Durham recover to claim unlikely win

The agony looked certain to continue as Durham suffered another injury and seemed likely to emerge on the wrong end of another tight finish in the Benson & Hedges Cup tie against Lancashire at the Riverside.

But Bridge ended a threatening stand between top scorer Tim Roberts and skipper Warren Hegg to clinch the award after cracking 37 not out off 33 balls.

Durham recovered from 67 for six to make 166 for seven in 44 overs in an innings interrupted three times by rain, and after further rain at the interval Lancashire's revised target under the Duckworth/Lewis method was 171 in 42 overs.

They were all out for 154 with one over left after being pegged back initially by excellent bowling from Neil Killeen and expertly throttled in the middle of their innings by Mark Davies.

Following his mauling at Leicester on Monday, Davies sent down nine superbly controlled overs for 12 runs and removed the dangerous David Byas.

Durham's injury jinx continued to bite as they made one change with Michael Gough replacing Stephen Harmison, who has an elbow problem.

But in the course of making a very useful 32 not out, Gough exacerbated a foot injury and took no further part, making him very doubtful for today's home game against Yorkshire.

Having been ruled out of the early matches by a back problem, this comes as a cruel blow.

Bridge, who was also Man of the Match on his C & G Trophy debut when Durham beat holders Gloucestershire last season, said: "I did a lot of work on my batting in the winter.

"I used to be an all-rounder as a junior, and now I have scored a few runs I would like to think I can push for the No 7 slot in the one-day team.

"I was a bit disappointed with my bowling, although I was asked to bowl at a crucial time."

It could not have been an easy decision for Jon Lewis to bat first. Despite the fact that Riverside pitches so far this season have been very flat, they are more helpful to the bowlers when there is moisture around.

In the circumstances, against one of the best new ball pairings in the country, it was necessary to concentrate on a solid start, yet Durham again sent in Andrew Pratt as a pinch-hitter and after three overs they were five for two.

It became 67 for six before Lancashire generously introduced leg-spinner Chris Schofield, allowing Gough, Ian Hunter and Bridge to carry the innings to unexpected heights.

While Gough anchored the second half of the innings with the sort of sensible play which would have been useful at the top of the order, Hunter and Bridge cracked the boundaries.

Bridge was a revelation. Following his unbeaten 50 at Leicester on Monday, he thrashed three fours off Peter Martin in the 43rd over and two more off Glen Chapple in the next.

The first shower came with Durham on 14 for two and the second at 40 for three, reducing the match from 50 to 46 overs-a-side.

After four balls of the 43rd rain intervened again and it was announced that they would come out for two more balls before a reduced lunch interval of 20 minutes would be taken.

A leg bye was scampered then Gough, facing the last ball from Chapple, stepped across to the off side and flicked it behind square leg for six. For 65 for five after 22 overs to become 166 for seven after 44 was quite an achievement, but it also suggested that conditions had eased.

There was still sufficient in the pitch, however, for Killeen to cause problems and after bowling pinch-hitter Chapple for a duck he got two beauties past Byas's outside edge. But Byas got off the mark by driving Killeen for a straight four then cracked two boundaries through the off side off the back foot as Hunter struggled for a testing line.

Hunter had Mark Chilton caught at slip by Martin Love then Killeen struck a huge blow when Stuart Law played across the line and was lbw, having hit his first ball for four

Paul Collingwood swung one through the gate to bowl Graham Lloyd, but Byas was looking dangerous until he fell for 29, edging Davies to Love.

Schofield swung across the line and was bowled by Bridge, but Hegg was straight into his stride, sweeping Bridge very fine for three, then edging Collingwood through the vacant slip area for four, a stroke which Roberts repeated.

The former Durham University player then chipped a catch to mid-wicket and when Hunter returned Hegg swung across the line and was bowled.

Killeen had John Wood caught behind to finish with three for 12 off eight overs and it was all over when Peter Martin was bowled attempting a big hit off Collingwood.

Durham's early struggles began when Nicky Peng followed Chapple's second ball and edged to Hegg, who dived to hold a right-handed catch. A ball from Martin which kept low had Pratt lbw on the back foot, and soon after the first break Collingwood thrust his pad at a ball from Chapple and was lbw for six.

With two ducks wandering around behind the bowler's arm, Lewis was close to being lbw first ball, but the pressure eased when Wood came on for the 14th over.

Martin Love clipped the former Durham man's second ball sweetly behind square for four, and followed up with an on-drive for four and three to fine leg before rain intervened.

But Love looked guilty of taking Wood too lightly two overs later when he was aiming to mid-wicket and had his off stump trimmed.

Gary Pratt sliced Wood to backward point then an excellent ball from 18-year-old seamer Kyle Hogg nipped back and kept a shade low to bowl Lewis.

Hogg has quite a pedigree as his father, Willie, bowled for Lancashire and his grandfather on his mother's side is former West Indian leg-spinner Sonny Ramadhin.

Apart from bowling one wide, the youngster never strayed and conceded only 13 runs from his nine overs. It does not bode well for Wood's future in the championship side, although he finished with three for 33 yesterday after having Hunter caught at mid-on.

Gough and Bridge then shared an unbroken stand of 58 in the last nine overs, the highlight coming when highly effective swipes from Bridge produced fours through mid-wicket off successive balls from Martin, followed by a sizzling straight drive.

It is reassuring to find that the Durham batting has greater depth these days, and this was one occasion when runs at the top of the order were not essential.

Read more about Durham here.