Gibbs and Gale demolish Durham

Yorkshire 160 for 1 beat Durham 156 for 7 by nine wickets
Scorecard

South African Herschelle Gibbs and captain Andrew Gale sent Yorkshire Carnegie storming to their first Friends Provident t20 win of the season with a crushing nine-wicket victory over Durham Dynamos at Headingley. The second-wicket pair dashed up an unbeaten 137 together in only 11.5 overs as Yorkshire chased down a target of 157 with four overs to spare.

Gale finished on 60 off 42 balls with five fours and three sixes while Gibbs blasted 76 from 39 deliveries with seven fours and four sixes. It was a record Yorkshire stand in Twenty20 cricket, overhauling the unbroken 129 between Gale and Michael Vaughan against Nottinghamshire on the same ground last year.

Having suffered heavy defeats in their opening two matches, Yorkshire were anxious to get off the mark but they lost their first wicket at 23 in the fifth over when Steve Harmison sent Jacques Rudolph's off stump flying with his first delivery.

But it was the only success that came Durham's way because Gale and Gibbs were soon striking the ball to all parts of the field with great vigour, Gale hurrying Yorkshire to the 50 mark with a six over square leg off Liam Plunkett.

Yorkshire still seemed to have plenty to do with 100 required from 12 overs but Gibbs then slammed Harmison for three powerful fours in one over and when Ian Blackwell joined the attack Gibbs pulled his first two balls for carbon-copy sixes over midwicket.

Will Smith conceded 20 in an over as both batsmen flogged him for six before racing to their half-centuries and Plunkett was struck for six and four by Gibbs to end the match.

Put in to bat, Durham were never able to break entirely free from some economical bowling led by legspinner Adil Rashid who finished with 3 for 23 from his four overs while England's latest Test recruit, Ajmal Shahzad, conceded only 21 runs after seeing Phil Mustard edge into his stumps in the first over.

Clint McKay ended a threatening second-wicket stand between Blackwell and Ross Taylor by bowling Blackwell but Taylor then drove McKay into the football stand where he was well caught by a spectator.

Taylor, having moved to 31, fell to a catch by Jonny Bairstow at midwicket off Richard Pyrah after striking two fours and three sixes from 16 balls, and Ben Stokes and Albie Morkel also made it into the 30s before Stokes holed out to McGrath on the boundary edge and Morkel lost his off stump to Pyrah.

Plunkett managed an unbeaten 21 from 14 balls but Durham were unable to make the sort of progress they would have liked.