Durham's turnaround

They were 12 for one in 3.4 overs when play resumed at 6.35 with a revised target of 62 in 13 overs under the Duckworth/Lewis method.

With Nicky Peng and Gordon Muchall at the wicket, it briefly seemed that their lack of experience would count against them.

But with 25 needed off five overs, Peng was dropped on 18 by wicketkeeper Steve Rhodes and 15 balls later Durham had won by nine wickets with Peng on 32 and Muchall 24.

Such is the capacity of cricket for turning form inside out that Durham followed the biggest defeat in their first-class history with a National League win against the same opponents.

The rain seemed to have arrived right on cue just as bottom-of-the-table Durham were about to start their reply after dismissing their top-of-the-table hosts for a meagre 143.

After five straight defeats in division one, Durham clinically took advantage of some slapdash batting by the over-confident leaders to dismiss them with 11 balls of their 45 overs unused.

The biggest contrasts with the championship clash were that Graeme Hick followed his unbeaten 315 with a second-ball duck and left arm-spinner Graeme Bridge shrugged off his none for 143 with three for 22 in nine overs.

They were his best one-day figures, and Marc Symington would have had an even better analysis had he not bowled Stuart Lampitt with a no-ball with the score on 133 for nine.

There was little wrong with the pitch, as shown when Ben Smith and David Leatherdale were putting on 84 in 19 overs for the fourth wicket.

But the next biggest stand was 16 for the last wicket as Worcestershire self-destructed under the pressure of some snappy cricket from Durham.

It began with Anurag Singh being run out in the third over after cracking three fours in scoring his side's first 13 runs.

He pushed to cover and was sent back after Jon Lewis made a good stop, but was well out of his ground.

In the next over Vikram Solanki followed his two successive one-day centuries with a duck as he drove at Ian Hunter - brought in for Nicky Hatch - and edged to Symington at second slip.

Hick was one of the few batsmen who was blameless in his dismissal as he pushed forward and edged a good ball from Neil Killeen to wicketkeeper Andrew Pratt.

After the ominous start from Singh, Worcestershire were suddenly 15 for three. But the predicament held no fears for Smith, who made 83 in the comfortable win at the Riverside two weeks ago and was averaging 66.3 from the first five matches.

Cutting and driving through extra cover with superb timing, the former Leicestershire man had eight fours in his 54-ball half-century.

He and Leatherdale were picking off runs comfortably against the seamers, but Bridge's introduction at 95 for three after 21 overs proved pivotal.

In his second over Leatherdale fell for 30, driving straight to Killeen at mid-on, and in Bridge's next over Smith went for a sweep and was lbw for 54.

Mark Davies had Gareth Batty lbw, and when Steve Rhodes tried to cut Bridge and edged to Pratt four wickets had gone down for 12 runs.

Bridge found some turn, but it was his accuracy which stifled Worcestershire, and at 111 for seven after 30 overs Durham could afford to gamble on Symington, despite his mauling in the championship match.

Andy Bichel and Kabir Ali could not afford any risks, but after adding 16 in seven overs Bichel decided to open his shoulders and missed an in-swinger from Symington.

Ali recklessly tried something similar in Symington's next over and also had his stumps rattled, leaving Lampitt and Matt Mason to scrape up a few crumbs before Mason was bowled by Killeen.

The rain relented sufficiently for Durham to begin their innings at 5.20 with 29 overs to bat, and it was announced that under the D/L calculations their target would be 114.

Peng and Gary Pratt both edged fours in the first two overs, but with the total on 12 Pratt tried to pull Mason and lobbed a catch to square leg.

Muchall strode out to bat, but before he could take guard the rain returned.

The fact that Muchall had taken the field meant Durham were committed to sending him in when play resumed in poor light, and he cut the second ball from Mason for four.

When Peng cover drove Lampitt for four in the next over it looked like being a stroll, but the pressure began to mount as the youngsters kept going for big shots with little success instead of working the ball around.

But the dropped catch off Leatherdale's first ball was a turning point, especially when Muchall pulled the last ball of the over wide of long-on for four.

Peng's timing suddenly returned as he drove the next ball from Kabir straight down the ground then cracked him over extra cover for another four.

Worcestershire recalled Bichel, but he was powerless to halt the youngsters' ecstatic charge to Durham's first win against a county side since they beat Derbyshire in the Benson & Hedges Cup on May 6.

Read more about Durham here.