Result: Birmingham Bears (148/2; Pollock 52, Sibley 51*; Pringle 2/29; 2 points) beat Durham Jets (145/8; Coughlin 53, Poynter 36*; Patel 2/22; 0 points) by eight wickets
Paul Coughlin’s first T20 half century could not prevent Durham Jets from falling to an eight wicket defeat against Birmingham Bears in the final home NatWest T20 Blast match of the season at Emirates Riverside.
The skipper struck 53 off 37 balls but early wickets meant the Jets could only set a modest target of 145/8 and the Bears’ young opening pair of Ed Pollock and Dominic Sibley launched a blistering reply with 51 off the first four overs.
Swivel pulls produced two of left-hander Pollock’s four sixes as his superbly-timed strokes took him to 52 off 25 balls before he skied a catch to the wicketkeeper.
The closest Durham came to an early breakthrough was when Pollock, on 11, pulled Usman Arshad for what looked a certain six until Graham Clark leapt to palm the ball back in-field from above the rope.
Two overs later Pollock pulled Brydon Carse for a huge six behind square then cut the next ball crisply for four as 19 came off the over.
With 79 on the board when Pollock departed in the eighth over, the Bears were able to coast, although Colin de Grandomme joined in the barrage with two sixes off Paul Collingwood.
The New Zealand player became Ryan Pringle’s second victim when he drove to long-on before Sibley stepped across to lift Arshad behind square for six to reach 50 off 37 balls.
But powerplay wickets restricted Durham to 30/4 in the sixth over before Coughlin’s innings brought some respectability to the score in a fifty partnership with Stuart Poynter, who finished unbeaten on 36.
Keaton Jennings was the first to go as he lobbed Jeetan Patel’s second ball to short mid-wicket.
Three balls later Collingwood advanced to loft Patel over long-off for six, but it was his only scoring shot as he aimed to smash Stone over mid-wicket and fell lbw.
Tom Latham spooned Stone gently to mid-off in the same over, then Clark made 12 before cracking a short ball from Oliver Hannon-Dalby straight to extra cover.
Captain Coughlin hit three sixes and scored the bulk of the runs in propelling the score from 68 after 12 overs to 110 after 15.
Poynter’s unbeaten 36 off 30 balls further raised Durham’s spirits, only for Pollock and Sibley to dash them in impressive style.
Did you come to today’s match? Give us your feedback on the attached survey!