Bresnan in glorious failure

Chris Lewis had more luck with bat than ball on his Surrey comeback © Getty Images

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Defending champions Durham got their Friends Provident Trophy defence off to a winning start with a nail-biting five-run win over Yorkshire in the opening round of matches.

Yorkshire had Tim Bresnan to thank for almost completing a memorable comeback at the Riverside.

England paceman Steve Harmison returned figures of 2-40 from 10 overs to play his part, but batsman Neil McKenzie will take the plaudits.

He made a gutsy 77 in a total of 220 all out, with wicketkeeper Phil Mustard’s brief but entertaining 25 the next highest score.

Bresnan, who took 3-51 to top and tail the Dynamos' innings, then almost rescued the misfiring Yorkshire batsman with 55 at nearly a run a ball at number eight.

Only fellow tailender Ajmal Shahzad (33) offered real support but Graham Onions wrapped up the points with the penultimate delivery of the match as Bresnan holed out to Durham captain Dale Benkenstein.

England Test star Andrew Strauss helped himself to 163 in just 130 balls to help Middlesex defeat Surrey in the South/East division.

Strauss, who has not figured in England’s one-day side since the 2007 World Cup, shared stands of 133 and 98 with Ed Joyce (42) and Owais Shah (55) respectively.

Strauss found the Brit Oval boundary ropes 23 times and cleared them on four occasions in a total of 315 for six and the Brown Caps never looked likely to overturn it.

Gareth Berg took four wickets in the response, which subsided on 248 all out - 58 runs short of a revised Duckworth/Lewis target.

Opener Scott Newman hit 65 and veteran Chris Lewis, handed a surprise recall due to injuries to frontline bowlers, bludgeoned an entertaining 30.

At Canterbury, Kent made a brave attempt at an imposing run-chase but fell 31 short of Essex’s 317 for five.

A 181-run partnership between England all-rounder Ravi Bopara - whose fine early-season form continued with a brisk 99 - and centurion Mark Pettini (119) laid the foundations for victory.

Only Pakistani all-rounder Yasir Arafat really won the battle of ball versus bat with 2-39.

Martin van Jaarsveld shouldered much of the responsibility in response, hammering 62-runs in boundaries - including three sixes - on his way to 124.

But Andre Nel, Chris Wright and James Middlebrook each claimed two wickets to ensure no major partnerships were possible.

In the South/West division Somerset's former England all-rounder Ian Blackwell carved his way to a match-winning 86 not out against Hampshire at Taunton.

Blackwell shared in a 132-run stand with John Francis and smashed 11 fours and a maximum in a whirlwind 67-ball innings.

Francis chipped in with 48 not out in a winning total of 223 for four with 2.2 overs remaining.

Hampshire had earlier been dismissed for 221 with four balls of their 50 overs left - a total which was heavily reliant on some middle-order hitting by Nic Pothas (55) and skipper Dimitri Mascarenhas (53).

Gloucestershire also eased to a seven-wicket victory over Worcestershire at Bristol.

Kadeer Ali (63), Hamish Marshall (55) and Craig Spearman (64 not out) each hit half-centuries as the Gladiators coasted home with almost 15 overs to spare following Worcestershire’s below-par 221 for eight.

Ben Smith (75) and Daryl Mitchell (63) shared a century stand to help the visitors to a competitive total.

Bad weather meant Lancashire versus Derbyshire ended without a ball being bowled, as did Leicestershire against Northamptonshire and Warwickshire's home clash with Nottinghamshire.