Match Report: Yorkshire Men v Durham, Vitality Blast – Yorkshire County Cricket Club

Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Will O’Rourke pulls en-route to a career best 21 not out in defeat at York today. 
SCORECARD 
Yorkshire v Durham
Vitality Blast, North Group 
Sunday June 15, 2025, 2.30pm
York CC, Clifton Park 
Toss: Durham won it and bowl first 
Teams – Yorkshire: Jonny Bairstow w, Dawid Malan c, Adam Lyth, Will Luxton, James Wharton, Will Sutherland, Jordan Thompson, Dom Bess, Jafer Chohan, Will O’Rourke, Jack White. 
Durham: Graham Clark, Alex Lees c, Ollie Robinson w, Colin Ackermann, Will Rhodes, Ben Raine, Jimmy Neesham, Zak Foulkes, Matthew Potts, Nathan Sowter, Callum Parkinson. 
Match Summary: Yorkshire’s hopes of reaching the Vitality Blast quarter-finals were dented by a damaging defeat to Durham at York, the White Rose losing for the fifth time in seven games.
The county’s struggling North Group campaign reached its halfway stage with them sat second bottom in the table having been bowled out for 128 in 19 overs on a helpful bowling pitch.
England seamer Matthew Potts made use of the nibble on offer and returned 5-17 from four overs, a career best haul, while James Wharton top-scored with 26 for the hosts.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. The scene at Clifton Park as Yorkshire played Durham in the venue’s first ever first-team men’s T20 match. 
Durham’s fourth win in six was then sealed as their captain Alex Lees calmly led a chase which fell to 8-1, finishing with 62 off 46 balls in a six-wicket win. The visitors completed their chase in 18 overs. 
Match Report: Durham couldn’t have dreamed of a better start to this fixture. 
Zak Foulkes trapped Dawid Malan lbw for a golden duck at the end of the first over and Callum Parkinson’s left-arm spin forced Jonny Bairstow to miscue to mid-off for four at the end of the second.
And when Adam Lyth (18) lofted Parkinson out to deep mid-wicket midway through the fourth over, Yorkshire were already on the ropes at 28-3.
Earlier in this competition, the White Rose recovered from 9-3 to nearly chase 238 against Northamptonshire at Headingley.
But it did not happen here. James Wharton started nicely with the bat, hitting four boundaries in racing to 23. Wickets, however, continued to fall at the other end.
England seamer Potts made the perfect start when he trapped Will Luxton lbw and, two balls later, had a tentative Will Sutherland caught at slip, leaving Yorkshire 55-5.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Matthew Potts, Alex Lees (l) and Callum Parkinson (r) all played a starring roles for Durham today. 
Wharton pulled the same bowler out to deep backward square-leg shortly afterwards before Potts had Dom Bess lbw playing to leg. 
Potts made his IT20 debut for England against the West Indies at Chester-le-Street earlier this month and has now played all three formats for his country.
Nathan Sowter struck before Jordan Thompson was another lbw victim for Potts, his fifth wicket, as he tried to whip a full toss to leg on 19. 
That left Yorkshire 100-9 after 16 overs in front of a quietened 4,500 sellout crowd. 
But New Zealand fast bowler Will O’Rourke and Jack White then shared 28, the highest partnership of the innings, and recorded career best scores of 21 not out and 13 respectively as Yorkshire gave themselves a glimmer of hope. 
White, batting for the first time in this format, was bowled by Ben Raine to wrap things up, though 52 runs were added for the last two wickets.
White then took the new ball and increased the hope when he forced Graham Clark to slap a short ball to cover in the third over of Durham’s chase, 8-1. 
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Jonny Bairstow returned to familiar territory today. 
Spin duo Jafer Chohan and Bess then struck as the visitors reached halfway at 63-3. Chohan had Ollie Robinson caught at backward point reverse sweeping for 21 and Bess had Colin Ackermann caught behind cutting. 
But the presence of opener and captain Alex Lees was key for Durham.
He was calm and assured en-route to his best score in this season’s Blast. 
The left-hander reached 50 off 39 balls and went on to hit a six over long-on off White.
He shared 60 for the fourth-wicket with partner Will Rhodes, 31 not out. 
Lees miscued Thompson high to mid-off late on, but it was merely a consolatory strike for the hosts. 
Magic Moment: In truth these were few and far between, but at least the 10th-wicket partnership of 28 between Will O’Rourke and Jack White at least gave Yorkshire some hope. It equalled the county’s highest 10th-wicket partnership ever in this format. 
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Adam Lyth prepares to bat against Durham today. 
Turning Point: It came early. Yorkshire lost their gun batting trio Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow and Adam Lyth inside four overs, slipping to 28-3. Zak Foulkes got Malan, Callum Parkinson Bairstow and Lyth. 
Stat of the Match: There was only one six in the match, hit by Alex Lees off Jack White over long-on as Durham reached 113-3 in the 16th over of the Durham chase. 
What they said – Yorkshire spinner Jafer Chohan, who finished with 1-14 from two overs, said: “It’s always tough, like they say, if you lose three wickets in the powerplay. You’re going to struggle to win games. It was a tough start.
“We managed to squeeze a few more runs at the end than we probably were expecting. We put really good effort in with the ball to take it that deep, but you’re always struggling when you’re not getting to 130.
“I think the toss played a slight part because both sides didn’t really know what to expect from the pitch. But I don’t think we can blame the result purely on the toss. That comes down to us.
“With the team we’ve got, there’s so much experience and so much talent in this team, there’s no doubt there. We have full belief that we can make the quarter-final, and that’s our aim. It’s going to be tougher, having to win five from seven, but we can absolutely do it.”
What’s next: Yorkshire face Durham in the return fixture at the Banks Homes Riverside on Friday evening (6.30pm). It’s the last fixture before a fortnight’s break for the return of the Rothesay County Championship competition.
Curtis Sugden hit a superb captain’s century as Yorkshire’s D40 Pursuit team beat Warwickshire by 89 runs at Higham today to sit top of the North and Midlands group after four games. 
Yorkshire’s Vitality Blast bandwagon has arrived at York, where Durham are the visitors for Clifton Park’s first ever first-team T20 fixture. We get going at 2.30pm in front of a sellout crowd of 4,500. 
Everyone at the Yorkshire County Cricket Club would like to congratulate Interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sanjay Patel who has been honoured with a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).
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