A DROPPED catch in the final over before a storm ended play allowed Durham to scramble to victory against Yorkshire in last night's NatWest T20 Blast match at Emirates Riverside.

They won by six runs under the Duckworth / Lewis calculations, but would almost certainly have lost had Ryan Pringle been caught by Gary Ballance at long-off three balls before the end.

Pringle picked up two runs to finish on 20 off 15 balls and Gordon Muchall drove Azeem Rafiq's last ball for four to make sure Durham stayed ahead of the rate.

Replying to 134 all out, they were on 68 for three after 9.5 overs when the storm broke.

Yorkshire's inability to find the key to T20 cricket was all too evident. Dyed-in-the-wool Yorkshiremen could be almost be heard muttering “another daft shot” as a succession of talented batsmen surrendered to rash or improvised strokes.

It probably mattered little to most of a 5,757 crowd as they would be there for the full entertainment package, complete with sky-divers and a visit from the king and queen of Lesotho.

But Yorkshire keep making noises about improving their white ball cricket and signed David Willey with that in mind.

Again, he was one of five on England duty, while Durham received late clearance from the ECB to include Ben Stokes purely as a batsman.

He made only five before cracking Adam Lyth's first ball off the back foot to short extra cover. He could only look on in disbelief as Kane Williamson parried the blistering shot upwards and dived to hold on with one hand.

Stokes has agreed to play for Newcastle as a replacement for the injured Graham Clark and it was to be decided last night whether he will turn out against Chester-le-Street today Despite 43 in 24 balls from opener Alex Lees and a sensible 48 from Jack Leaning, Yorkshire struggled to 134 all out with three balls unused. They remain bottom of the group with one win from seven.

In putting Yorkshire in, Mark Stoneman may have been influenced by the knowledge that the smoke from the pre-match fireworks might not have fully cleared.

But he was the one not seeing clearly when Lyth smoked the first ball past his right ankle at extra cover.

Lyth's brain then became clouded as he tried to smite Chris Rushworth into the next parish. He was down the pitch with the bat almost wrapped round his neck when he was bowled by the fourth ball.

After that first ball four Rushworth had a huge impact on the game by taking two for five in his next 17 balls.

His third over was a wicket maiden as Williamson tried to break the shackles by going down on one knee to attempt a scoop. He missed and lost his leg stump.

Lees made only three off his first 11 balls, then hammered 34 off the next nine. He took an instant liking to Paul Coughlin in the fourth over, hitting three off-side fours and a six over mid-wicket as 19 came off the over.

Usman Arshad returned and began with a wide before Lees cleverly found the gaps for four successive fours, so despite the wicket maiden Yorkshire had 53 on the board after the six powerplay overs.

The introduction of Scott Borthwick brought a mixture of big hits and wickets as Lees hit his eighth four before he was brilliantly caught by Michael Richardson at long-on.

Ballance popped up a catch for Phil Mustard off bat and pad attempting a reverse sweep.

Tim Bresnan drove Borthwick for a huge six over long-on in making 19 before edging an attempted leg-side heave off Coughlin to Mustard.

With Keaton Jennings conceding six runs in the only two overs he bowled Yorkshire lost momentum when they needed to step it up.

Rushworth returned for his final over in the 17th and held on to a steepler from Rafiq to finish with three for 14.

Leaning began to improvise as he paddled his sixth four off Arshad in the 19th before going for a repeat and finding short fine leg.

He scored his runs off 36 balls but no-one stayed with him long enough to build the sort of partnership which might have produced a competitive total.

Stoneman got the reply off to a swift start with 25 off 17 balls , which included a big six pulled in front of mid-wicket off Bresnan.

Phil Mustard surrendered for eight, skying to mid-off before Stoneman drove Azeem Rafiq to long-off and Stokes followed straight afterwards.

With lightning flashing nearby Pringle swept left-arm spinner Karl Carver for six in what proved a winning knock.

*Mark Wood will make his comeback purely as a batsman for Durham in their four-day against Sri Lanka A, which starts at Emirates Riverside tomorrow.