THE September day last year when Durham clinched promotion in the National League by beating Worcestershire at the Riverside looked a distant memory yesterday.

Graeme Hick's men were also promoted and remain unbeaten after comfortably inflicting Durham's fourth defeat out of four.

After winning a crucial toss Worcestershire scored 265 and Durham, again unable to get off to a good start, replied with 99 for eight before rain ended their misery in the 30th over. Under the Duckworth/Lewis method they lost by 121 runs.

Durham's best opening stand in this competition this season is five and this time it was Michael Gough's turn to fall cheaply as he edged Kabir Ali to slip with only one on the board.

Nicky Peng, with four runs from three innings as an opener, was dropped down to No 4, but although he battled hard his lack of form was obvious as Durham fell steadily further behind the required rate.

Peng hit a glorious century under the Worcester floodlights last year, but the sparkle has deserted him for the moment.

He put on 53 in 18 overs with Gordon Muchall, but the combination of mounting pressure and a wearing pitch saw them fall in quick succession.

Muchall was stumped for 28 and Peng was bowled for 29 by a ball from medium pacer David Leatherdale which shot through at ankle height.

Andrew Pratt tried to work the next ball through mid-wicket and was bowled, and in the space of three overs Durham's slim hopes had become non-existent.

Leatherdale, who can be totally inoccuous in good batting conditions, claimed three more desperate victims to finish with career-best figures of five for nine in 3.3 overs.

Other than a spell in mid-innings when Graeme Bridge and Mark Davies stemmed the flow, Durham were poor in the field.

Neil Killeen bowled well at the end of the innings and finished with four for 48 in 8.4 overs, but initially both he and Nicky Hatch offered Worcestershire too many chances to find the boundary.

Killeen tightened up and had Vikram Solanki caught at mid-on to become the first Durham bowler to take 100 wickets in the one-day league.

But at 46 for one after ten overs Danny Law replaced Killeen and 39 runs came off the next three overs as Law and Hatch were punished for dropping short.

The pitch at the top end of the square which had been prepared for the match was still damp after Friday evening's torrential rain got under the covers, so the match was staged on a strip Durham have recently used for practice.

It was so far from the pavilion the members would have needed the Jodrell Bank telescope to get a clear view of the action, while the 50-metre boundary at the bottom end allowed Anurag Singh to pull Hatch comfortably for six.

In trying something similar he was caught by Gough at square leg for 37, but Hick was already into his stride after surviving an early slice of luck when he edged Law between wicketkeeper and slip.

It was 91 for two after 14 overs when Bridge opened up with the only maiden of the innings and Durham quickly had cause to regret not playing Nicky Phillips as well.

Bridge didn't take a wicket, and in his second and third overs he allowed former Leicestershire batsman Ben Smith to get underway by cutting him for three fours.

But the left-arm spinner gave nothing else away and conceded only 33 runs from his nine overs, while Davies took three for 41.

He bowled Hick, who was looking to drive after hitting seven fours in his 41 off 47 balls, then had Leatherdale caught by Andrew Pratt, who was standing up.

Only 28 runs were added between the 20th and 30th overs, but the return of Law, plus three overs from Gough, loosened the shackles as Smith and Gareth Batty put on 80 in 14 overs.

Davies returned to bowl Batty for 36 in his final over, leaving Jon Lewis to choose between Hatch and Law for the last two overs at the Finchale End.

He chose Law and 23 came off the 42nd over, including sixes over long-off and mid-wicket from Kabir Ali.

Law made partial amends by taking two wickets in his next over, bowling Smith to end an innings of 83 which was packed with one-day expertise.

But eight overs for 67 runs was a sorry reflection of Law's lack of match practice and it obviously presents a problem for Durham as he is a vital member of the side.

Lewis and Muchall did well to hang on to skiers as the last four wickets went down for six runs, but Worcestershire already had far too many on the board for Durham's malfunctioning one-day outfit

Scoreboard

Durham Dynamos v Worcestershire Royals

At Riverside.

Worcestershire

V S Solanki c Peng b Killeen 12

A Singh c Gough b Hatch 37

G A Hick b Davies 41

B F Smith b Law 83

D A Leatherdale c A Pratt b Davies 4

G J Batty b Davies 36

S J Rhodes c A Pratt b Killeen 2

Kabir Ali c Muchall b Law 24

M S Mason c Lewis b Killeen 4

M J Rawnsley not out 1

A A Donald c Davies b Killeen 0

Extras (b4 lb7 w8 nb2 pens 0) 21

Total (44.4 overs) 265

Fall: 1-25 2-91 3-124 4-132 5-212 6-215 7-259 8-262 9-264

Bowling: Hatch 7-0-40-1. Killeen 8.4-0-48-4. Law 8-0-67-2. Bridge 9-1-33-0. Davies 9-0-41-3. Gough 3-0-25-0.

Durham

M A Gough c Solanki b Kabir Ali 0

G J G J Pratt b Mason 16

G J Muchall st Rhodes b Rawnsley 28

N Peng b Leatherdale 29

J J Lewis not out 5

A A Pratt b Leatherdale 0

D R Law lbw b Leatherdale 10

G D Bridge b Leatherdale 0

A M Davies c Rhodes b Leatherdale 0

N Killeen not out 0

Extras (lb2 w9 pens 0) 11

Total 8 wkts (29.3 overs) 99

Fall: 1-1 2-28 3-81 4-85 5-85 6-97 7-97 8-99

Did Not Bat: N G Hatch.

Bowling: Kabir Ali 6-1-23-1. Mason 7-1-27-1. Donald 6-1-18-0. Rawnsley 7-0-20-1. Leatherdale 3.3-1-9-5.

Umpires: I J Gould and T E Jesty

Worcestershire Royals beat Durham Dynamos by 121 runs (D/L Method

Read more about Durham here.