YORKSHIRE restored some of their Twenty20 Cup pride and also kept alive their faint hopes of qualifying for the quarter-finals by beating Durham by 40 runs at Riverside last night.

Now they must defeat Leicestershire in their final North Division match at Grace Road tomorrow and keep their fingers crossed that other results go in their favour to make the last eight.

Chasing Yorkshire's 171-7 after putting them in to bat, Durham were in with a shout at 102-3 in the 12th over but then wickets began to tumble and they were all out for 131 with 17 balls remaining.

It was an excellent night for Yorkshire's 29-year-old Australian-born fast bowler Adam Warren, who claimed the prize wicket of New Zealand Test batsman Nathan Astle, with his first delivery in Twenty20 cricket.

Warren got rid of Phil Mustard in the same over to have Durham rocking on 25-3, but Durham were then pulled round by a stand of 81 in ten overs between captain Dale Benkenstein and Gordon Muchall, which ended when Benkenstein was caught at long on by Richard Pyrah for a fiercely struck 53.

Suddenly, Durham were under pressure and Anthony McGrath stepped in with his medium pacers to take 3-27 while Richard Dawson's off-spinners captured 2-20.

The only incident to mar the occasion for Yorkshire as they neared victory was when Joe Sayers caught Gareth Breese tight on the mid-wicket boundary and it appeared as if the back part of his heel might have clipped the rope.

Sayers signalled to the umpire that he thought it was a fair catch but the Durham fans disagreed and Sayers was roundly booed and had to endure cries of 'cheat'.

Yorkshire were given a cracking start by Ian Harvey and captain Craig White who blasted 76 together in nine overs in the highest opening stand so far.

Harvey was run out for 44 and White went on to make a clean 55 - his first half-century of the competition - with nine boundaries before he was bowled by Gary Scott.

White had added 50 for the second wicket with Phil Jaques who was stumped by Mustard for 42.

Updated: 10:20 Tuesday, July 05, 2005