A LOVELY day at Scarborough held few delights for Durham skipper Paul Collingwood yesterday until his side snatched an unlikely four-wicket win with a ball to spare.

After missing last season's Twenty20 competition with a hand injury, Collingwood suffered another one, inflicted by a doctor's son.

He clung on to the sharp return catch offered by Dan Hodgson, whose father practises at Aldbrough-St-John near Darlington, but immediately left the field for stitches in his right thumb.

It was the same digit he hurt last season and he is to see a specialist in Leeds to discover whether there is further damage after X-rays proved inconclusive yesterday.

Phil Mustard overcame a sticky start to his own innings to take Durham within sight of victory by scoring 59 and put it down to experience.

"I've grown a bit wiser over the years," he said. "I have learnt from playing T20 overseas in the winter that you can chase down anything on small grounds if you have wickets in hand.

"We said beforehand if we had wickets in hand it didn't matter if the target got up to 12 an over towards the end.

"I left them a bit to do when I got out, but Gordon Muchall has been outstanding in one-day cricket this season. He hits the ball in weird areas and he got us over the line."

Mustard also paid tribute to 21-year-old Sunderland off-spinner Ryan Pringle, who took two for 13 in four overs.

"He's adapted really well," said the wicketkeeper. "He's a foxy bowler who bowls at a good pace and gets a bit of turn. He's also a useful man to come in down the order."