Durham v Yorkshire Vikings
Vitality Blast, North Group
Friday June 21, 2024, 6.30pm
Seat Unique Riverside, Durham
Toss: Durham won it and elected to bat.
Durham: Graham Clark, Alex Lees c, David Bedingham, Ollie Robinson w, Bas de Leede, Michael Jones, Ben Raine, Ben Dwarshuis, George Drissell, Callum Parkinson, Nathan Sowter.
Vikings: Adam Lyth, Dawid Malan c, Joe Root, Will Luxton, Donovan Ferreira w, Jordan Thompson, George Hill, Dom Bess, Jafer Chohan, Conor McKerr, Dan Moriarty.
Match Summary: Yorkshire lost a thriller by three runs as, in the face of a 171 target, they failed to score the eight runs needed off the last over from Australian fast bowler Ben Dwarshuis.
The left-armer had Dom Bess caught at long-on early in the final over before George Hill, needing to hit the last ball for four, missed an attempted ramp, the Vikings finishing on 167-7 in reply to Durham’s 170-6.
Adam Lyth top-scored with 54 off 40 balls for Yorkshire, Will Luxton hit 33 off 18 in his first appearance of the campaign and Dan Moriarty claimed 2-26 with his left-arm spin.
But Dwarshuis will share the hero’s tag with Durham leg-spinner Nathan Sowter, who claimed two crucial wickets added to a brilliant direct hit run out of Donovan Ferreira running in from deep mid-wicket at the striker’s end.
Yorkshire have now won four, lost four from eight and slipped out of the top four places in the North Group. Durham replaced them in the qualifying positions with their fourth win from eight games.
Report: Make no mistake about it, this was one that got away for Yorkshire, who couldn’t build on last night’s stunning Roses win. They lost for the fourth time.
While this pitch was far from a nightmare for batting, it didn’t suit free-flowing run-scoring.
Durham’s opener Graham Clark top-scored with 49 off 35 balls, but their innings was stymied for the majority by the excellent spin duo of Dan Moriarty, who returned 2-26 from four overs of left-arm spin, and Jafer Chohan’s 1-25 from four overs of leg-spin.
Moriarty had Alex Lees stumped early on and later returned to bowl Clark, who played on. Chohan also removed David Bedingham, while Jordan Thompson struck twice late on.
Unfortunately, however, the closing stages of Durham’s innings was when they gained valuable momentum which had earlier eluded them.
Ollie Robinson, Bas de Leede and Michael Jones all finding or clearing the boundary, the former two contributing useful scores of 33 and 28 as the hosts advanced from 106-3 after 15 overs, taking 64 from the last five overs.
In Yorkshire’s reply, Lyth continued the flow of runs – and the visitors were ahead for the majority.
Strangely, it was a kind of reverse of what happened to Durham innings.
Durham failed to get momentum early and got it late, whereas Yorkshire got it early and failed to maintain it late.
Dawid Malan fell early to a brilliant Alex Lees caught at cover off George Drissell’s off-spin.
However, Drissell was put under serious pressure by Will Luxton, who came in after Joe Root – for 20 – was caught behind off Raine’s seam, leaving the score at 60-2 in the seventh over.
Luxton hit two leg-side sixes and a four down the ground as 19 came off Drissell in the 10th over, taking the Vikings to 100-2.
It seemed as if they were, by now in an unassailable position. Not so!
Sowter bowled him and had Thompson superbly caught and bowled running towards mid-on. Lyth reached 50 off 35 balls but was also lbw to Raine. With those three dismissals, Yorkshire were 130-5 in the 16th and the game in the balance again.
Sowter brilliantly ran Donovan Ferreira out with a direct hit from deep midwicket before Dwarshuis had Dom Bess caught at long-on in the last, which ended by Hill missing an attempted ramp off the last ball.
England Test captain Ben Stokes and his family were amongst the crowd this evening.
Turning point: It had to be the last over, which started with Yorkshire 163-6 and Dwarshuis – a multiple Big Bash winner with Sydney Sixers bowling. It went 1, 2, wicket, dot, one, dot.
Stat of the match: Will Luxton’s previous high score in three T20 appearances was seven. Each of those appearances in this format came last year.
Availability: Shan Masood is out for a week with concussion. He will miss the Championship match against Gloucestershire at Scarborough on Sunday, a fixture Ben Coad will also be absent from as he is not quite fully fit following a back injury. Conor McKerr’s loan from Surrey has been extended, so he is in contention to face Glos. Yorkshire are also hopeful Adil Rashid will be available for their next Blast match against Birmingham on July 5.
What they said – coach Ottis Gibson: “I’m standing here and I still don’t really know (where that one got away).
“I think they got about 50 off the last four overs when we bowled. We were a little bit loose, and that’s too many.
“But, then again, we should chase 170. From where we got to, we should get it every time. This one’s a little bit hard to take, to be honest.
“Adam Lyth played a beautiful innings but got out. Even then, the equation’s still just over a run-a-ball. It’s a little bit of common sense cricket to see us home.
“We kept giving them opportunities to put us under pressure. Good luck to them, they won the game, but it’s a disappointing evening for us.”
What’s next: Yorkshire return to Vitality County Championship action on Sunday, facing Gloucestershire at Scarborough, starting at 11am. That is the first of two four-day matches before the return of the Blast on July 5.
The Vikings host Birmingham Bears at Headingley when the Blast returns in a fortnight’s time.
