Vitality T20 Blast: Durham beat Lancashire Lighting to end unbeaten start
Durham's skipper Liam Trevaskis produced heroics to guide his team to a final-over victory over table toppers Lancashire Lighting in Vitality Blast at Seat Unique Riverside. The North Group leaders were bowled out for 130, where Ned Eckersley's cameo and Liam Trevaskis led the hosts to a two-wicket win with three balls remaining
Keaton Jennings was bowled by Andrew TyeAndrew Tye and Nathan Sowter's three-wicket haul
Lancashire opted to bat on a used wicket to open the innings with a 24-run stand between Phil Salt and Keaton Jennings until Tye bowled out Jennings for three off 7. Steven Croft scored 21 in partnership with Phil Salt, followed by a 26-run stand along with Dane Vilas to fetch his 55 from 52. Durham's skipper avenged Salt hitting him for consecutive boundaries by taking his wicket, whereas Sowter prised Dane Vilas (12) for an LBW before taking Tim David (6). What followed after Ben Raine dismissed Steven Croft was just a stumbling batting order of the table toppers as all of them got out for an individual score of a single digit. Andrew Tye, along with Raine, took wickets of the middle order, whereas Sowter returned, in the end, to dismiss Tom Hartley to return with a tremendous figure of 4-0-22-3.
Liam Trevaskis's power-hitting mode
The home side appeared to be on the verge of their fourth successive defeat in their chase of 131 as Durham lost Graham Clark to Liam Hurt. David Bedingham and Ollie Robinson lost their wickets to Richard Gleeson for 5 and 3 runs, respectively. Opener Michael Jones built a 33-run partnership with Ned Eckersley. Tom Hartley broke the partnership by taking Michael Jones (36) for an LBW. Eckersley tried anchoring but couldn't help wickets falling on the other end. Later he was bowled out at 46 by Gleeson. Amid outstanding bowling from Richard Gleeson and on the verge of losing out due to continuous falling wickets, Trevaskis blasted 16 runs from seven balls to steer his side over the line with three balls to spare.
With this match, Lancashire got its first defeat of the season, remaining at the top unaffected by the loss. On the other hand, Durham got the third win to be placed at 7th place in the table. Durham and Lancashire will lock horns with Worcestershire and Warwickshire between 12th-15th June 2022.