Coughlin cheers Durham in seven-over thrash

Durham captain Paul Coughlin led the bottom club to their first win of the NatWest T20 Blast North Group campaign at the expense of Leicestershire in a match shortened by rain to seven overs a side in Leicester.

A stunning innings of 63 not out from 21 balls from opener Luke Ronchi should have put the Foxes in an impregnable position after acting captain Colin Ackermann won the toss and chose to bat first on a good pitch.

The New Zealander hit 10 fours and two sixes, reaching his 50 off just 16 deliveries, equalling the third fastest half-century in domestic T20 cricket, behind only Marcus Trescothick (13 deliveries) for Somerset and Gerard Brophy (14) for Yorkshire.

But the sixth over of the Foxes innings, bowled by young seamer Barry McCarthy, yielded only one run as Tom Wells swung and missed, opening the door for the visitors.

Durham quickly lost two wickets in their reply, but Coughlin (38 not out off 18 balls) and the experienced Paul Collingwood (34 of 18) added 76 runs for the third wicket, hit from just 33 balls. Both were dropped, Coughlin a skier by Gavin Griffiths at point, and Collingwood a chest-high caught and bowled chance to Cameron Delport.

Although Collingwood and Jack Burnham were run out off successive deliveries in the final over, Coughlin sliced the penultimate delivery to the third man boundary to complete a remarkable win.

It meant a third home defeat in a row for Leicestershire, whose four-match away winning run to start the campaign is now a distant memory.