Stephen Moore powers Lancashire win

Lancashire 179 for 4 beat Durham 156 for 8 by 23 runs
Scorecard

Stephen Moore's unbeaten 83 off 52 balls set up a 23-run win for Lancashire against Durham in their opening Friends Provident t20 match at Chester-le-Street. Lancashire took 60 off their last five overs to reach 179 for 4 and Durham were in with a chance at 75 for 2 after 10 overs. But when Lancashire introduced their third spinner, Steven Croft, his first 10 balls produced figures of 2 for 4.

The offspinner had Phil Mustard stumped for 47, made off 38 balls, then Ben Stokes drove to long-off for 19. Durham's investment in South African Albie Morkel and New Zealander Ross Taylor brought no instant dividends.

Both had missed difficult chances offered by Moore, and Taylor then made only one before pulling Sajid Mahmood's third ball straight to deep square leg. At a time when the pressure was mounting, Morkel scored only four in his first four overs at the crease and, although he hit two huge sixes, he was run out for 26 in the final over with the game already lost as Durham finished on 156 for 8.

Before the game Durham unveiled their new stadium name, for which it was announced there had been hundreds of entries. The evening had been dubbed Emirates Day in honour of the club's major sponsors and the match was a sell-out of almost 8,000, making it a record crowd for a county game at what will in future be known as the Emirates Durham International Cricket Ground.

Moore atoned for his part in running out opener Tom Smith, who scored 44 off 32 balls, by hitting three sixes and seven fours. He shared an unbroken stand of 74 with Mark Chilton, who made 18.

Lancashire opened up with left-arm spinner Simon Kerrigan and Mustard reverse-swept the first ball for four as ten came off the over. Kerrigan made way for skipper Glen Chapple and, after clubbing him back over his head for four, Ian Blackwell tried another rustic swipe and edged to the wicketkeeper.

Much as he did in his first stint with Durham two years ago, Morkel took his time to settle in and the pressure was really on for Dale Benkenstein. Although he flat-batted the second ball he faced from Croft wide of long-on for six he added only two more runs before he went down the pitch to left-arm spinner Stephen Parry and was bowled.