Ben Curran takes down Ben Stokes to inspire Northants win as Sam and Tom watch on from afar

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Middle brother’s T20 best galvanises strugglers before Graeme White spins Durham out

Northamptonshire173 for 5 (Curran 62, Vasconcelos 60) beat Durham 143 (Potts 40*, Dickson 40, White 4-26)

Such family loyalty could not have been better rewarded. Ben Curran made light of a demoralising season to play the first major T20 innings of his career – and perform in such assertive fashion that with the contest half-a-dozen overs old, he had already produced the match-defining innings.

Ben, the middle Curran brother, is occasionally reminded that he is the one striving to pin down a county career – this season had brought only 148 runs at 14.80 and, until he was brought in to Northants’ T20 side for their previous match against Leicestershire, he had plenty of time to dwell on it.

Entrusted with his usual opening spot, he made light of a T20 career record that had brought 61 runs at 10.16, with a strike rate of 101.66, to reach 50 in 19 deliveries, with 10 fours and a six. As his more celebrated brothers cheered on every boundary, here was one middle child, at least, who could not claim to feel neglected.

“It is a long tournament and I’ve been waiting to get my turn to come into the team and contribute,” he said. “They said they were going to be watching on the stream. I couldn’t do much yesterday so I was under the pump today to perform. It was nice to give them something to watch in their hotel.”

At the end of the Powerplay, Northants were 75 for 0, but Curran’s pressure-cooker start was already losing steam. When he fell for 62, two fresh-air swishes at Campbell followed by a nick to the wicketkeeper, Northants had brought up the hundred in the 10th over.

Northants subsided to 173 for 5, Stokes bowling Vasconcelos and Josh Cobb with five overs to go, and they were grateful for a couple of late sixes from Saif Zaib to maintain any impetus.

Durham’s fightback with the ball ended the moment they took guard. They needed to replicate Northants’ Powerplay while the new ball provided some energy, but ended their own first six-overs on 39 for 4 and were dismissed on the last ball of the match for 143, malfunctioning from the outset on a dismally slow pitch.