YORKSHIRE'S hopes of a third consecutive Twenty20 Cup victory were dashed by Durham Dynamos who beat them by two wickets with one over to spare at Headingley last night in the Tykes' lowest scoring game of the season.

The defeat puts even greater pressure on Yorkshire later today in their Roses clash with North group leaders Lancashire in front of a guaranteed capacity crowd at Old Trafford.

Durham's decision to field first turned out to be a wise one because runs were always at a premium and Yorkshire had to work hard to muster 123-7 after slumping to 12-3 inside four overs.

Matthew Wood was run out by a direct hit and Michael Lumb was caught before he had scored but the hardest blow to Yorkshire came with the dismissal of Ian Harvey, who aimed to hit Neil Killeen through the legside only to spoon a catch to Gary Pratt at point.

Yorkshire's other Australian left-hander, Phil Jaques, was the most successful batsman, knocking up 40 off 43 balls with five fours and putting on 55 in nine overs for the fourth wicket with Anthony McGrath, who was then caught behind by Phil Mustard off Nathan Astle for 21.

Tim Bresnan hit Gareth Breese for a big six over mid-wicket but when Jaques was stumped off Dale Benkenstein it triggered another collapse, the Durham captain also getting rid of Bresnan for 25 from 21 balls to finish with 3-10 from two overs to line himself up for the man-of-the-match award.

Durham were also under the cosh from the start of their innings as Matthew Hoggard fired out Nicky Peng and Gordon Muchall with consecutive balls in his first over.

Bresnan, again in outstanding form with the new ball, held on to a high return catch from Astle and fooled Benkenstein with a slower delivery which he drove to Craig White at short cover.

Mustard made a sprightly 31 from 19 balls with two fours and two sixes but then edged a slog at Richard Dawson and was smartly run out by Hoggard to make Durham 61-5 and three runs later Breese was bowled by a yorker from Harvey.

Durham were rescued by Gary Pratt and Gary Scott, who put on 45 before Pratt was beautifully caught low on the cover boundary by Wood in McGrath's only over, leaving 11 to be made off two overs with three wickets remaining.

White caused a big surprise at this stage by calling upon Wood's infrequent off-spin and after Liam Plunkett had taken a single off the first ball the next was whacked for six by Scott who was then trapped lbw.

It was too late to help Yorkshire, however, and Neil Killeen hit the winning two off the final ball of Wood's over.

SCOREBOARD

Twenty20 Cup

North Division

Yorkshire Phoenix v Durham Dynamos

at Headingley

Durham Dynamos Won Toss

Yorkshire Phoenix Innings

Harvey c G J Pratt b Killeen 1

Wood run out 3

Jaques st Muchall b Benkenstein 40

Lumb c Scott b Onions 0

McGrath c Mustard b Astle 21

Bresnan c Peng b Benkenstein 25

White c Onions b Benkenstein 1

Pyrah not out 14

Dawood not out 8

Extras lb3 w3 nb4 10

Total 7 wkts Innings (20 overs) 123

Fall: 1-5 2-10 3-12 4-67 5-94 6-96 7-111

Did Not Bat: R K J Dawson, M J Hoggard.

Bowling: Killeen 4-0-17-1 Onions 4-0-24-1 Plunkett 2-0-14-0 Astle 4-0-22-1 Breese 4-0-33-0 Benkenstein 2-0-10-3

Durham Dynamos

Peng c Dawood b Hoggard 4

Astle c & b Bresnan 2

Muchall lbw b Hoggard 0

Benkenstein c White b Bresnan 19

Mustard run out 31

Pratt c Wood b McGrath 23

Breese b Harvey 2

Scott lbw b Wood 31

Plunkett not out 2

Killeen not out 3

Extras b1 lb3 w3 7

Total 8 wkts (19 overs) 124

Fall: 1-4 2-4 3-15 4-31 5-61 6-64 7-109 8-120

Did Not Bat: G Onions.

Bowling: Hoggard 4-0-18-2 Bresnan 4-0-27-2 White 2-0-27-0 Dawson 4-0-16-0 Harvey 3-0-13-1 McGrath 1-0-8-1 Wood 1-0-11-1

Umpires: V A Holder and B Leadbeater

Durham Dynamos (2pts) beat Yorkshire Phoenix (0pts) by 2 wkts

Updated: 10:37 Friday, July 01, 2005