DURHAM were last night left to sweat on the fitness of top one-day bowler Neil Killeen after an extraordinary win against Middlesex in the Norwich Union League division two.

Killeen limped off with a recurrence of his ankle injury during the two-wicket win at the Riverside and Durham desperately need him for tomorrow's Benson & Hedges quarter-final against holders Gloucestershire at Bristol.

They got home with one ball to spare yesterday, with Danny Law unbeaten on 31 despite being clean bowled on 20 when Durham needed 19 off 16 balls.

Middlesex did not have enough men within the fielding circle and as the ball flew off the stumps to the boundary it counted as six no-balls.

The unlucky bowler was the surprisingly pacy Chad Keegan, a 21-year-old South African with dual nationality who is a newcomer to the Middlesex staff.

He bowled James Brinkley later in the same over and finished with four for 43, but with 11 needed off the last two overs Nicky Phillips helped Law complete the task.

Having resembled 11 cans of Fosters in the last two seasons, Durham's debut in their dark blue Northern Rock-sponsored kit brought a clash of colours, the difference being Middlesex sported a red trim as opposed to Durham's yellow, which matched the stumps.

It promised to be a very colourful spectacle indeed as Middlesex, after choosing to bat, raced to 76 before losing their first wicket in the 14th over.

Had they maintained that momentum they would have topped 250 in their 45 overs, but in the end they struggled to 182 for eight.

The transformation resulted largely from the fact that the Riverside is now taking spin, and this pitch took more than most.

Left-handed openers Andrew Strauss and Ben Hutton had peppered leg-side boundary off the bowling of Killeen and Ian Hunter, but when Phillips turned one to have Strauss lbw for 39 everything changed.

Phillips also had acting captain Stephen Fleming caught at the wicket for nought, and with new dad Brinkley coming on to bowl a very tight nine-over spell the runs dried up.

Keegan, sent in at three to maintain the momentum, hit Brinkley over mid-on for four and Hutton later edged him for four. Otherwise he conceded only eight runs and clean bowled Keegan to finish with one for 18.

The spin also allowed Durham to give Michael Gough nine overs, in which he matched Phillips' economy, and Law was not called on to bowl. Middlesex, on the other hand, did not include Phil Tufnell and had to rely on all-rounder Paul Weekes for their only spin.

Gough's bowling, and that of Paul Collingwood, is helping to give Durham's one-day side a better all-round balance than it has had since the first two years in first-class cricket.

With the fielding becoming tigerish, they applied the brake so successfully that only 19 runs were scored between the 20th and 30th overs, which included the edged four off Brinkley.

As the torrent became a trickle, Hutton was involved in two run outs and Middlesex slumped to 99 for five.

Owais Shah, troubled by Phillips, pushed the ball square on the off side and shaped to run before hesitating with Hutton committed. Brinkley swooped from backward point to run out Shah at the non-striker's end, then smart fielding by skipper Jon Lewis ran out Robin Weston for a duck. The former Durham man, preferred to Mike Roseberry, had faced only two balls when he was called for the risky single to cover by Hutton.

Almost as sprightly as Strauss at the outset, Hutton was forced to buckle down in partnership with Weekes and they put on 63 in 17 overs before Killeen returned to bowl Weekes for 22.

Killeen limped off with one over of his allocation unused, and Hunter returned for the penultimate over.

His first ball rattled Hutton's leg and middle stumps to end the left-hander's top one-day innings of 77, made off 128 balls with eight fours.

The next ball went for four wides then Hunter also bowled Simon Cook to finish with two for 42 in six overs.

He is a little too erratic at the moment to be a safe one-day bet, but as the same can be said of Stephen Harmison, Hunter's batting might tip the balance for tomorrow.

He played a crucial innings yesterday, scoring 20 off 21 balls after coming in at 130 for five in the 36th over.

Durham opened with Gough and Nicky Peng but both were bowled when shaping to drive before Collingwood and Martin Love put on 44 in 13 overs.

Love's well-timed strokes took him to 38 before the nippy Keegan found the edge of his bat, leaving Collingwood to take Durham within sight of victory.

There was still a bit to do when he was run out for 47, and when Hunter suffered the same fate it seemed that for the second successive day two run outs might cost Durham victory.

But this time luck was on their side and they had cause to be grateful for umpire Nigel Cowley's eagle eye at square leg as he called the crucial no-ball.

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