Durham were put into bat with England bowler James Anderson claiming the wicket of Gordon Muchall with his first ball with the opener caught on the boundary by Tom Smith for just four leaving the Dynamos 8-1.
Ian Blackwell came and dispatched Anderson for a huge six over fine leg before he was removed by Sri Lankan international Farveez Maharoof for 19 with a clever slower ball which the left-hander could only loft to Lancashire skipper Stephen Croft at point.
Phil Mustard was joined at the crease by South African David Miller and the pair put a decent partnership off 28 of 20 balls to steady the Dynamos innings.
Miller looked comfortable against the Lancashire spinners Stephen Parry and Gary Keedy and played well for a quick-fire 21 off 14 balls but then chipped the ball straight back to Parry to leave the Dynamos 72-3.
Mustard looked in top form and was helping Durham maintain a run rate of about nine runs an over before he was out going for one big shot too many when he was caught on the boundary rope by Procter off the bowling of Parry for 36.
The skipper then took over and began to dominate the Lancashire bowling attack with a combination of power hitting and finesse shots of pace and spin alike. He and Gareth Breese formed a partnership of 43 as the Dynamos approached 150.
Their partnership was ended when Maharoof bowled Breese for 13 with a perfect Yorker which left Durham 146-5 with four overs left in the innings.
Benkenstein went on the offensive again, this time Anderson came in for punishment, as the Dynamos captain hit two fours in one over as he brought up his 50 off just 29 balls.
He then cruised past his previous best score of 55 before the England international had him caught on the boundary by Smith for 60 leaving his side on 166-6 in the 18th over.
This left Liam Plunkett and Will Smith to carry on a late onslaught the pair added 34 off the last two overs of the Dynamos innings including 25 off the last over by Anderson which included two sixes from Plunkett who raced to 27 off 10 balls.
Anderson had a day to forget for the visitor as he went around the park and produced his most expensive figures in 20 over domestic cricket with four overs for 52 as the Dynamos posted 200-6 off their 20 overs, only the third time they had reached a score of 200.
Lancashire got off to a decent start with Stephen Moore blasting 20 off 11 balls as the Lightning raced to past 30 in the just the third over.
However Plunkett then began his devastating spell as Lancashire slumped from 35-0 to 48-5 with Plunkett and Mitchell Claydon sharing the wickets as the Lightning lost Smith, Croft, Ken Brown and Gareth Cross cheaply.
Plunkett got his fifth wicket of the match in his final over when he had Jordan Clark caught by Gareth Breese for 10 as the bowler secured his best t20 bowling figures.
Maharoof and Luke Procter offered some resistance for Lancashire as they forged a partnership of 35 runs off 27 balls before the Sri Lankan fell for 27 off the bowling of Breese.
Breese then quickly ripped through the visitor’s tail-enders getting the wickets of Parry and Anderson before Blackwell got the final wicket when he dismissed Keedy for three as the Lightning ended 117 all out, 84 runs short of their target.
The Dynamos lie in third place in the Friends Life t20 North group with nine points after nine games and have leapfrogged the Lightning in the table after their victory.
Durham’s next game is against the Leicestershire Foxes on Sunday (26th June) at 2.30pm. Tickets can be purchased on the gate priced at £17.50 for adults and £6 for juniors.