THERE weren’t even any dancing girls at Old Trafford last night as Lancashire are relying on their players to provide all the Twenty20 entertainment this season.

But they had no need to get out of third gear as they made it six wins out of six in beating Durham by six wickets with five balls to spare.

While Andrew Flintoff indicated he might not be back for the championship match at Riverside next week, but would prove his fitness for the Ashes the following week, Tom Smith underlined what an impressive allrounder he is becoming.

His right-arm medium pace might not have developed as quickly as hoped, but he was the matchwinner as a lefthanded opening batsman. He reached 50 off 52 balls and was unbeaten on 57.

Lancashire employed three spinners to good effect as Durham limped along to 123 for six after choosing to bat. That it was marginally better than their 116 for eight at Headingley on Tuesday owed everything to Gordon Muchall, who made 50 not out off 50 balls.

He gave the impression that he could have gone faster with better support, but after his second wicket stand of 50 with Phil Mustard ended there was no other significant partnership.

Muchall got off the mark with an inside edge for four and followed it with a pick-up behind square for another boundary.

He also pierced the heavily-patrolled covers with a well-timed drive in Glen Chapple’s second over, but Mustard was very restrained.

He did manage to pull left-arm spinner Steve Parry for six as he accelerated to 28 before top-edging to deep backward square when Francois du Plessis returned for the 11th over.

Ian Blackwell was lbw to 22-year-old Parry for two and with only 74 on the board after 13 overs, Dale Benkenstein went for a big hit off Parry and was bowled for five. Then the other left-arm spinner, Gary Keedy, had Will Smith caught at long-on.

After his three early fours, Muchall managed only two more as he held the innings together, Ben Harmison dominating the strike and the scoring in an unbroken stand of 17 at the end.

Durham gave the second over of the reply to Gareth Breese, who had taken one for 135 in the five previous games.

He struck with his first ball, which Paul Horton lifted to Harmison at deep midwicket, and conceded only three runs.

But any Lancashire nerves were quickly settled as 13 came off the next over, bowled by Graham Onions.

Steve Croft made 20 before pulling a Harmison long hop straight to deep mid-wicket. But du Plessis, the man in form, quickly swept past Smith, effortlessly lifting Onions over long-on for six and playing Breese and Blackwell with relative comfort.

But after reaching 36 with a classical straight drive for four off Neil Killeen, du Plessis needlessly holed out at long-on.

That left Lancashire to score 32 off five overs and when Breese conceded only four off the next over to finish with one for 20 it seemed for the first time that a home win might not be plain sailing.

Smith then smashed Harmison for a huge six over mid-wicket, spoiling the medium pacer’s impressive figures as 11 came off the over.

Ashwell Prince spooned a catch to mid-wicket off Mitch Claydon, but Smith always seemed to have the situation under control.

Scoreboard

Lancashire v Durham At Old Trafford.

Durham Innings

P Mustard c Smith b du Plessis ............28

M J Di Venuto c Horton b Chapple ........ 7

G J Muchall not out ............................50

I D Blackwell lbw b Parry ...................... 2

D M Benkenstein b Parry ..................... 5

W R Smith c Smith b Keedy .................. 2

G R Breese b Mahmood ...................... 8

B W Harmison not out ........................14

Extras (b2 lb2 w3 pens 0)............ 7

Total 6 wkts Innings Complete (20 overs)....123

Fall: 1-9 2-61 3-65 4-74 5-79 6-106

Did Not Bat: M E Claydon, G Onions, N Killeen. du Plessis 3-0-16-1. Smith 2-0-9-0. Chapple 3-0-23-1. Mahmood 4-0-27-1. Keedy 4-0-23- 1. Parry 4-0-21-2.

Lancashire Innings

P J Horton c B W Harmison b Breese ... 1

T C Smith not out ................................57

S J Croft c Muchall b B W Harmison .....20

F du Plessis c W R Smith b Killeen ......36

A G Prince c Muchall b Claydon ........... 4

M J Chilton not out ........... 2

Extras (lb1 w1 nb2 pens 0).......... 4

Total 4 wkts (19.1 overs).....124

Fall: 1-5 2-42 3-90 4-112

Did Not Bat: G D Cross, G Chapple, S I Mahmood, S D Parry, G Keedy.

Killeen 4-0-27-1. Breese 4-0-20-1. Onions 2-0-20-0. Claydon 3.1-0-23-1. B W Harmison 4-0-23-1. Blackwell 2-0-10-0.

Lancashire beat Durham by 6 wkts.