Stokes return not enough for Durham

The inclusion of England allrounder Ben Stokes wasn’t enough to see Durham advance in the England domestic Twenty20 finals on Friday.

Stokes was made available to play as a specialist batsman for Durham in their quarter-final against Sussex, having initially been ruled out of the match at Chester-le-Street after suffering minor discomfort in his left knee during England's 203-run defeat by India in the third Test at Trent Bridge which concluded Wednesday.

SCORES: Durham v Sussex, quarter-final

He made a promising start after Durham elected to bat and helped his team reach 1-66 in the seventh over, but he couldn’t continue with his onslaught, trapped lbw for 34 (24).

Following his dismissal the hosts faltered, stifled by Sussex spinners Will Beer and Danny Briggs.

The pair took 4-36 between them as the Jets were restricted to 7-140.

Two early wickets had Sussex wobbling early in reply, but an excellent stand between Delray Rawlins (42 off 29) and Laurie Evans (63no off 47) put the visitors back on track as they reached their target in the 19th over with five wickets in hand.

Stokes was recalled by England at Trent Bridge just days after his acquittal on a charge of affray following an incident outside a Bristol nightclub in September last year.

On Thursday he retained his place when the squad was announced for the fourth Test at Southampton starting on August 30.

James Faulkner’s Lancashire outfit is also through to the T20 semi-finals after winning the first quarter-final on Thursday night, eliminating a Kent side featuring Marcus Stoinis.

In the other quarter-finals, Worcester play Gloucester on Saturday, and Somerset against defending champions Nottinghamshire on Sunday.