T20 Blast: Ben Raine’s five-wicket haul leads Durham to victory over Birmingham

Durham elected to bat and despite losing Graham Clark for a second-ball duck, they were soon in the ascendancy as Bedingham hit a string of boundaries against the Bears seamers.

The South African took 19 off a George Garton single, while Aamer Jamal also came in for a penalty as a huge six over midwicket brought Bedingham’s half-century from 21 balls into question.

He hit Jake Lintott’s first ball for another maximum but the bowler had the last word, tempting Bedingham to hit one to short cover before Dan Mousley’s shrewd spell of 2-23 applied brake in the middle.

Ashton Turner (33 off 24) and Ollie Robinson (25 off 18) regained some momentum for Durham and Matthew Potts, with a valuable 14 off just seven deliveries, lifted the visitors past 190.

Birmingham – who also lost a second ball, that of Rob Yates – quickly ate up their target as Davies and Mousley (35 off 20) repeatedly spread boundaries in the powerplay.

Turner made an immediate impact with his off-breaks, drawing Davies out of the field for Robinson to get his bails out, but Bethell (50 off 32) stepped into the breach and took on Durham’s spinners , lifting Nathan Sowter over the top rope twice.

However, Raine delivered a vital two-wicket haul in as many balls and Potts repeated the feat – including the dismissal of Bethell, caught in the deep – before his fellow seamer applied the finishing touch through the yorks to both Lintott and on Garton.