CRAIG White's selector nudging set the tone as Yorkshire outclassed Durham in yesterday's Benson & Hedges Cup tie at the Riverside.

White is unhappy about not having his England contract renewed and after his 93 against Leicestershire on Wednesday he provided further evidence that the selectors cannot afford to ignore him.

He scored 71 and Darren Lehmann 72 as Yorkshire totalled 271 for seven to win by 124 runs after Durham replied tamely with 147.

If they are to have a chance of qualifying for their third quarter-final in four years, Durham will now have to win their final two games at Trent Bridge tomorrow and at home to Derbyshire on Monday.

Yorkshire are well placed with two wins out of three and will expect to win at Derby tomorrow before tackling Lancashire at Headingley on Monday.

There is little chance of Darren Gough returning after his knee injury for a showdown with David Byas, and his target now is the championship match starting next Wednesday at Taunton.

After having eight men injured already this season, further misfortune befell Durham when Mark Davies fell ill after bowling three overs. After his exemplary performance in Wednesday's win against Lancashire, when he was never off line, Davies looked out of sorts as he bowled two wides and allowed White a flying start.

It appeared that Davies had not appealed when he had Matthew Wood lbw, but it transpired that he was too breathless to shout.

Following his operation during the winter after suffering a collapsed lung, it was felt wise to take Davies to hospital, where it was decided the problem is probably viral and he will be kept under observation for two days.

With Michael Gough ruled out by a badly-bruised foot, Durham brought in Marc Symington, who had to bowl seven expensive overs in Davies' absence.

Ian Hunter also struggled, sending five of his seven wides down the leg side in one over to Anthony McGrath to help launch a fifth wicket stand of 103 with Lehmann.

The rest of the Durham bowling was adequate without mustering the menace of Chris Silverwood, who got more life out of the easy-paced pitch and seemed to beat Nicky Peng for pace in trapping him lbw for four.

Tim Bresnan, a sturdy youth who was 17 in February, struck an even bigger blow when Martin Love pushed forward and offered a return catch to record his second duck of the season.

Pontefract-born Bresnan, the second youngest Yorkshire debutant after Paul Jarvis, almost induced something similar from Paul Collingwood when the England one-day man was on four.

At ten for two, Andrew Pratt had to revise his pinch-hitting role and he battled for 15 overs before holing at long-on for 16.

Collingwood and Jon Lewis then put on 44, but with half the overs gone Durham had reached only 81 and both batsmen perished trying to get after Lehmann's left-arm spin.

Lewis drove a return catch, Collingwood hoisted to deep mid-wicket for the top score of 33 and Lehmann finished with three for 29 when Gary Pratt advanced down the pitch and was bowled for 23.

White leapt to take an athletic one-handed catch at mid-wicket to get rid of Hunter, but it was his batting which effectively decided this one-sided contest and he took the Gold Award.

Cutting fiercely and driving handsomely through the covers, he reached 50 off 47 balls with seven fours before slowing slightly when Lehmann came in.

At 142 for three after 25 overs there was every chance that Yorkshire could beat their record total of 317 in this event, but White unwisely tried to cut Graeme Bridge's third ball and was lbw.

Although he edged Symington's second ball through the vacant first slip area, the only other occasions when White's judgement could be questioned was in taking risky singles as he was very close to being run out on one.

Most of the running was excellent, but there were other close shaves before Michael Lumb's promising innings of 25 ended when he drove to mid-off, took on Neil Killeen and was beaten by a direct hit. Killeen earlier bowled Silverwood, whose continuing appearance at No 3 in Yorkshire's one-day order serves only to delay Lehmann's appearance at the crease.

Considering his record against Durham, the captain should have been chomping at the bit to get in and he made runs so easily that a century would have have been well within his grasp.

He plundered ten fours, mostly with meaty leg-side blows, and his only mistake was against Bridge as he took a step down the pitch and was almost bowled off his pads on 43. He got out in the 47th over through a piece of unnecessary improvisation, paddling a catch to short fine leg off Killeen.

There was a second catch for substitute Gordon Muchall, very well held at long-on, to get rid of McGrath for 37, and Yorkshire had a poor return from their last five overs until Richard Blakey and Andy Gray hit a four apiece off the last over from Collingwood. But they already had far too many for Durham, and unfortunately Symington's innings of 32 came when the contest was decided.