Durham v Yorkshire (Friends Provident Trophy)

THE Indian Premier League, described in one respectable newspaper as the greatest show on earth, may be holding centre stage in Cape Town. But the four South Africans involved at Riverside yesterday put on a more cultured show.

The fact that three of them played for Yorkshire left Dale Benkenstein with too much to do as Durham lost their opening Friends Provident Trophy tie by 80 runs.

Jacques Rudolph’s 73 and Gerard Brophy’s unbeaten 66 off 48 balls lifted Yorkshire to 268 for seven after they had been put in by Will Smith on a sunny afternoon.

Then Deon Kruis strangled Durham’s reply, and although Benkenstein kept them afloat with a typically gutsy 68 they were all out for 188 with nine overs left.

Although Durham had the stronger attack on paper, the Yorkshire seamers bowled with more discipline as they defended a total which should not have been insurmountable.

Durham were four runs ahead of Yorkshire’s score at the 40-over stage, but they had lost eight wickets and the value of Brophy’s knock became increasingly obvious.

Steve Harmison looked a little rusty as Brophy hit him for three leg-side fours in the 45th over and the paceman finished with one for 63 from eight overs.

As he tries to force his way back into the England Test team, Harmison found little to suit him in a placid pitch. But it usually takes a few games for him to find his best form, so he will not be unduly worried.

Durham enjoyed the rare luxury of fielding two effective spinners as Gareth Breese and Ian Blackwell pegged back Yorkshire in mid-innings.

They had reached 109 for one in the 25th over when Michael Vaughan aimed to drive Breese through mid-off and was bowled for 43.

While the innings contained a number of the sumptuous cover drives which are Vaughan’s hallmark, the England selectors would have been hoping for something more substantial.

They would also not have wanted him to get out to someone who has been nowhere near the West Indies team since his one Test in 2002.

Breese, however, has become a very useful one-day bowler and had the most economical figures for Durham, conceding 39 runs as he bowled straight through his ten overs.

With Blackwell’s left-arm spin being introduced for the 29th over, the two twirlers restricted Yorkshire to 44 runs in the next ten overs when they would have wanted to push on.

That much was evident from the way Rudolph went down the track and was bowled when trying to smash Blackwell over wide long-on.

At 164 for three after 38 overs Yorkshire opted for the batting powerplay and Smith recalled the pacemen. They were a little wayward, but while the five overs yielded 46 runs they also produced three wickets.

Yorkshire captain Anthony McGrath walked across to the off side and was bowled off and middle by Liam Plunkett, Tim Bresnan chipped a slower ball from Graham Onions to mid-wicket, and after making 13 off nine balls Ajmal Shahzad slogged all round a straight ball from Harmison.

Adil Rashid helped Brophy put on 53 in six overs before being bowled by Callum Thorp in the 49th over. Until that point six bowlers had taken one wicket each.

Two pulls and a pick-up which just evaded deep square leg gave Brophy his three fours off Harmison, then Thorp returned for his final two overs and opened up with a full toss, which Brophy lifted for six over square leg to reach 50 off 37 balls.

Having started fairly quietly when he arrived at the crease in the 35th over, Brophy was largely responsible for Yorkshire taking 91 off their last ten overs. When they had looked in danger of under-achieving the resourceful wicketkeeper had propelled them to a winning total.

Kruis began to justify his retention by Yorkshire with a fine spell at the start of Durham’s reply.

He bowled Phil Mustard off an inside edge for a duck in a spell of seven overs which cost only 16 runs, bringing in Gordon Muchall with only two on the board.

Durham are keen to give Muchall every chance to re-establish himself, but going in so early was unlikely to help him. He made ten before pushing forward at a ball from Bresnan which left him just enough to take the edge.

It became 48 for three when Michael Di Venuto tried to flick away a leg-side ball from Steve Patterson. Umpire Jeremy Lloyds was about to signal wide when he realised the batsman was departing, having edged the ball to Brophy.

It would be nice to think that Di Venuto’s sportsmanship set a precedent in Ashes year.

Benkenstein marched in to score 50 of the next 87 runs, flat-batting Shahzad over long-on for six and adding five fours in completing his halfcentury off 60 balls.

Just before he reached it he lost Smith, his successor as captain, for 25 when he chopped a wide ball from Shahzad into his stumps.

The stand of 68 had given Durham a chance but then Blackwell tried to hammer a poor ball from Rashid through the off side and edged it to Brophy.

Hopes rose when Breese opened up with a perfectlytimed drive through extra cover off Rashid. He continued to look as though he had lost none of the form which brought him a century in the title-clinching win at Canterbury last September, but fell for 29 when he steered the first ball of Kruis’s second spell straight to gully.

Kruis also bowled Thorp to finish with three for 28 and Benkenstein was last out when a firmly-struck drive off Bresnan flew straight to extra cover.

SCORECARD

Durham v Yorkshire
At Riverside.

Yorkshire
A W Gale c Onions b Thorp 17
J A Rudolph b Blackwell 73
M P Vaughan b Breese 43
A McGrath b Plunkett 18
G L Brophy not out 66
T T Bresnan c Thorp b Onions 2
A Shahzad b S J Harmison 13
A U Rashid b Thorp 17
R M Pyrah not out 5
Extras (lb2 w12 pens 0) 14
Total 7 wkts Innings Complete
(50 overs) 268
Fall: 1-31 2-109 3-152 4-169 5-177 6-205 7-
258
Did Not Bat: S A Patterson, G J Kruis.
Bowling: Thorp 10-2-47-2. Onions 7-0-36-1.
Plunkett 5-0-33-1. S J Harmison 8-0-63-1.
Breese 10-0-39-1. Benkenstein 1-0-4-0.
Blackwell 9-0-44-1.

Durham
M J Di Venuto c Brophy b Patterson 25
P Mustard b Kruis 0
G J Muchall c Brophy b Bresnan 10
W R Smith b Shahzad 25
D M Benkenstein c Vaughan b Bresnan 68
I D Blackwell c Brophy b A U Rashid 3
G R Breese c Pyrah b Kruis 29
L E Plunkett b Pyrah 10
C D Thorp b Kruis 3
G Onions c Pyrah b Bresnan 4
S J Harmison not out 0
Extras (lb4 w5 nb2 pens 0)11
Total (41 overs) 188
Fall: 1-2 2-31 3-48 4-116 5-121 6-162 7-176
8-181 9-186
Bowling: Bresnan 7-1-28-3. Kruis 10-1-28-
3. Patterson 6-0-25-1. Shahzad 6-0-38-1.
Pyrah 7-0-37-1. A U Rashid 5-0-28-1.

Yorkshire beat Durham by 80 runs