Andrew Flintoff continued his comeback from a side strain by taking four wickets in his two overs in Lancashire's rain-ruined game against Durham at the Riverside last night. In a match originally reduced to ten overs per side, then abandoned with no result, Flintoff bowled the last two overs of Durham's innings, his second stint with the ball since recovering from his injury, which had prevented him from bowling for seven weeks.

Flintoff's figures of 2-0-12-4 were his best in the Twenty20 Cup and important in restricting Durham to 77 for seven, later adjusted by Duckworth/Lewis to set Lancashire a target of 82. Lancashire had reached eight for two before they came off for bad light at 8.17pm and were unable to resume their chase. By the time Flintoff came into the attack in the eighth over, Durham's batsmen were swinging furiously and he took wickets with his first and third balls. Dale Benkenstein sliced a length ball to cover from his first, and two balls later Albie Morkel saw his off stump uprooted.

Bowling well within himself, Flintoff conceded only three runs from the final over, knocking back Shaun Pollock's off stump with his second ball. His final ball, a full toss, was swung by Liam Plunkett towards the mid-wicket boundary, where Lou Vincent took an extraordinary catch. After running ten yards to his left, he dived and stuck out his left hand in hope. To his surprise as much as anyone else's, the ball lodged in his palm and he doffed his hat to the crowd in celebration.

Durham v Lancashire

Durham

P Mustard c Law b Hogg 27

K J Coetzer c Chapple b Cork 10

W R Smith run out 6

J A Morkel b Flintoff 4

*D M Benkenstein c Chapple b Flintoff 1

S M Pollock b Flintoff 14

G R Breese not out 12

L E Plunkett c Vincent b Flintoff 1

Extras (w 2) 2

Total (7 wkts, 10 overs) 77

B W Harmison, G T Park and S J Harmison did not bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-45, 3-45, 4-46, 5-50, 6-75, 7-77.

Bowling: Chapple 2-0-8-0; Cork 2-0-12-1; Hogg 2-0-12-1; Croft 2-0-33-0; Flintoff 2-0-12-4.

Lancashire

M B Loye not out 2

L Vincent b Pollock 4

*S G Law c Park b Plunkett 2

Extras 0

Total (2 wkts, 1.4 overs) 8

F du Plessis, A Flintoff, S J Croft, K W Hogg, G D Cross, G Chapple, S J Marshall and D G Cork to bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-8.

Bowling: Pollock 1-0-5-1; Plunkett 0.4-0-3-1.

Umpires: R J Bailey and B Leadbeater.

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