Paul Collingwood, England's victorious captain in the World Twenty20, took four wickets as he made a brief return to Durham's ranks tonight and the trophy was also on display in a nearby marquee, but it was a destructive display of power hitting by the New Zealander Ross Taylor that warmed up a chill north-eastern night.
Taylor hit a stand-and-deliver 80 not out, nine of his 33 balls clearing the rope, as Durham piled up 225 for two, the highest score of the season in Friends Provident t20, and the sixth-highest total in domestic Twenty20. He was dropped once, in the last over at deep square-leg off Nadeem Malik, and finished it all off with a swivel six over long-on.
The artificially short boundaries at what is now cumbersomely known as the Emirates Durham International Cricket Ground (as the games get shorter the ground names get longer) were appealing, but not remotely appealing enough for Leicestershire, who fell 71 runs short. Nobody has ever scored more than 210 to win a match batting second.
Paul Nixon's slog-and-miss, as he became the fifth Leicestershire batsman out with the asking rate climbing above 14 an over, admitted the impossibility of the task. Only then did Collingwood get the chance to enjoy himself. Bowling his medium-paced cutters with a nous that had been beyond Leicestershire's support pace bowlers, he dismissed Wayne White second ball and made short work of the tail to take four for 13.
As Taylor admitted, had he connected with a few play-and-misses, a sensational innings could have been even better. "I missed a few," he said. "The short boundaries exaggerated it a bit."
White, in his first t20 bowl of the season, received endless advice from his captain, Matthew Hoggard, in his first over, but there was little more to be said by the time Durham scored 81 from the last four overs. White, bowling the 17th, conceded 25 including three sixes; Harry Gurney leaked 24, all sixes, in the next over. Taylor and Dale Benkenstein followed up a century opening stand by Ian Blackwell and Phil Mustard by adding 117 in 7.1 overs.
Durham's start in the North Group had brought one win and two rain-offs from five matches. But they made a county‑record 215 at Edgbaston three days ago, with Taylor again prominent, surpassed that last night and their batting is strong enough to move through the table.
Collingwood, who has had two injections in his troublesome shoulder, now returns to England after two Durham matches in which he has bowled a bit but not faced a ball. "There is a lot of talent coming through," he said. Taylor's talent, sadly, is committed elsewhere.
Taylor hit a stand-and-deliver 80 not out, nine of his 33 balls clearing the rope, as Durham piled up 225 for two, the highest score of the season in Friends Provident t20, and the sixth-highest total in domestic Twenty20. He was dropped once, in the last over at deep square-leg off Nadeem Malik, and finished it all off with a swivel six over long-on.
The artificially short boundaries at what is now cumbersomely known as the Emirates Durham International Cricket Ground (as the games get shorter the ground names get longer) were appealing, but not remotely appealing enough for Leicestershire, who fell 71 runs short. Nobody has ever scored more than 210 to win a match batting second.
Paul Nixon's slog-and-miss, as he became the fifth Leicestershire batsman out with the asking rate climbing above 14 an over, admitted the impossibility of the task. Only then did Collingwood get the chance to enjoy himself. Bowling his medium-paced cutters with a nous that had been beyond Leicestershire's support pace bowlers, he dismissed Wayne White second ball and made short work of the tail to take four for 13.
As Taylor admitted, had he connected with a few play-and-misses, a sensational innings could have been even better. "I missed a few," he said. "The short boundaries exaggerated it a bit."
White, in his first t20 bowl of the season, received endless advice from his captain, Matthew Hoggard, in his first over, but there was little more to be said by the time Durham scored 81 from the last four overs. White, bowling the 17th, conceded 25 including three sixes; Harry Gurney leaked 24, all sixes, in the next over. Taylor and Dale Benkenstein followed up a century opening stand by Ian Blackwell and Phil Mustard by adding 117 in 7.1 overs.
Durham's start in the North Group had brought one win and two rain-offs from five matches. But they made a county‑record 215 at Edgbaston three days ago, with Taylor again prominent, surpassed that last night and their batting is strong enough to move through the table.
Collingwood, who has had two injections in his troublesome shoulder, now returns to England after two Durham matches in which he has bowled a bit but not faced a ball. "There is a lot of talent coming through," he said. Taylor's talent, sadly, is committed elsewhere.
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