Durham 160 for 5 (Short 68, Steel 47) beat Derbyshire 153 for 9 (Godleman 39, Trevaskis 3-16) by seven runs
Liam Trevaskis and D’Arcy Short delivered match-winning performances as Durham edged out the Derbyshire Falcons by seven runs in a rain-affected North Group match at Derby.
Short top scored with 68 from 48 balls, sharing an opening stand of 114 with Scott Steel as Durham made 160 for 5 with Matt Critchley claiming 2 for 22. Trevaskis then turned the game with 3 for 16 and although Fynn Hudson-Prentice scored an unbeaten 31 from 24 balls, the Falcons came up short on 153 for 7.
Durham looked set for a bigger total after Short and Steel gave them a solid base but the Falcons kept them in check in the closing overs through disciplined bowling and keen fielding.
A strong wind meant hitting the ball in the air carried an element of risk and a slow pitch also made it difficult to accelerate as Durham discovered when they tried to raise the tempo.
Short drove Logan van Beek for consecutive fours as 50 came from the Powerplay but he should have been dismissed on 35 when a top-edged cut at Boyd Rankin was put down by wicketkeeper Daryn Smit at the second attempt.
It threatened to be costly as Short lifted van Beek over wide long-on for what was to be the only six of the innings and then pulled the next ball for four. But when he tried to hit Critchley over the top, he skied a catch to Smit and Alex Lees went in the next over when van Beek took a well judged catch at long-on.
Scott’s attempt to reverse-sweep Critchley ended in the hands of backward square and as Durham lost momentum, the innings was in danger of stalling until Peter Handscomb managed to drive Hudson-Prentice over cover to the boundary off the penultimate ball.
Billy Godleman launched the chase with two boundaries from Brydon Carse and after a brief rain delay, he savaged the third over from Matty Potts. The third ball was driven for six, the next two carved to the third man boundary before Godleman dispatched the sixth over long-off for another maximum.
Former Falcons seamer Nathan Rimmington responded by conceding only four from the next over and after Luis Reece was well caught by Jack Burnham at deep midwicket, Godleman was bowled charging Rimmington for 39 off 20 balls.
Wayne Madsen reverse-swept Short for six and drove and swept Steel for two more fours but Trevaskis gave Durham the initiative with three wickets in two overs. After Leus du Plooy failed to clear long-off, Trevaskis held a fierce return catch to remove Madsen for 30 and then had Alex Hughes stumped.
Critchley was well caught at long-on and after a 20-minute rain delay, Durham held their nerve to close the game out despite some defiant blows from van Beek and Hudson-Prentice.