A momentous day for Durham CCC was celebrated with victory in a keenly fought contest with local rivals, the Yorkshire Vikings.
Victory was a fitting way to introduce the use of floodlights for the first time at Emirates Riverside after years of planning and consultations with the local authorities.
A large crowd – Durham’s biggest for domestic games in 2015 – were thoroughly entertained as a career-best bowling performance by Keaton Jennings help restrict the visitors to six runs shy of the Jets’ 182.
And the Jets’ team spirit showed as they overcame a team full of international stars including Australia’s Glen Maxwell and England duo Liam Plunkett & Jonny Bairstow.
Ex-Durham man Plunkett, released on the morning of the game from England’s Test squad, removed Mark Stoneman with his second ball but the Jets progressed nicely through the powerplay overs.
A 42-run partnership between Phil Mustard and Calum MacLeod, largely dominated by the former, put the Jets in a solid – if unspectacular – position after nine overs when MacLeod fell to Adil Rashid.
From Mustard’s departure on 75/3 just over the half way mark, following MacLeod by chipping to the fielder at long-on, the Jets’ tail fired in supreme fashion to launch them north of 180.
Paul Collingwood led the counter-attack, putting the Vikings on the back foot with some superb strokeplay to all parts of the ground, before John Hastings carried the mantle when he fell to Plunkett on 31.
The burly Australian, ably supported by Gordon Muchall, launched a tirade of boundaries in a 16-ball 37, including four boundaries alone from Tim Bresnan’s final over of the innings.
One strike ended up multiple rows back in the County Durham stand as the overseas star lived up to his billing and hauled the Jets to an impressive 182/4 from their 20 overs.
Yorkshire’s reply got off to a turgid start when Paul Coughlin rapped Andrew Hodd on the pads but their innings soon found impetus through Durham nemesis Jonny Bairstow.
The wicketkeeper, who scored a hundred in the same fixture in 2014, went after the Jets bowling attack until he became Keaton Jennings first wicket, misjudging a slower ball to be bowled for 27.
Big-hitting Australian Maxwell was trapped lbw by Jennings before captain Andrew Gale fell in bizarre fashion, knocking into his own stumps attempting to pull Paul Collingwood.
The middle-order medium pace put the brakes on the Vikings’ reply and Jennings soon collected his third and fourth wicket for career-best figures of 4/37.
A couple of Jack Leaning maximums tainted his figures slightly but it proved a matchwinning contribution as the visitors fell six runs short, halving the deficit off the last delivery as Bresnan launched a monstrous six over the leg side.
But it mattered little as the Jets had already wrapped up a fine victory in front of an excellent home crowd against a side containing some of the leading names in world T20 cricket.
