WILL Fraine hit a stunning unbeaten 146 off 129 balls as Yorkshire warmed up for the start of the Royal London one-day Cup later this week with a commanding friendly victory by nine wickets over Northumberland at Scarborough.

This National Counties, non-List A, fixture saw the Vikings chase down a 255 target in front of a crowd in the region of 500 at a sun-kissed North Marine Road.

South African overseas seamer Mat Pillans claimed excellent figures of 3-23 from a pacy and hostile nine-over spell, while Harry Duke later hit 52 and shared a 144 opening partnership inside 25 overs with Fraine.

Ahead of Thursday’s opener against Surrey here, this was almost the ideal scenario for a Yorkshire side shorn of 10 players on Hundred duty.

They won the game in 39.2 overs of their chase, yet were earlier challenged as the visitors steadily accrued a middling target on a true surface.

Michael Richardson top-scored for Northumberland, who elected to bat, with 65 off 90 balls.

Openers Sol Bell and Alistair Appleby shared 99 for the first wicket and made 54 and 60 respectively, both reaching their fifties in 52 balls.

Richardson scored three hundreds against Yorkshire during a Durham career which ended in 2019, including a County Championship century at Scarborough in their title-winning season of 2013.

He ensured their good start was not wasted and held the innings together in measured fashion.

Matthew Waite (3-57 from nine overs) took the new ball, but each of his three wickets came inside the last eight overs of the innings.

He was on a hat-trick in the 47th when he bowled Sean Tindale and had Oli McGee caught behind by Duke.

Pillans made the initial breakthrough when he had left-handed Appleby smartly caught behind by a diving Duke - 99-1 in the 18th over on a true pitch. He later had Michael Allan caught behind off a top-edged pull.

And when Richardson miscued a pull out to deep mid-wicket in the 48th over, Northumberland were 247-8.

Vikings openers Fraine and Duke then imposed themselves quickly at the start of the chase.

Fraine pushed Josh Coughlin down the ground for an eye-catching boundary in the first over before Duke hit four fours in six balls - three of them pulled - against Kieron Waterson and Sean Tindale in the eighth and ninth overs.

When Fraine hit leg-side sixes off the same bowlers in the 11th and 12th overs, the hosts were 73-0 and in control.

Fraine reached his fifty off 43 balls not long afterwards and their century partnership came up in 15 overs.

While Northumberland’s batting line-up included three former Durham players in Richardson, Bell and Ryan Pringle, their bowling attack was far more inexperienced and struggled to hold line or length.

In the 20th over, Fraine handsomely drove the seam of Michael Allan for four through the covers and hammered a pull for six next ball, moving to 72 and the score to 128-0.

Duke, who has one second-team fifty to his name opening the batting, vindicated stand-in coach Rich Pyrah’s decision to elevate him up to the top of the order for the RL50 and reached his fifty off 64 balls with nine fours.

As well as being strong on the pull, he showed innovation, scooping the off-spin of Pringle for one of those boundaries.

But the over after reaching his fifty, Duke slapped Josh Coughlin to backward point, giving the visitors a consolatory breakthrough.

On the ground where he scored his only first-team century to date, against Surrey in the Championship in 2019, Fraine hoisted Pringle over long-on for his fourth six to move to 86 and take the target to 94 needed.

His 96-ball ton included five sixes and 10 fours, by which time Yorkshire were 181-1 in the 31st over.

From there, victory came in double quick time.

Matthew Revis impressively supported Fraine with an unbeaten 40, the unbroken second-wicket pair finishing the game with a stand of 111.

Fraine hit 15 fours and six sixes in all.