Benkenstein - It was a fight

Dragons skipper disappointed to miss out on a place at finals day

Last updated: 22nd July 2008

Steve Harmison Durham Dynamos

Harmison: Celebrates Durham's win

Related links

Teams

Also see

Durham skipper Dale Benkenstein admitted his team felt under pressure to beat a Glamorgan side that had "nothing to lose" in the Twenty20 Cup.

The Dynamos' original quarter-final against Yorkshire had been postponed at the last minute and after the Tykes were thrown out for fielding an ineligible player, it appeared they would be facing Nottinghamshire.

However, an appeal ruling said it was Glamorgan who would travel to The Riverside, giving the Welsh county a surprise reprieve in the competition.

It looked like the Dragons could reach finals day when they had the hosts 49-4, though Durham bounced back in the closing stages, hitting 55 off the last four overs.

Massive expectations

"You are always going to be under pressure in a game like this, we had been waiting quite a while to play," Benkenstein said.

"With the team we have got there is always massive expectations, but they were coming into the competition with nothing to lose.

"We always knew we were going to be in a fight and after about eight overs we were right in that fight.

"We got ourselves back on track, Will Smith batted brilliantly and we finished well. We took that right into the bowling."

Chasing 164 to reach the semi-finals, Glamorgan were immediately in trouble when Liam Plunkett picked up two wickets in the first over of their reply.

Competitive

In the end the visitors fell short much to the disappointment of skipper David Hemp, who admitted the closing overs of Durham's innings had been crucial.

"Obviously we are very disappointed we are not going to progress in the competition," he said.

"The start we had with the ball, even until the last five overs, we were in a very good position. But that is the beauty of Twenty20 competition; it can change in a couple of overs.

"Credit to Durham, they got themselves to 160 and that's always competitive."

Durham's win means they will now face Middlesex in the second semi-final at the Rose Bowl on Saturday, live on Sky Sports.