Andrew Gale, promoted to open the innings, showed his gratitude by rapping out easily the highest score of the match as Yorkshire Phoenix beat Durham Dynamos by six wickets in the Twenty20 Cup at Riverside.

Not only did the left-hander's 56 help Yorkshire achieve the double over their opponents but it kept alive their hopes of finishing third in the North Division and going on to make the quarter-final draw.

Now they must beat leaders Nottinghamshire Outlaws at Headingley Carnegie tomorrow, although even then their passage into the last eight will not be guaranteed.

Once again, Yorkshire found themselves chasing a comfortable target and this time they made no mistakes in making 139 for four. There were only two balls remaining when they hit the winning runs but they were always in control of the situation.

And it was Gale who held them together by punishing the bad balls and generally refusing to let Durham's keen attack take charge.

Taking over from Gerard Brophy as Craig White's opening partner, Gale stamped his authority on the game by lashing a ball from Neil Killeen high over mid-wicket for six and taking two fours and a two off the same over which cost the paceman 16 runs.

White was caught on the mid-wicket boundary having contributed six to the opening partnership of 31 and Gale and Brophy then settled into a stand of 41 in five overs to put the result beyond doubt.

Brophy had made a bright 28 when he was bowled by spinner Gareth Breese, which brought in Anthony McGrath.

Gale was stumped when going down the track to the off-spin of Paul Wiseman after facing 52 balls and striking five fours and a six.

Then, with 11 wanted off two overs, McGrath hit Killeen for a couple of boundaries but with the scores level and one ball of the penultimate over to complete he had his stumps rattled for 29.

Unable to score off the first four balls of the final over from Breese, Jacques Rudolph succeeded in making contact with a leg-side swipe to save his side any embarrassment.

Yorkshire had earlier given another disciplined bowling display after putting Durham in to bat. No player took more than a single wicket, although the introduction of spin duo Rudolph and David Wainwright proved crucial to stemming Durham's initial charge.

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