Claydon repays Durham’s faith

In the opening tie at Trent Bridge the 26-year-old Sydneyborn seamer hit the winning runs off the last ball. This time he had to bowl the last over at Riverside with Nottinghamshire needing ten runs with two wickets standing.

With his second ball he rattled Luke Fletcher’s off stump, and after Darren Pattison took a single Mark Ealham was also bowled making room to hit over the short cover boundary.

Durham won by eight runs and Claydon finished with five for 26, only the second five-wicket haul for Durham in the competition’s six-year history.

Ironically, the other belongs to Paul Collingwood, who bowled the final over when Leicestershire needed ten on Friday. While the England captain’s fifth ball was in the perfect slot to be driven for six, Claydon had no intention of following suit.

“My only thought was not to concede ten runs,” said the 6ft 4in England-qualified bowler. “I’ve worked hard on my control because I just used to try to bowl at 100 mph and realised you can’t do that day in, day out.”

Having barely featured in his first two seasons with the club, he added: “It’s great just to be getting a game. All I’ve wanted for two years is the opportunity, but it’s been a tough side to get into.

“I went back to Australia for a couple of months in the winter and trained hard. I had a fitness programme and did everything I was asked to. I’ve also benefited from the coaching here. All the coaches are quality.”

Chasing Durham’s 177 for four, Nottinghamshire were 132 for seven in the 17th over when New Zealander Andre Adams joined Ealham and thrashed 20 off eight balls.

With 21 coming off the 18th over, bowled by Gareth Breese, the visitors needed 20 off two. But after hitting Neil Killeen for four, Adams drove a full toss to long-on, where Will Smith held an excellent catch above his head.

The other batsman who looked capable of winning it for Nottinghamshire was Will Jefferson. After scoring 75 when the sides met at Trent Bridge, he was off the mark first ball with a hooked six off Graham Onions and scored the first 30 runs in a stand of 60 with Adam Voges.

Jefferson was out for 42, made off 24 balls, but Nottinghamshire’s big hitters just kept on coming. With Chris Read, Ealham and Adams at seven, eight and nine, they ought to be the strongest side in the group, but this was their third defeat in four games. It says a lot for strategy in this event.

Durham’s second win, after losing to two sides who look inferior on paper, will send them to Headingley in good heart tomorrow.

Durham were put in and Michael Di Venuto made his best Twenty20 score for the county when he hit 55.

But the real fireworks for the sun-baked crowd of 5,118 came from Dale Benkenstein, who went to the crease in the 15th over and smashed an unbeaten 48, which included five sixes.

The madness of sending him in at No 7 on Friday was not repeated and by taking 58 off the last four overs, Durham finished only six short of their highest T20 total.

Di Venuto’s previous best was 40 against Leicestershire last season, but he passed that during a blaze of boundaries following a slow start.

The Tasmanian left-hander took three fours of the eighth over, bowled by Ealham, then produced a classical drive just out of the reach of short extra cover off Adams.

There were eight fours in Di Venuto’s 36-ball half-century, but in the 12th over he was caught at long-on off left-arm spinner Samit Patel.

Kyle Coetzer contributed 21 to Durham’s record T20 second wicket partnership of 81, beating the 73 put on by Nicky Peng and Vince Wells against the same opponents in 2003. Coetzer continued to face too many dot balls as only eight runs came from the 13th and 14th overs, and when he really needed to press on he got out for 29, trying to sweep Patel.

Benkenstein hit the first six of the innings over mid-wicket off Voges’ left-arm spin and later in the same over Smith also cleared the mid-wicket rope, although he might have been caught by Adams, who tipped the ball over.

In the 19th over Benkenstein pulled Ealham in front of mid-wicket for a six which thumped into the top of Riverside’s new dual replay screen and scoreboard. Another six to the same area off the front foot swiftly followed as Ealham’s two overs cost 32 runs.

A similar towering effort cleared the rope off Fletcher in the final over, and with Smith unbeaten on 17 the stand was worth 63 in 4.5 overs.

Nottinghamshire lost their top four inside seven overs, with Breese involved in the first three dismissals. First he caught Alex Hales at slip off Claydon, then swooped from mid-wicket to hit the non-striker’s stumps and run out Bilal Shafayat. Finally Ali Brown tried to whip Claydon to leg and lofted a simple catch to Breese at mid-wicket.

Onions had Patel lbw playing to leg, but then came under immediate fire from Jefferson.

The 6ft 11in batsman enjoyed a slice of fortune with an inside edge for four off Ben Harmison, who bowled well in his first appearance of the season and deserved his wicket.

■ Durham seconds begin four days of cricket against Derbyshire at Darlington today, starting with a one-day match. There is a chance that both Harmison brothers will feature at some stage, with Steve needing to feel his way back gently after suffering from sore shins.

Scoreboard

Durham v Notts At Riverside

Durham

P Mustard c Adams b Pattinson ..........7

M J Di Venuto c Hales b Patel ...........55

K J Coetzer lbw b Patel ......................29

I D Blackwell c Read b Fletcher ...........8

D M Benkenstein not out ..................48

W R Smith not out .............................19

Extras (lb1 w2 nb8 pens 0)......11

Total 4 wkts Innings Complete (20 overs)...............................177

Fall: 1-11 2-92 3-105 4-112

Did Not Bat: B W Harmison, G R Breese, M E Claydon, G Onions, N Killeen.

Bowling: Fletcher 4-0-24-1. Pattinson 4-0- 30-1. Adams 3-0-27-0. Ealham 2-0-32-0.

Patel 4-0-32-2. Voges 3-0-31-0.

Nottinghamshire

B M Shafayat run out ..........................7

A D Hales c Breese b Claydon ..........12

A D Brown c Breese b Claydon .........11

A C Voges c Killeen b Claydon ..........33

S R Patel lbw b Onions ........................1

W I Jefferson c K J Coetzer b B W Harmison ...........................42

C M Read c W R Smith b Killeen .......12

M A Ealham b Claydon .....................21

A R Adams c W R Smith b Killeen .....20

L J Fletcher b Claydon .......................1

D J Pattinson not out ..........................1

Extras (lb5 w1 nb2 pens 0)........8

Total (19.4 overs) ...................169

Fall: 1-19 2-30 3-35 4-43 5-103 6-115 7- 132 8-166 9-168

Bowling: Killeen 4-0-28-2. Onions 4-0-31- 1. Claydon 3.4-0-26-5. B W Harmison 3- 0-25-1. Breese 3-0-37-0. Blackwell 2-0-17- 0.

Durham beat Notts by 8 runs.