Durham to visit Kent

Excellent bowling by Mitch Claydon and Ben Harmison, who took three wickets each, restricted Leicestershire to 133 for eight, and Durham won by six wickets with 22 balls to spare.

Australian David Warner launched the reply with 44 off 18 balls, including three sixes and five fours.

With the winners heading for the quarter-finals, Durham also produced a sparkling performance in the field, with skipper Will Smith holding two fine catches while three good shots for run-outs were turned down.

Leicestershire chose to bat on the same strip on which they beat Yorkshire on Friday night and Durham removed two of the biggest dangermen, Jim Allenby and Jacques Du Toit, in the first five overs.

Only five runs came off the first two, bowled by Neil Killeen and Claydon, then Liam Plunkett conceded 13 off his first over in the competition this season.

After recovering from his groin injury, he was brought in for Gordon Muchall and saw his first ball driven wide of mid-off for four by Allenby.

Only Warwickshire’s Jonathan Trott had scored more than Allenby’s 413 runs in the competition this season and the former Brandon professional edged the next ball for another boundary when trying to hit it over mid-wicket.

Things looked ominous when Ben Harmison came on for the fourth over and Allenby pulled his second ball for six. But after making 19 of the first 24 runs he then chipped a slower ball straight to Dale Benkenstein at extra cover.

With Smith changing the bowling every over in the early stages, Killeen returned and Du Toit pulled a slower ball for four before the next delivery nipped back and bowled him for five.

With former South African Test player Boeta Dippenaar joining 23-year-old opener Matthew Boyce, the possibility of being put to the sword had receded for Durham and when Claydon returned for the ninth over he conceded only two runs.

Leicestershire were 60 for two at the halfway stage, then Boyce fell for 19 when he skied a drive off Harmison and Smith, running back from mid-off, dived to hold a brilliant catch.

There was probably a good case for keeping Boyce in, but the accepted philosophy is that there is no better way to peg back the scoring rate than to take wickets.

The youngster’s exit brought in the experienced Paul Nixon, whose bag of T20 tricks produced a match-winning 53 not out when the sides met at Riverside.

He survived a very tight run-out call on eight, the second such shout which had been turned down in a slick fielding display by Durham.

Dippenaar began to open up in the 14th over when he smashed Gareth Breese wide of long-on for a big six, then the South African pulled Harmison for four.

But for the second successive match Harmison picked up a third wicket when Nixon tried to hit him over extra cover and miscued to Breese.

At 93 for four after 15 overs Plunkett returned and his attempt to open up with a slower ball produced a chest-high full toss, which was signalled no-ball and hit for four. The next ball was short and wide and also disappeared for four in an over which cost 15 runs.

Dippenaar completed only his second T20 half-century in the 17th over, but Killeen conceded only five singles, then Claydon turned up the pressure by taking two for two in the 18th.

Following two dot balls 19-year-old James Taylor holed out to Plunkett on the boundary and two balls later Wayne White stepped across to try to hit a yorker over mid-wicket and lost his off stump.

Dippenaar hit Killeen for two fours in the 19th over before edging to Phil Mustard for 63 and in the final over Smith took another good catch off a clean strike by Claude Henderson to leave Claydon with figures of three for 14.