DURHAM stormed to their first Twenty20 Cup win of the season last night, despite Mark Ealham blasting 34 runs off one over from Neil Killeen.

Nottinghamshire's 179 for nine was 19 more then Durham have managed before in this event, but they won by six wickets with three balls to spare.

Nathan Astle launched the reply with 64 off 43 balls and Gordon Muchall continued his superb form with an unbeaten 64 off 42 balls.

Durham needed 12 off the last over, bowled by Andrew Harris, who was edged for four by Dale Benkenstein inbetween two attempted bouncers, which were pulled for two and the winning six.

A win looked unlikely when Ealham was unleashing his mayhem. The only ball of the 17th over which the former one-day international did not hit over a short leg-side boundary for six was an attempted yorker which he swung away to fine leg for four.

Killeen kept trying to find the blockhole only to see the ball keep disappearing in an arc between long-on and mid-wicket.

Ealham went in with Nottinghamshire struggling for momentum on 81 for four in the 13th over and thrashed 45 off 17 balls.

Killeen conceded only 13 off his other three overs, but Liam Plunkett again proved expensive and Astle was unable to bowl after splitting the webbing between two of his fingers early in the match. He spent the rest of the innings off the field before opening Durham's reply with Nicky Peng.

While Ealham had landed one of his six sixes on the roof of the health club at long-on, Astle cleared it off Greg Smith in the fifth over of the reply.

It was the only six of his 35-ball half-century, which included seven fours, but he cleared the rope at mid-wicket again before fatally attempting it once more.

He got too far underneath it and was held just inside the boundary by Gareth Clough for 64.

Peng looked unlucky to be adjudged lbw to left-arm spinner Samit Patel, bowling over the wicket, but Muchall, top scorer in Durham's first two Twenty20 games, was promoted to No 3 and drove the second ball he faced for a straight four.

It was 111 for two in the 13th over when Astle was out and when Phil Mustard emulated Muchall with a straight-driven four off his second ball things looked good for Durham.

But after making 11 Mustard swung across the line and was bowled by off-spinner Graeme Swann.

At the start of the 17th over Durham were 141 for three, 22 ahead of Nottinghamshire at that point, but despite taking ten off it they were now two behind.

Muchall hit the last ball of the 17th over, a full toss from Ealham, wide of long-on for four to reach 50 off 34 balls and although Gary Pratt drove a catch to long-on in the 19th over Benkenstein was more than equal to the task.

Despite the 6pm start - half an hour later than everywhere else - there was no danger of the northern light fading on a glorious evening for the crowd of 4,000.

After two away defeats Durham fielded the same side which lost by three runs at Leicester on Sunday for their first home match of the campaign.

Nottinghamshire chose to bat and after two dot balls from Killeen the third came on so slowly that Swann almost lobbed it to mid-off in snatching the first run.

In the second over skipper Stephen Fleming picked up Graham Onions straight into Peng's hands at deep mid-wicket.

Claiming the New Zealand captain's scalp for one run was a terrific start for Durham and only 15 came off the first four overs.

Plunkett then replaced Killeen and was hit for two straight sixes in his first over, Patel flat-batting the first and Swann driving the second.

Onions followed up with a very good, tight over, and bowled straight through his four-over allocation to take one for 20.

Ealham's first six was picked up into the members' enclosure over mid-wicket off Scott, a shot which Read repeated in an over which cost 15.

That prompted the return of Killeen for that fateful 17th over, but such is the helter-skelter nature of this form of cricket that things changed again when Gareth Breese came on for the 18th over and immediately took two wickets.

Ealham launched one into the stratosphere and Pratt ran 20 yards to his left from mid-on to cling on to a ball which must have had ice on it.

Read then tried to reverse sweep Breese and was bowled for 32, and with Ealham out of the firing line Killeen resumed his normal unruffled service and conceded only four off the 19th over.

Breese picked up two more wickets in the final over, with Plunkett and Muchall doing well to hang on to leg-side catches coming out of the sun.

Read more about Durham here.