YORKSHIRE kept their chances of reaching the quarter-finals of the T20 Blast alive as they beat Durham by five wickets thanks largely to a superb innings from Jonny Bairstow.

The Vikings chased down Durham’s total of 191-6 with seven balls to spare as the wicketkeeper’s remarkable recent form continued as he smashed eight fours and four sixes on his way to 92.

Jack Leaning and Tim Bresnan then saw the Vikings home with some lusty hitting as the Headingly outfit won their fourth match of the North Group campaign.

Having lost the toss and been invited to field first by Durham skipper Mark Stoneman, the Vikings got off to a superb start as Glenn Maxwell picked up two wickets in the opening three overs.

The Australian all-rounder got rid of Phil Mustard as he picked out Jack Leaning on the mid-wicket boundary before Stoneman edged to Tim Bresnan at slip for just a single.

Paul Collingwood fared little better as he pulled Will Rhodes’ second delivery straight to Bresnan for five, and when Michael Richardson offered a return catch to Adil Rashid the Jets were floundering on 49-4.

Gordon Muchall settled the visitors as he and Graham Clark shared in a stand of 56 for the fifth wicket before the former was well stumped by Bairstow off the bowling of Rashid for 18.

And the Yorkshire wicketkeeper continued an impressive display behind the stumps as he held onto a superb one-handed catch to dismiss Usman Arshad as he looked to reverse-sweep Matthew Fisher to the boundary.

That wicket brought John Hastings to the crease, however, and he thrashed his way to an unbeaten 43 from just 12 balls as he and Clark put on 57 for the seventh wicket.

Clark – who was dropped twice by debutant Josh Shaw and Aaron Finch - eventually finished on a career-best 91 not out as he hit 14 fours and a six in just his third senior outing for the Chester-le-Street outfit as they set Yorkshire 192 to win.

The Vikings got off the worst possible start to their chase as Finch was caught well on the mid-wicket boundary by Scott Borthwich off the bowling of Hastings from the first ball of the innings.

And captain Andrew Gale fared little better as edged Hastings through to Phil Mustard for just nine before Alex Lees fell in similar fashion to Arshad for seven.

Bairstow and Maxwell settled things slightly as they added 38 for the fourth wicket, but the latter was unable to unleash some of his trademark strokes before being bowled by Scott Borthwick for 16.

From there, though, Bairstow took over as he and Leaning ran brilliantly between the wickets while finding the boundary regularly.

Bairstow went through to his half-century from 27 balls with a six as he and Leaning put on 97 for the fifth wicket and brought the hosts within touching distance.

The wicketkeeper eventually fell for 92 as Arshad picked up his second wicket, but Bresnan joined Leaning and hit two successive sixes to see the home side over the line.

Leaning finished unbeaten on 39 from 31 balls while Bresnan continued his own good batting form with 24 from just eight deliveries as he hit two fours as well as the brace of maximums to secure victory.