Yorkshire opener Joe Root, above, rattled up 87 in the new-style split Second Eleven 40-Over Cup match at Weetwood, but it was not enough to prevent Durham's victory by five wickets.

This knockout competition has been inaugurated for Second Elevens this season at the behest of the ICC - each side to bat for 40 overs, with the innings divided into two phases of 20: the first phase of the side batting first is followed by the first phase of their opponents, and the second phases follow alternatively until a result is achieved.

A weather interruption would perplex a mathematics graduate in calculating the overs lost, but if those circumstances were to arise the scorers had a telephone hotline to Mr Duckworth or Mr Lewis to determine the revised par scores...

Fortunately, the forecast showers avoided Weetwood when Durham arrived for the preliminary-round match against Yorkshire - two preliminary matches were needed to whittle the 18 Second Elevens down to the 16 required for a knockout competition.

The visitors invited Yorkshire to begin their first phase, and two wickets were taken as the batsmen scored at just over three an over - restricted by the experimental pink ball seaming and  swinging all over the place. Yorkshire's 72 included 14 wides, but Root batted through the phase for his 44.

Yorkshire's bowlers controlled the ball better when it was their turn, and they also took two wickets: Ramanpreet Singh had two when he was caught behind off Lee Hodgson’s first ball, the fifth over of the phase - and Hodgson had a hand in the second wicket, catching opener Karl Turner in Azeem Rafiq’s first over for 36 off 37 balls. Turner's contribution, together with Will Gidman’s 17 off 17, was largely responsible for Durham finishing on 100.

Durham conceded 18 more wides during Yorkshire's second phase, and Root and Gary Ballance resumed where they left off - Root almost carrying his bat in nearly doubling his score until he was last out seven balls short of the full 40 overs. None of his partners really got a start, only Ballance reaching double figures - apart from extras which reached a grand total of 39, a large portion of Yorkshire’s final total of 171.

Durham needed only two balls of the 14th over of their second phase to reach the winning post, South African Greg Fotheringham scoring a half-century before he was caught by Jack Hughes off Ballance’s first ball. Latham hit his third ball for four, but Ballance trapped him leg-before with his sixth.

Ballance’s success came with Durham nine short of their target, too late to affect the result. The winners now play Lancashire in Round 1 proper, the losers taking no further part in the experiment. This particular game lacked the fizz of Twenty20, and the Yorkshire jury is out on the experiment. For the scorers it is a headache knowing how to present the final card where not-out batsmen in the first phase are dismissed in the second.

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Words and Statistics: MICHAEL SNOOK