IT could only happen in the hurly-burly of Twenty20 cricket, but either side of the interval at Northampton last night Durham's fortunes soared then plummeted.

Paul Coughlin went swiftly from zero to hero with a hat-trick, only to see his team-mates crash to nine for four in reply to 161 for nine.

Durham partially recovered through Paul Collingwood's 38 off 37 balls, but they finished on 135 for eight and suffered their fourth NatWest T20 Blast defeat from six games by 26 runs.

Following the euphoria of Wednesday night's last-ball Royal London Cup win against Nottinghamshire, Durham returned to the shambolic batting of the previous two weeks.

They should have had nothing to fear from an attack led by ex-Cumberland seamer Richard Gleeson and Yorkshire reject Moin Ashraf, especially as rain during the interval should have been to the bowlers' disadvantage.

But Ashraf, who has appeared this season for Brandon, took three for five in his first two overs.

That was in marked contrast to the early efforts of Coughlin, who after 2.5 overs had one for 42. But seven balls later he had five for 42, taking wickets with the last three balls of the innings.

It meant Northants finished short of expectations after Josh Cobb's 68 off 48 balls had threatened something more substantial.

Cobb had hit Coughlin for his fourth sixth in the 18th over, which included two wides, before edging an attempted big hit off the final ball to Phil Mustard.

Cobb had begun his onslaught by smashing the first three balls of Coughlin's second over for four, six, four and after conceding 31 from two it looked like a gamble to bring the youngster back at the death.

It was still a questionable decision until Cobb departed, but with the lower middle order looking short of firepower Coughlin began the final over with a good, fast bouncer and finished with a treble-wicket maiden.

All his victims were caught, hitting out in desperation as they tried to make sure a good start didn't go to waste.

Coughlin also caught both openers at deep mid-wicket after Northants were put in when Mark Stoneman won the toss for the first time for eight games.

They were 53 for one after the six overs of powerplay. the wicket going to the excellent Chris Rushworth, who conceded only three runs in his first two overs and finished with one for 17 in four.

Home captain Alex Wakeley dished out harsh treatment to Usman Arshad in making 28 off 15 balls, otherwise only Cobb threatened serious damage.

Durham know what the ex-Leicestershire man is capable of as he once thrashed a half-century in the first five overs of a match at Grace Road before it was washed out.

One of last night's sixes was a huge drive into the car park off Scott Borthwick, who conceded only two runs in his first over and removed Adam Rossington.

At 84 for two at the halfway stage Northants would have been looking to accelerate, but Keaton Jennings kept the lid on by conceding only eight in his first two overs.

Steven Crook then hit him for six, only to hole out off the next ball, leaving Cobb with a series of ineffective partners.

But the clatter of wickets either side of the break continued as Stoneman chopped Gleeson's fifth ball into his stumps.

Despite his struggles on Wednesday night, Jack Burnham was sent in at three and was caught behind third ball off Ashraf. Michael Richardson fared even worse, popping up a second ball catch to mid-off.

As Collingwood settled in he faced five dot balls from Gleeson then three more followed from Ashraf before Mustard lost patience and skied a catch.

Borthwick was promoted and helped to put on 59, but once Collingwood had driven Cobb's leg spin to long-on it was a hopeless task.