Durham have claimed their third win of the Yorkshire Bank 40 competition defeating Lancashire by 39 runs in a big hitting frenzy at Emirates Durham ICG.
The win was set up by yet another dominant team performance with the bat alongside another bag of wickets to Graham Onions and gave fans a taste of what to expect come Twenty20 season.
The visitors won the toss and chose to bowl, a decision they may have regretted with Dynamos openers Mark Stoneman and Phil Mustard attacking from the first ball.
The duo set the tone for the Durham innings with Stoneman quick off the mark initially as he hit seven fours before the seventh over.
It didn’t take long for prolific big hitter Mustard to join in on the action and the pair found the gaps to get the Durham tally quickly ticking over amassing 19 boundaries in just the 13th over, entertaining the healthy crowd at a sunny Emirates Durham ICG.
It was Mustard who reached 50 first after a big hitting over where he hit five fours to see him raise his bat for a half century off just 37 balls.
The opening pair put on 126 before Mustard picked out White in the field, dismissed for 65 from 46, an innings which included 12 fours.
Collingwood then came to the crease and made just the 10 before he was run out in the 19th over with Scott Borthwick also only at the crease a short time despite a massive six, dismissed after chipping one to Lancashire Captain Simon Katich for 12 to leave Durham 157-3.
Stoneman continued to find the gaps and add to the tally until he too found himself back in the changerooms in the 29th over after a superb and entertaining Captains’ knock came to an end. Stoneman’s innings, 85 from 87, included 10 fours and a six.
Despite the loss of Stoneman the runs continued to be piled on with Ben Stokes and Gordon Muchall constantly finding the boundaries in their 42 run partnership before Stokes departed after an entertaining Twenty20 style knock of 40 off 33 balls with Durham 248-5 in the 34th over.
Muchall was then the key in the latter part of the Durham innings. As wickets fell around him, Smith for 1 and Pringle for 0, Muchall continued to keep the scoreboard ticking over with some superb shot making.
He eventually departed for 48 from 39 in the 38th over before a nice cameo from Mark Wood (15no) and a boundary on his only ball faced by last man in Chris Rushworth left Durham on 297-9 after their 40 overs.
In the reply, Lancashire got off to a flyer and after 4 overs were 29-0 until the in-form Graham Onions got the early breakthrough with Stoneman taking an easy catch to dismiss the dangerous Prince for 22.
Onions then struck again with the wicket almost identical to Prince’s, claiming the wicket of Moore in the 7th over to leave the visitors 39-2 after a bright start.
Chris Rushworth then got the third wicket the following over with a superb delivery which removed the stumps to send Brown back to the pavilion.
Not to be outdone, Onions showed he too could knock the stumps over at the other end when he bowled Lancashire Captain Simon Katich the following over with the visitors in trouble at 44-4.
Croft and Clark then put on 36 before Onions took his 4th wicket dismissing Croft for 26 who edged one to the hands of Mustard.
Clark continued to add to the tally for Lancashire as he combined with big hitting new batsmen Cross to put on a 48 run partnership and tighten things up a little until he tried to go long again but found the hands of Onions with Stokes getting his first wicket of the day to have Lancashire 129-6.
Clark continued to frustrate the Durham attack and he teamed up with White until a change of bowling gave Durham another breakthrough with Collingwood taking his first wicket and Ryan Pringle taking a nice, composed catch in the outfield.
Mark Wood then claimed his first wicket of the day the next over when he knocked over Hogg’s left stump to leave the visitors 8 wickets down.
Clark continued to dominate at the crease to get his side past 200 with some huge hitting, surpassing 50 until Ben Stokes got his second wicket and Clark departed for 72 off 62 balls leaving the Lightning 9 wickets down.
Kabir Ali showed his big hitting skills to annoy the Durham attack late in the day with the tail ender adding 59. He combined with last man in Parry to put on 51 and ensure a tense finish before Ben Stokes clean bowled him in the 36th over giving Durham the 39 run win.