CHESTER-LE-STREET (Durham won toss): Somerset Sabres (4pts) beat Durham Dynamos by four wickets
A PITCH that was one of the Riverside’s slowest ensured a tense struggle and only two players really came to terms with it. One was Shoaib Akhtar, whose solution was to bowl many more yorkers than usual, which brought wickets every time Durham turned to him. The other was Ian Blackwell, the Somerset all-rounder, whose answer was to hit the ball hard in the air in between surviving the yorkers.
There were three sixes in Blackwell’s 79, as well as a missed catch and several other close shaves. True, he rode his luck, but, importantly, he delivered a win for a side that lacks so much in confidence. They had, after all, been skittled for 56 here in the championship on Friday.
Durham’s innings was immediately put on the back foot by Steffan Jones, who also finished well to end with three wickets for 27.
Their progress at 15 overs when they were 59 for three was almost mirrored by Somerset who were 57 for three at that point. Then came the resistance of Blackwell, in partnership with Keith Parsons. Shoaib’s return of five for 35 was to be more spectacular than that of Jones, but it proved too little to prevent Somerset’s first win in any competition since June 15.