YORKSHIRE’S T20 nightmare continued tonight against Durham as a disastrous batting display left their quarter-final hopes hanging by the thinnest of threads.

The Vikings were bowled out for 134 with three balls of their 20 overs remaining.

They had reduced Durham to 38-3 inside six overs of the chase, and the threat of rain left the game much closer than it looked like being.

But the hosts kept themselves ahead on Duckworth Lewis to ensure the win by six runs.

When the rain arrived at 8.30pm, they were 68-3 after 9.5 overs, having needed to reach 62.

Unfortunately for Yorkshire, a Gary Ballance dropped catch at long-off proved costly in the tenth over, instead letting Ryan Pringle run two against Azeem Rafiq’s bowling.

Had he taken it, the DL equation would have swung in Yorkshire’s favour. Play was called off at 9.10pm.

The Vikings have now only won one of their first seven matches and remain bottom of the North Group with four defeats.

Although they are not mathematically out of contention, they have a mountain to climb and may have to win six out of their last seven.

Only captain Alex Lees and York’s Jack Leaning made it beyond 20.

Lees hit 43 off 24 balls, including eight fours and a six over mid-wicket off Paul Coughlin’s seamers.

Leaning top-scored with 48 off 36, including six fours, but he fell with the last ball of the innings’ penultimate over.

A series of poor shots cost Yorkshire dear amid a helter-skelter display.

They were reasonably placed at 90-4 after 11 overs with Tim Bresnan and Leaning together, but they later lost their last six wickets for 32 runs in six overs.

Lyth hit the first ball of the match for four through the covers against Chris Rushworth, but shortly afterwards he was bowled by the same man attempting a huge yahoo across the line.

Kane Williamson was bowled trying to scoop Rushworth, who later completed career best figures of 3-14 from four overs when he had Rafiq caught and bowled off a top-edge sweep.

Lees and Leaning are the only men who can take any credit from the batting performance.

Lees hit three fours and his six off Coughlin in the fourth over and then hit Usman Arshad for four successive boundaries in the sixth to take the score to 53-2.

Leaning also played nicely, but he was fighting to hold the innings together for much of his stay at the crease.

This batting performance, albeit with different characteristics, rivalled the Worcestershire game at Headingley in the Royal London One-Day Cup earlier this month when Yorkshire were bowled out for 170.

Bresnan, Rafiq and Lyth, with his first ball in the sixth over, then all struck inside the power play to leave Durham at 38-3.

Bresnan had Phil Mustard caught at mid-on, Rafiq had Mark Stoneman caught at long-off and Lyth had England’s Ben Stokes, returning from a knee injury as a batsman only, brilliantly caught at cover by Williamson at the second attempt.

But Durham held on to win in front of the King and Queen of Lesotho, present due to their links with a member of Durham's commercial team. The king studied at Ampleforth College.

A youthful Yorkshire side host Pakistan A in a four-day friendly at Headingley, starting on Sunday.