County Championship: Ben Raine steers Durham to one-wicket win over Yorkshire

Ben Raine came in with Durham struggling on 154-6

Durham held their nerve on a nail-biting final morning to defeat Yorkshire by one wicket and extend their lead at the top of the County Championship Division Two table.

Durham required 33 to chase down their victory total of 246, while the visitors needed two wickets to end a 17-match run without a County Championship win.

The hosts were composed to whittle down 31 of the required 33 as Ben Raine completed a brilliant half-century under pressure.

George Hill threatened to break Durham hearts when he pinned Matthew Potts lbw with his second delivery of the new ball.

But Brydon Carse ambled to the crease with his side injury and squeezed the winning two runs between third slip and gully to steer Durham over the line.

Durham claimed 19 points to move well clear of second-placed Glamorgan at the top of the standings, while Yorkshire remain winless this term.

On a bright morning in front of 254 spectators in Chester-le-Street, Yorkshire turned to Hill for the first over of the day, hoping he could continue to conjure magic for the White Rose in the middle after a fine performance.

Raine and Potts worked his first two balls for singles to the cheer of the home crowd.

The Durham batters brought up their fifty stand from 127 deliveries, further inching the hosts towards the victory target and quietening the travelling Yorkshire faithful that remained.

Jordan Thompson replaced Hill, but Potts took the attack to the seamer drilling his third ball straight down the ground.

Thompson put in a desperate dive to stop the ball and appeared to hurt his shoulder after staying down on the pitch. The seamer continued his over but was dispatched off Raine's legs to the fence.

Durham worked the target down to single figures before Shan Masood had one last roll of the dice and placed the ball in the hands of off-spinner Dom Bess. Bess bowled a tight line but could not prevent Raine nudging his way to his 15th first-class fifty.

The new ball arrived and Hill brought about one final piece of magic to pin Potts lbw for 25 with only two required for victory.

Carse arrived at the crease ailing with his trunk injury, but managed to secure a huge win for Durham.

Durham's Ben Raine:

"I was nervous until I got into the middle. When you're out there it becomes a game and it's always worse watching. I just thought that we were going to win.

"Me and Matthew Potts were quite calm out there. We just backed ourselves. At one stage I thought we would have to face a lot more of the new ball. We got to the target a lot quicker than we imagined.

"The crowd were great and cheering every run. It was a really fun game to be a part of. It was fantastic, but all of our games have been like that this year. There has been a real impetus in four-day cricket to play a positive brand of cricket, which has come from Ben Stokes and the England team.

Yorkshire coach Ottis Gibson:

"There's a whole lot of different emotions. We did a lot of good things. In a game like this where things come down to small margins, it's a hard one to take.

"I felt we should have batted better in our second innings. When you look at the batters that we are sending out, they're world-class players. Shan Masood has just come into the side too. But you've also got to give credit to Durham because they played well. They're top for a reason.

"Our 17-game win drought is not affecting the players, we know we haven't won. But you look back at the opportunities we've had to win games. We keep on putting ourselves in a position to win, but perhaps we're lacking a little bit of toughness in key moments that can get us over the line."

Report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network.