Yorkshire 201 for 5 (Lyth 81) beat Durham 136 for 8 (Robinson 44, Shutt 4-35) by 65 runs
An onslaught from Adam Lyth was decisive in guiding Yorkshire Vikings to a comfortable 65-run victory over Durham in their Vitality Blast clash at Seat Unique Riverside.
The left-hander blasted 81 from 46 balls to set the tone for Vikings at the top of the order, dominating the Durham bowlers. Lyth was supported by Finn Allen and Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who finished 48 not out in their innings of 201 for 5. Scott Borthwick limited the damage with figures of 3 for 34, but the chase was always going to be an uphill challenge.
Durham were unable to time the ball off the square in the same manner as the visitors amid tight bowling. Michael Jones and Ollie Robinson were the only players to find their range without threatening to chase down the total. Jack Shutt enjoyed another successful outing at Chester-le-Street with figures of 4 for 35, having claimed 5 for 11 on his previous T20 visit, which allowed the visitors to canter towards their fifth victory of the campaign.
After opting to bat, Lyth quickly found his range against the Durham attack, dispatching Paul Coughlin for three consecutive fours, including a sublime strike over cover. Allen responded to keep the pressure on the home side with three boundaries of his own from Liam Trevaskis' first over. The Yorkshire openers raced to their fifty partnership from 21 balls, capitalising on mediocre bowling. Lyth ended the powerplay by drilling a boundary just past the diving Ashton Turner to propel Yorkshire to 79 without loss.
The left-hander notched his second fifty against Durham of the campaign in a blistering 24 deliveries, sweeping Nathan Sowter to the fence to secure the milestone. Borthwick made the breakthrough by bowling Allen for 48, but only afte Vikings cruised by the 100-run mark after eight overs. They maintained their intensity, scoring at 10 runs per over through the middle stages as Kohler-Cadmore provided ample support for Lyth, crashing Borthwick for a maximum into the County Durham Stand.
However, Durham staged a fightback as the visitors lost four wickets in 13 balls. Borthwick bounced back from being struck for a six by removing Lyth for 81 and then Harry Brook for a first-ball duck as Jonathan Bushnell claimed two catches in the deep. Shadab Khan and Will Fraine then fell cheaply, reducing the Vikings from 164 for 1 to 170 for 5. Late striking from Kohler-Cadmore and Jordan Thompson propelled Yorkshire above 200, but the home side gave themselves a glimmer of hope after limiting the damage.
In their chase Durham failed to get going from the off, and lost Graham Clark early when he was clean bowled by Dom Leech for 7. The hosts could not muster the same timing as the Yorkshire top order, scoring only 42 from the powerplay as the required run rate leaped to over 11. Shutt cranked up the pressure by dismissing Michael Jones for 34 and skipper Turner on his return from a shoulder injury for 3 to reduce Durham to 66 for 3 at the halfway stage.
Robinson offered resistance with a decent knock of 44 from 34 balls, including back-to-back sixes into the leg-side off Shutt. However, the offspinner had his revenge from the following delivery to notch his third wicket and effectively end the contest, although he added another scalp by dismissing Trevaskis to cap a fine road performance.
