YORKSHIRE needed a spirited last-wicket stand to avoid recording the lowest total in seven seasons of English Twenty20 cricket tonight.

They were five short of Sussex's 67 against Hampshire in 2004 when Deon Kruis joined Adil Rashid and took them to 90 for nine at the close, to lose by 41 runs to Durham at Chester-le-Street.

Chasing what looked a modest 131 for seven, Yorkshire never recovered from suffering two run-outs in the first three overs.

A second successive win for Durham and a second defeat of the week for Yorkshire left both teams on eight points with two games left. They are in joint second place in the group with Leicestershire.

With skipper Anthony McGrath again absent because of a whiplash injury following a car accident, Jacques Rudolphs decision to put Durham in proved flawed.

His team had to bat in fading light and once they had slumped to four for three much depended on Michael Vaughan. He had made 16 of the 30 runs when he was sixth out, driving straight to deepish mid-off to hand Ben Harmison his third wicket.

Yorkshire sent in Rana Naved-ul-Hasan to open, but he was run out without facing a ball when Andrew Gale set off for a suicidal run to cover, hesitated, then went again.

Mitch Claydon banged in the first ball of the second over, achieved good lift and Gerard Brophy edged it to Phil Mustard.

Then Vaughan played Neil Killeen behind square on the off side and set off for a run. Gale responded but was run out by a brilliant pick-up and throw from David Warner.

Australian T20 specialist Warner had launched the Durham innings very impressively on his home debut, only to fall for 19 in the fourth over when he tried to hook Tim Bresnan and skied a catch to Rashid at deep square leg.

Mustard was very subdued in taking until the tenth over to pull Azeem Rafiq for his first boundary, but the young off-spinner kept a tight rein on the middle of the Durham innings in tandem with Rashid.

Mustard was Durham's top scorer with 26 off 27 balls before he was caught at long-on off Rafiq, and the only Yorkshire player who made more than Vaughan was Rashid, who remained unbeaten on 28.