Yorkshire v Durham T20 Blast at Headingley July 3rd

Neil Whitaker reports

YORKSHIRE beat Durham by five wickets with a ball to spare at Headingley to keep their hopes of reaching the quarter finals.

The man who did it  was Matty Revis who with four needed off two balls hit a six to  make up for the disappointment of Sunday when Yorkshire needed two to win of the last ball but could only manage a single.

But the man of the match was Moeen Ali who hit 60 but  was dismissed with 18 runs needed for victory.  He had smashed Matty Potts  over extra cover for a six to bring up his fifty which came from 26 balls with six sixes and a four.  Four balls later he blasted Potts over mid-wicket for another six.  Durham brought back Callum Parkinson for his final over and Moeen Ali clipped his first ball to Graham Clark on the long-leg boundary.  

Moeen Ali said: “ I struggled early on and couldn’t  get going but when I hit one I got going.  Scored  easily, now  we have to keep winning. We were positive in the way we went about it. It was pretty calm, to be honest, because we knew, with the smaller side, a  good wicket, and I thought we came off thinking we did a great job. And that gives you quite a bit of confidence thinking, okay, it's 200. It's  still a good score, but on this ground,  it's not  too bad.”


Durham skipper Alex Lees top scored with 79 and after the way that he and his opening  partner Graham Clark batted,  a score of 250 plus looked on the cards.  They were pegged back by Jafer Chohan who took three for 30 and AJ Tye who took 2/32 as well as three catches in the deep. 

Lees hit Moeen Ali for over long-on for three sixes in his first over,  with   23 coming off his first over. Courtesy of five sixes and three fours Durham’s fifty came up in the fourth over.

Lees walked across stumps to Hassan Ali and hooked him for a six to bring up his fifty  off 21 balls with five sixes and three fours.  He hit him straight into the Howard stand for another six.

Compared to Lees, his opening partner Clark was pedestrian but his 29 came from 14 balls.  The partnership which added 97 in eight overs  was broken when Clark pulled Farnham Ashraf to Tye on the long-on boundary.

Lees’ top edged a pull off Tye and the ball went up the ladder and into the hands of a Jonny Bairstow.  Lees’ 73 came from 35 balls and included five and six sixes.

Just as Durham looked to be running amok they lost wickets.  David Bedingham hit a quick 12 but when he  tried to Jafer Chohan to leg but missed the ball and was bowled.

Ben McKinney drove Moeen Ali flat over the long-on boundary.  Two balls later he swept him over fine leg to Sam Whiteman who parried it over the boundary.  He drove the next ball high for another six over long-off.  In the next over he swept Jafer Chohan over the square leg boundary for another six.

Early in his innings Ollie Robinson pulled Jafer Chohan to the mid-wicket boundary. But when he  tried to sweep him again  the ball looped in the air and Bairstow dived forward to take the catch but Robinson was unmoved.  After consulting with the umpires he was given out.

Kasey Aldridge became the third Durham player to pick out Tye  on the long-on boundary.  Ben Raine clipped Hassan Ali off his toes to Moeen Ali at short fine-leg.

Colin Ackermann top edged Tye over Bairstow’s and Moen Ali’s heads for a four.  In the last over he pulled Hassan Ali to Whiteman on the mid-wicket boundary.  Two balls later Potts top edged a drive of Hassan Ali to that Tye on the long-on boundary.


Adam Lyth and Bairstow quickly reached 35 in their third over.  Yorkshire’s fifty was brought up the fifth over. But when Lyth thought Raine had bowled a wide he drilled the next ball back to Raine who took a magnificent low return catch one handed in his right hand.

Bairstow hooked Potts over the fine leg boundary for a six and drilled the next ball to the mid-wicket boundary.  He drilled Nathan Sowter to long-on for a single to bring up his fifty off 26 balls with seven fours and two sixes.

He greeted the return of Aldridge by clipping him off his legs to the fine leg boundary and running the next ball to the third man boundary.  He became Raine’s second victim when he drilled him to Lees at cover.

After Will  Luxton  pulled Potts in the previous over he was bowled by Sowter’s second ball which was a  flipper.

Moeen Ali launched Raine into the North east stand for a six and in the next over he drilled Sowter straight to  the long-off boundary.  He hit hit  Aldridge for four sixes in five balls.  The first two he clipped   off his toes for consecutive sixes over square leg  into the East stand.  The next ball went for a six over mid-wicket. After a dot ball the last ball went for a straight six.


Revis finally got the ball off the block and smashed Potts over the long-on boundary for a six.  Two balls later  he late cut Potts to the third man boundary.  With 12 needed  off six balls Revis thought he had hit a six but found Clark who caught the ball and threw it back into the field.  With four needed off two balls Revis hit a six.

SCORECARD