Willey then struck with the first ball of Durham’s chase as Graham Clark loosely guided a back-of-a-length ball to backward point, though McKinney was quickly into his stride.

He twice pushed Willey back down the ground for early boundaries before taking two fours and a six off McSweeney’s off-spin as 16 came off the fourth over. The six, over long-on, thudded into the bottom floor of the Riverside’s Media Centre.

However, excellent Ben Sanderson (2-26) struck with successive deliveries in the fifth over as the score became 41-3. He uprooted Alex Lees’ leg-stump before trapping Ollie Robinson lbw.

And when McKinney skewed Zaib’s first ball of left-arm spin to backward point to fall for 33, the Steelbacks held sway at 53-4 in the eighth.

McSweeney then had a hand in the next two wickets as the score fell to 90-6 in the 14th over. He had Colin Ackermann caught at cover and ran Aldridge out at the striker’s end with a throw running in from deep mid-wicket to prevent a second.

Will Rhodes and Raine tried to recover, only for the latter to be bowled by Sales – 113-7 after 17.

The target became 24 off the last two overs and 14 off the last with Rhodes on 29 and T20 debutant bowler James Minto at the crease.

Nerveless Sales had Rhodes caught at mid-off for 31 in the last.