Prince knock guides Lancashire to victory at Durham

Ashwell Prince continued his fine Twenty20 form against Durham this season as he made an unbeaten 63 to guide Lancashire to a six-wicket win with 11 balls to spare.

Lancashire successfully chased their target of 142 after Durham were bowled out in 19.5 overs after a devastating collapse which saw the Jets lose their final eight wickets for 87 runs.

The home side made a blistering start, reaching 61/3 at the end of the powerplay, but Durham failed to score a boundary in the last 58 balls of their innings and the visitors cruised to victory with more than an over in hand.

Prince made a career-best score of 78 in the reverse fixture, which Durham won by 16 runs, but he played brilliantly to take Lancashire towards their target before Alex Davies hit a boundary off his first ball to secure victory.

Durham started well, scoring 18 runs off the first over bowled by Kyle Jarvis, who went on to finish with figures of 3-24 as Durham’s innings fell to pieces. Phil Mustard (5) chipped to Arron Lilley off James Faulkner at 20/1 and dangerman Calum MacLeod fell soon after when he was caught behind, also off Faulkner.

The Australian all-rounder also finished with three wickets, although Durham’s progress continued to be brisk as the home side raced to 52/2 after just 3.5 overs. Captain Mark Stoneman spearheaded the early charge, while Usman Arshad became the third casualty when he mistimed to Tom Bailey off Jarvis for five.

Stoneman and Paul Collingwood (25) added 43 runs in a steady partnership for the fourth-wicket stand, but Steven Croft rotated the Lancashire spinners brilliantly to restrict Durham’s progress in the middle section of their innings.

Stoneman lead the charge for Durham with his second fifty of the campaign, both of which have come against Lancashire.

A 28-ball fifty for Stoneman - his second Twenty20 fifty of the summer against Lancashire - was immediately followed by his demise when he was bowled by Lilley (2-24).

The pressure created by Lancashire’s spinners began to show and Collingwood was next to go with the score on 109/5 when he chipped to Jarvis at short third-man off Lilley.

Durham lost their second wicket for three runs when Gordon Muchall chipped to Prince at long-off to give Stephen Parry a deserved breakthrough, as he returned economical figures of 1-23 from his four-over allocation.

John Hastings (1) fell soon after when he was bowled by Croft (1-14) and Durham slipped to 132/8 when Ryan Pringle (11) was caught by Prince off Jarvis with ten balls to go.

A superb start had been all-but ruined by Durham’s woeful finish to the innings and matters were made worse when Jarvis removed the final creditable striker of the ball in Scott Borthwick (12) when he was bowled by the Zimbabwean fast bowler.

Kyle Jarvis took three wickets in his first Twenty20 appearance of the season as Durham were all out for 141.

Faulkner caused Chris Rushworth some discomfort with a sharp bouncer before the tail-ender was removed by Faulkner for two, as Durham were all out for 141 with one ball left in the innings.

The decision to open with Paul Horton was an unsuccessful experiment for Lancashire, as he was bowled by Rushworth (2-43) for just one as the visitors struggled to get off to a flying start in the first six overs.

Karl Brown added 26 in 17 balls with two huge sixes to give Lancashire the fast start they desired, relieving a great deal of pressure from Prince. Faulkner played a similar innings and also hit two massive sixes in his knock of 23 off just 14 balls.

Brown became the second Lancashire batsmen to be bowled by Rushworth inside the powerplay and although the Lightning had not made a pulsating start to their innings, they were always ahead of D/L and with rain looming it was vital to be aware of what score was needed at the end of each over.

Some big hitting from Faulkner took the pressure off Prince as Lancashire cruised to a comfortable win.

Croft added 17 before he took a big swing at a delivery from Pringle, one which he missed and he was stumped by Mustard at 71/3. Prince and Faulkner added 59 runs for the fourth-wicket partnership to ensure that Lancashire were always ahead of the rate and their progress continued to improve as Faulkner hit two sixes in quick succession into the leg-side.

Faulkner attempted to find the boundary once more, but he was victim of a superb relay catch from Pringle, who dived to the ground and threw the ball back into Borthwick, to remove the Australian for 23.

Prince timed his innings perfectly and he reached his second fifty of the campaign against Durham in 42 balls with three fours - hardly a swashbuckling innings - but one which was well-suited to the situation of a low-scoring match.

Lancashire have had an indifferent Twenty20 campaign, but their fourth win of the tournament could be the start of the run which secures a spot in the top-four for the Red Rose and when Davies creamed a four through the covers, the visitors cruised to a six-wicket win with 11 balls in hand.