Trio outshine Michael Vaughan

Yorkshire's South African trio outshone England hopeful Michael Vaughan as Durham were comfortably defeated by 80 runs in a Friends Provident Trophy contest at the Riverside.

Gerard Brophy's preference for the leg-side was fed by a wayward Durham attack and he struck an unbeaten 66, building on the earlier progress of Jacques Rudolph (73) while Deon Kruis took the honours with the ball with three for 28.

Former England captain Vaughan succumbed for an innings of 43, frustratingly bowled through the gate by West Indian off-spinner Gareth Breese when well set.

But Yorkshire application and a general lack of it from Durham's pace bowlers - Steve Harmison's eight overs cost 63 - consigned Will Smith to a first defeat as Durham captain.

"They scored 20-30 above what we thought was a par score but having said that I still thought we could chase it down," said Smith.

"We know where we need to go and think about things and I am sure we will come back stronger.
"Sometimes these kind of games are good to get out of the way.

"You can see where you went wrong and how to go and put it right - hopefully everything moves on smoothly from there."

Vaughan, 34, is one of the contenders to fill the number three position against West Indies at Lord's on May 6 and will be hoping to discover his name in the squad when it is announced later this week.

He will get a few more innings to prove his worth, however, after the England management opted to delay the naming of the party until next week.

There is a chance, however, both he and Adil Rashid will be in the England Lions party to face the West Indians in a four-day match in Derby although the announcement of the squad has also been delayed until midweek.

"It's been really nice to be part of the England squad and hopefully I can play some part against West Indies," Rashid said.

"It was a great experience to be with England this winter: I learned about myself, about my batting and about my bowling in different situations, which is helpful."

Despite a fighting effort from another South African, last season's County Championship-winning captain Dale Benkenstein, who hit 68, the hosts lost the final five wickets for 26 runs to end the contest.

Earlier, Brophy did not come to the crease until the 35th over when Rudolph's accomplished innings ended in unaccomplished fashion: bowled after missing with an awful hoik at left-arm spinner Ian Blackwell.

Three leg-side fours in one over from Harmison, another man hoping to be in the international reckoning at Lord's early next month, took Brophy to the verge of his half-century.

And he greeted Callum Thorp's return to the attack by pulling a full toss for six to reach his landmark from 37 deliveries.