Left-arm spinner George Linde took two for 19 and Mohammad Ali bowled a superb last over to ensure Notts Outlaws defeated Durham by two runs at Banks Homes Riverside.

Watched by former England captain, Ben Stokes, the home side had posted 166 for 8, with skipper Joe Clarke making 56 but the Outlaws applied familiar pressure in the second innings and David Bedingham failed to hit the boundary four off the last ball of the match to secure a tie

Notts laid a platform for a large total in the first half of their innings. Second-wicket pair Clark and Jack Haynes made light of the loss of George Munsey for 1 in the second over and had put on 88 in 9.1 overs before Haynes was caught at square leg by Graham Clark off Kasey Aldridge for 37.

But the balance of the match changed in the 13th over when a brilliant relay catch between Nathan Sowter and Aldridge removed Tom Moores for 12 and Clarke was stumped by Ollie Robinson off Callum Parkinson two deliveries later for a 35-ball 56 that had included four fours and two sixes.

Worse was to follow two overs later when Freddie McCann was caught at deep square leg by Clark off Sowter for 12 to leave the visitors on 128 for 5 after 14.2 overs. But Linde and Benny Howell added 38 for the sixth wicket before both were dismissed by Matthew Potts in the final over of the innings. Those dismissals sandwiched the run out of Liam Patterson-White for nought as three wickets fell of the last three balls of the innings to leave the Outlaws on 166 for eight. Potts finished with 3 for 32 and Parkinson took 2 for 34.

At first, Durham’s reply almost mirrored their visitors’ effort as 58 runs were scored in the powerplay although without the loss of any wickets. Slow left-armer Linde made the first breakthrough in the eighth over when he had Clark caught by Munsey for 34 but the pause in the rapid scoring that followed was only temporary.

Lees and Ben McKinney had taken the score to 107 for 1 before Lees was bowled by Patterson-White for 43 and at the end of that over, Durham needed 58 off seven overs. The requirement had been reduced to 44 off four overs although by then Linde had dismissed McKinney for 26 and caught Ben Raine off Patterson-White for a single.

However, 17 came off Mohammad Amir’s next over and Amir’s relief was plain when he caught Robinson for 17 off Mohammad Ali three balls later. Durham needed 22 off the last two overs and 12 off the last six balls with four wickets in hand but could not find the boundaries they needed.