Durham 198/8 beat Northumberland 195AO by 2 wickets
Ben McKinney leads the way with 69 as Durham Second XI defeat Northumberland by two wickets in a thrilling 50 over friendly fixture.
After Scott Borthwick won the toss at South Northumberland and opted to bowl first, Mitchell Killeen certainly provided the desired start with a pair of wickets.
He dismissed both openers, first bowling captain Bobby Green before trapping John Oswell in front to have Northumberland 26 for two early on.
Ross Whitfield and Harry Crawshaw shared a patient 28-run stand before Stanley McAlindon had the former caught behind on 22. Crawshaw put on 50 with Robbie Bowman to steady the ship for Northumberland.
Durham then took two quickfire wickets as Oliver Gibson ran out Crawshaw on 33 before Ben McKinney opened his spell with a wicket maiden, having Luke Symington caught for zero and leaving Northumberland 104 for five after 30 overs.
Robbie Bowman and Matthew Oswell combined for a sixth wicket partnership worth 48; Bowman made 51 before Jonathan Bushnell had him caught by Killeen. Charlie Scorer then claimed the wicket of George Darwood cheaply, Bushnell taking the catch.
McAlindon returned to grab his second wicket before Gibson and Paul Coughlin took one apiece to have Northumberland bowled out for 195 after 49 overs.
McAlindon and Killeen stood out with the ball, taking two wickets each and conceding 15 and 18 runs respectively; both bowling six overs.
Bushnell and McKinney began with a 31-run stand before the former was caught by Crawshaw off the bowling of Matthew Oswell in the seventh.
McKinney made his way to a half-century from 55 balls with seven fours and two sixes during a partnership of 73 with skipper Borthwick. Darwood then removed both Borthwick (30) and Coughlin in the 24th with Durham 107 for three.
Haydon Mustard fired his way to 31 from 36 with six fours before he was dismissed by Joseph Stuart after sharing 47 with McKinney. Callum Fletcher then had McKinney caught by Whitfield for 69, Durham needing a further 32 for victory.
Stuart then had Faizan Ghumman and Killeen caught in quick succession before Daniel Hogg was caught off Crawshaw’s bowling leaving Durham requiring 14 more with two wickets in hand.
McAlindon and Gibson were able to see Durham over the line in a thrilling contest, edging out Northumberland by two wickets.