T20 Blast 2024, DURH vs NOTTS North Group Match Report, July 12, 2024

Durham 160 for 6 (Turner 44*, James 3-31) beat Nottinghamshire 130 for 9 (Parkinson 3-15) by 30 runs

Having been put in to bat, the hosts made a competitive 160 for six, as Turner (44*) combined with Ben Raine (23*) for a partnership worth 54 after they were struggling at 106 for six, which was largely down to three wickets from Lyndon James (3 for 31).

The Outlaws made a good start to their chase but a fantastic Durham bowling performance led by Parkinson (3 for 15) saw the hosts grab their sixth win of the season as they restricted the visitors to 130 for nine.

Durham are now back in the top four with two games to play and their fate is in their own hands, while Notts remain bottom of the North group.

The Outlaws won the toss and elected to bowl first at a chilly Chester-le-Street and the visitors got their first scalp as the T20 World Cup’s top wicket taker Fazalhaq Farooqi bowled Graham Clark in the second over.

Alex Lees and Ollie Robinson rebuilt well amid tricky conditions and probing bowling from Afghanistan international Farooqi.

Lees then smacked two James deliveries down the ground for four to put the pressure back on the Outlaws bowlers.

James bounced back as he got Robinson for 21, with the Durham man smashing one to mid-off and he then bowled Lees for 29 to swing momentum back to the visitors.

Colin Ackermann and Turner combined well in the middle overs for Durham but Liam Patterson-White picked up two quick wickets, Ackermann for 20 and Michael Jones for one to leave the hosts in a perilous position.

James then picked up the wicket of Bas de Leede, but Raine came in and along with Turner scored some vital runs to put the hosts within reach of a competitive score, with the pair picking up 21 from the penultimate over including a first six of the night from Raine.

Turner and Raine took the hosts to a competitive 160 for six, with the duo finishing unbeaten on 44 and 23 respectively.

Durham put the squeeze on the Outlaws from the off, with the North group’s bottom side picking up just six runs from the first two overs.

The pressure was felt by Ben Martindale as he was the first Notts batter to depart when a full toss from de Leede was helped through to Robinson behind the stumps.

Joe Clarke and Ben Slater rebuilt in the powerplay before Slater started taking on the short legside boundary and he cashed in when he hit de Leede for back-to-back sixes.

Clarke hit three fours from a Raine over but he struck back as he removed the Outlaws skipper for 23 and Slater quickly followed as he departed for 20 when Parkinson got him LBW.

The left-arm spinner then got Tom Moores as he was caught behind and Jack Haynes was his third victim of the night to leave the Outlaws with a mountain to climb.

Nathan Sowter then bowled James, but Matthew Montgomery hit Raine for four consecutive fours to give the visitors some hope.

Sowter then got Montgomery for 30 to leave the visitors staring down the barrel of a seventh Blast defeat of the season.

Late wickets from Ackermann and Ben Dwarshuis saw Durham over the finish line for their fourth consecutive home T20 win.