in one hit from the New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor, who took advantage of a short leg-side boundary to the West Stand.

Taylor hit two further maximums – crashing Clint McKay for six over cover and then striking the same bowler over long-on - during an innings of 31 from 16 balls that was the highlight of Durham's innings.

Yorkshire's bowling was not uniformly impressive – there were times when they perhaps attempted too many variations and lost a little discipline – but they took wickets at regular intervals to check Durham's progress.

Rashid tore out the middle-order in a decisive burst that saw Dale Benkenstein caught behind off a quicker ball, Ben Stokes held at long-on and Gareth Breese taken reverse-sweeping as the visitors slipped from 69-3 in the ninth over to 112-6 in the 15th.

With Richard Pyrah chipping in with the key wickets of Taylor and Albie Morkel, the latter top-scoring with 33 from 23 balls, Yorkshire always gave the impression of control.

McKay was again expensive – he conceded 15 from the last over of the innings – but the home team could be encouraged not only by their bowling but also their fielding, with Jonathan Bairstow particularly impressive.

Much seemed likely to depend on Steve Harmison if Durham were to defend their total, and the former England man began in a fashion no less inauspicious than his opening ball of the 2006-07 Ashes series, which flew to second slip.

Bounding in from the Kirkstall Lane end, Harmison's first ball slipped out the back of his hand and trickled apologetically behind the wicket, sparking guffaws in the crowd.

But Harmison's enigmatic tendencies were highlighted by his first proper delivery, which uprooted Jacques Rudolph's off-stump as Yorkshire slipped to 23-1 in the fifth over. Gale and Gibbs picked up the pace in expert fashion, Gibbs taking a particular liking to Harmison, whom he thrashed for three off-side fours that bore the imprint of quality.

The South African struck seven fours and four sixes in total, racing to his half-century from just 27 balls. Gale was content to play a supporting hand but also produced moments of scintillating acceleration, lashing five fours and three sixes.

Durham looked demoralised well before the end, which came in a hail of boundaries. It was a fine response by Yorkshire to recent disappointments, which were emphatically dispelled in the evening gloom.

DISPLAY OF THE DAY

Herschelle Gibbs

Yorkshire's overseas signing helped his side home with a magnficent knock of 76.

Yorkshire v Durham

Headingley Carnegie: Yorkshire beat Durham by 9 wkts.

Durham

P Mustard b Shahzad 1

I D Blackwell b McKay 11

L R P Taylor c A U Rashid b Pyrah 31

B A Stokes c McGrath b A U Rashid 32

D M Benkenstein c Brophy b A U Rashid 3

J A Morkel b Pyrah 33

G R Breese c Shahzad b A U Rashid 4

W R Smith not out 11

L E Plunkett not out 21

Extras lb4 w5 9

Total 7 wkts (20 overs) 156

Fall: 1-4 2-34 3-64 4-69 5-104 6-112 7-126.

Did Not Bat: M E Claydon, S J Harmison.

Bowling:Shahzad 4 0 21 1, Patterson 4 0 31 0, McKay 4 0 46 1, Pyrah 4 0 31 2, A U Rashid 4 0 23 3.

Yorkshire

A W Gale not out 60

J A Rudolph b S J Harmison 13

H H Gibbs not out 76

Extras b1 lb5 w5 11

Total 1 wkt (16 overs) 160

Fall: 1-23.

Did Not Bat: A McGrath, G L Brophy, J M Bairstow, A U Rashid, R M Pyrah, C J McKay, A Shahzad, S A Patterson.

Bowling: J A Morkel 2 0 10 0, Claydon 4 0 31 0, S J Harmison 3 0 25 1, Plunkett 3 0 36 0, W R Smith 2 0 24 0, Blackwell 1 0 15 0, Breese 1 0 13 0.

New Road: Worcestershire 113-9 v Nottinghamshire 114-4 (A D Hales 66 no). Notts beat Worcs by 6 wkts.

P W L T NR Pts

Lancashire 2 2 0 0 0 4

Warwickshire 2 2 0 0 0 4

Derbyshire 3 2 1 0 0 4

Worcestershire 3 1 1 0 1 3

Nottinghamshire 1 1 0 0 0 2

Leicestershire 2 1 1 0 0 2

Yorkshire 3 1 2 0 0 2

Durham 3 0 2 0 1 1

Northamptonshire 3 0 3 0 0 0

South Division, The Oval: Essex 121-8 v Surrey 112-7. Essex beat Surrey by 9 runs.