Graham Onions denied his home county Durham as he produced an unlikely match-winning performance with the bat to snatch a last-over victory for Lancashire in the Royal London One-Day Cup at Gosforth.
Onions built a much-heralded career in the north east on the back of his exploits with the ball but showed a canny knack with the bat on his return as he blasted a pair of sixes in the 48th over to swing the game the way of his adopted county.
Lancashire sealed a three-wicket win with four balls to spare, with Onions unbeaten on 16 from six balls, to claim a fourth successive victory and draw level with second-placed Durham in the North Group.
Alex Lees had earlier played a lone hand as he struck 115 in Durham’s 229 all out before Steven Croft fell a run short of his second century of the competition.
And while the visitors wobbled Onions, who was born a few miles down the road in Gateshead, stood up when it counted to secure the win.
Sussex claimed a thrilling last-gasp victory over Essex after last pair Danny Briggs and Mir Hamza got them home with a ball to spare.
Essex had looked comfortably on course for victory when half-centuries from Tom Westley and Dan Lawrence helped them to 283 for seven before Matt Coles’ three wickets reduced the Sharks to 94 for six.
Will Beer and Laurie Evans took over from there, the former hitting a career-best 75, in a match-changing 121-run stand for the seventh wicket.
Champions Hampshire moved to the brink of booking a play-off place as Liam Dawson’s century set them on course for a 53-run win over Surrey at the Kia Oval.
Aiden Markram contributed 88 in a total of 307 before Dawson then claimed two for 39 as Surrey’s hopes of progress were ended.
Chris Cooke’s career-best List A score of 161 kept Glamorgan’s slim hopes of progression alive following a 74-run victory over Gloucestershire at Bristol.
The 32-year-old South African shared a fourth-wicket stand of 234 with Billy Root, who contributed 98 to a Glamorgan total of 331 for seven.
Marchant de Lange then ripped through the home top-order as Gloucestershire slumped to 26 for four and were unable to threaten the target.
Wayne Madsen’s unbeaten 119 steered Derbyshire Falcons to a five-wicket win over Warwickshire.
The Bears posted 288 for seven on the back of half-centuries from Alex Thomson and Alex Mellor before Madsen coolly stroked 119 from 104 balls to leave the Falcons just outside the play-off places.
