Jack Shutt returned stunning figures of 5-11 from four overs to inspire a remarkable come from behind Vitality Blast win at Durham which keeps Yorkshire’s quarter-final hopes just alive.
Durham, chasing 147, slipped from 70-0 in the eighth over to 132 all out after 19 overs, a 14-run defeat.
Adam Lyth also struck three times with his off-spin in the 19th over, added to a run out, as Durham needed 19 off the last two overs with four wickets left.
Yorkshire are now three points away from the top four places in the North Group with three games remaining, starting against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge on Sunday (3.30pm). Seventh-placed in the table, they have a game in hand on the three teams above them, including Derbyshire in fourth.
Spin ruled the roost, especially in Durham’s innings.
Jack Leaning also struck with his off-spin and bowled late on in the innings after Shutt had bowled out.
The 22-year-old’s figures were Yorkshire’s second best in Blast history behind Tim Bresnan’s 6-19 against Lancashire at Emerald Headingley in 2017.
Earlier, Tom Kohler-Cadmore hit 52 off 42 balls in 146-6 before powerful Durham openers Scott Steel (49 off 42 balls) and Australian international D’Arcy Short (29 off 21) shared 70 inside eight overs at the start of their chase.
Then came the remarkable collapse, with Durham losing their heads as they offered countless catches in the ring and in the deep.
The White Rose were invited to bat by their former overseas batsman Peter Handscomb, Durham’s stand-in captain with Cameron Bancroft on Ashes duty and Stuart Poynter left out.
This clash, in front of a Durham record crowd of 9,130, was played out on one of the new hybrid pitches installed at a number of venues around England in order to cope with the increasingly congested fixture schedule.
The pitches are a mixture of grass and astroturf and are supposed to hold together for longer than a normal pitch would. But this one was on its third use in the Blast and looked tired.
Given the boundaries were also pushed right out, hitting the gaps and running hard was always going to be important.
The Yorkshire innings only included eight fours and three sixes, and Kohler-Cadmore and fourth-wicket partner Leaning seemed to impressively assess conditions after a stuttering start at 37-3 in the sixth over.
Lyth, David Willey and Jonny Tattersall all holed out cheaply inside the 30-yard circle, with Willey punching a return catch to seamer Matty Potts.
But Kohler-Cadmore and Leaning busily advanced the visitors, sharing 75 inside eleven overs.
After Lyth pulled an early six off seamer Brydon Carse, Kohler-Cadmore hoisted his only six over long-on off left-arm spinner Liam Trevaskis in the fifth over.
The Vikings skipper reached 50 off 40 balls before falling in pursuit of quick runs late on. Tim Bresnan then hoisted the penultimate ball of the innings from Matty Potts over mid-wicket for six.
While Leaning made a run-a-ball 39, Will Fraine added 16 on his Yorkshire T20 debut down the order.
Experienced Aussie seamer Nathan Rimmington finished with three wickets, while fledging quick Potts added two.
Short pulled and lofted two sixes off successive balls from Jordan Thompson in the sixth over as he helped the hosts to a damaging power play score of 64-0 before being bowled by Shutt in the eighth over to spark the remarkable comeback, surely one of Yorkshire’s best ever.
TURNING POINT: The introduction of Jack Shutt into attack turned the match on its head. He dismissed Short and Steel on his way to claiming figures of 5-11 – his best in T20 cricket. Durham were unable to hit him off the square, which built pressure, allowing the Vikings to claim a vital win.
SHOT OF THE MATCH: Kohler-Cadmore once clattered the ball into the media centre on a previous visit to Emirates Riverside. On this occasion he smashed a six over the mid-on boundary 20 rows back into the County Durham Stand off Liam Trevaskis.
UNSUNG HERO: Tim Bresnan scored 14 vital runs late in the Yorkshire innings, including two boundaries in the final over, which proved to be the difference between the two sides.
WHAT’S NEXT: Durham are next in action against the Birmingham Bears at Emirates Riverside on Tuesday. The Vikings face the Nottinghamshire Outlaws on Sunday at Trent Bridge.
