Durham’s Second XI are five from six in the Second XI T20 after beating Yorkshire twice in back-to-back matches at Brandon CC yesterday (19 June).
Neil Killeen’s side won by six wickets with two-and-a-half overs to spare in Game One before running out winners by 22 runs in the second match.
They sit comfortably top of the North Group with ten points & have played two games more than their nearest rivals. With four games remaining, against Derbyshire & MCCYCs, they are eyeing a spot at Finals Day.
The first victory at Brandon was built upon a solid bowling effort which restricted the visitors to 132/8.
Despite 46 from opener Bilal Anjum, Durham were able to control the scoring rate well & Yorkshire managed just 51 more runs after Anjum’s wicket in the 11th over.
James Weighell, continuing his return towards full fitness, bowled economically for figures of 2/18 & was backed up well by fellow new ball bowler Barry McCarthy (2/29).
Michael Jones’s unbeaten fifty proved the bedrock of the chase, a stand of 81 with Brydon Carse (43) breaking the back of the chase before Weighell helped to finish things off after a three wickets in as many overs.
Batting first in the second match, Durham never got going with the bat & made a below-par 130/7 with Liam Trevaskis (29) top-scoring.
However, the bowlers were superb in reply & restricted Yorkshire to just 108 all out to notch a second straight win.
First innings half-centurion Anjam was dismissed for a second ball duck by Weighell before McCarthy’s three-wicket burst left them reeling on 36/5.
And Jared Warner’s 33 proved too little, too late as Yorkshire used up too many balls rebuilding the innings to fall well short.