Result: Durham (299/6; Clark 92, Steel 77, Collingwood 73*; 2 points) beat Nottinghamshire Outlaws (297; Hales 104, Root 66, Read 61; Wood 3/62, Weighell 3/66) by four wickets
Paul Collingwood completed a remarkable run chase after Graham Clark & Cameron Steel hit career-bests to keep Royal London One-Day Cup qualification hopes alive with victory over the Nottinghamshire Outlaws at Trent Bridge.
Collingwood scored an unbeaten 73 as Durham completed a four-wicket win with five balls remaining, having been set a target of 298.
The 40-year-old scored his runs from only 47 balls, hitting a six and eight fours, the last of which sealed a highly-impressive win.
Durham’s chase had got off to the worst possible start, losing the in-form Keaton Jennings & Michael Richardson early, but a stand of 160 between Graham Clark and Cameron Steel revived hopes.
Clark made 92 from 94 balls and Steel accompanied him with 77 from 109 balls but when they fell it was left to Collingwood to guide their side over the line.
Earlier, a century from Alex Hales had been the backbone behind the Notts Outlaws’ innings. The England opener scored 104 and with half centuries from Billy Root and Chris Read, the Outlaws reached 297 before being bowled out one delivery short of their 50-over allocation.
During the Notts innings Mark Wood and James Weighell each picked up three wickets for the visitors, with the latter leading the competition’s wicket-takers with 16.
Hales scored his runs from 103 balls, with eight fours and three huge sixes, one sailing straight through the open windows of the radio commentary boxes on the third floor of the Radcliffe Road Stand.
Chris Rushworth had put the hosts on the back foot early on, removing Michael Lumb in the first over and Riki Wessels in the fifth but Samit Patel, in his benefit match, played nicely before lifting Weighell to the point boundary for 28.
Hales, was eventually dismissed by Weighell, with Ryan Pringle taking a well-judged catch in the deep, but Root and Read combined with a well-paced sixth wicket stand of 101 in 11.5 overs.
Both fell to consecutive deliveries from Paul Coughlin, heralding a collapse which saw Notts slide from 288/5 to 297 all out with Wood taking all of his wickets in the final over to finish with 3/62.
After losing early wickets in the reply, Clark & Steel both passed their previous best scores in a stand that spanned 32 overs, although Notts missed a couple of chances to end their stay.
James Pattinson trapped Clark lbw with a ball that was sliding down the leg side and then caught Steel at the start of the next over, off Gurney.
Entering the final 10 overs Durham needed 93 runs from 60 balls but were powered to their target with Coughlin and Stuart Poynter both hitting sixes, before leaving it to Collingwood to hit Gurney for the winning boundary.
The victory lifts Durham up to second place in the North Group ahead of another big game against Worcestershire on Sunday.