Chad Keegan, a 21-year-old South African paceman with dual nationality, was robbed of the chance of glory on his Norwich Union League debut for Middlesex at Chester-le-Street.

Durham needed 19 to win off 16 balls when Keegan bowled Danny Law on 20, but Middlesex did not have enough men within the fielding circle and as the ball flew to the boundary it counted as six no-balls.

Keegan then bowled James Brinkley to claim his fourth wicket, but Law went on to finish on 31 not out as Durham won by two wickets with one ball to spare.

After racing to 76 in the 14th over before they lost their first wicket, Middlesex lost their way and struggled to 182 for eight.

After they chose to bat, left-handers Andrew Strauss and Ben Hutton launched the innings with a blaze of mainly leg-side strokes.

But everything changed with the introduction of off spinner Nicky Phillips, who found a surprising amount of turn.

He had Strauss lbw for 39 and acting captain Stephen Fleming caught at the wicket for nought as he throttled the innings with the help of a very tight nine-over spell from seamer Brinkley.

Hutton was involved in two run-outs as Middlesex slumped to 99 for five and only 19 runs came between the 20th and 30th overs.

But Hutton shared a stand of 63 with Paul Weekes and went on to make his top one-day score of 77, scored off 128 balls with eight fours.

Paul Collingwood made 47 for Durham before he was run out with 53 needed. But Ian Hunter hit 20 off 21 balls before he was also run out, leaving Law to complete the task with the help of a huge slice of good fortune.

© CricInfo Ltd.