DURHAM'S bubble was burst when they suffered their first defeat in three NatWest T20 Blast games last night, when their batsmen were stymied by a sluggish pitch at Leicester.

Their hectic schedule and the need to give Chris Rushworth a rest also caught up with them as they were beaten by eight wickets by a Leicestershire side who again look far better equipped for this form of cricket than the championship.

It needed an unbroken stand of 37 in 25 balls between Gordon Muchall and John Hastings to lift their score to 123 for five and Leicestershire got home with 4.3 overs to spare.

The decisive moment came when Durham thought smart work by Phil Mustard had seen New Zealander Grant Elliott stumped off Scott Borthwick for three.

After long deliberation the third umpire gave it not out and Elliott celebrated by driving Borthwick for a straight six as 20 came off the leg-spinner's third over.

His first two cost only nine as the Foxes kept just ahead of the required rate at 61 for two after 11 overs. But with Irish big hitter Kevin O'Brien also driving Borthwick for six in that costly over and following up with two maximums off successive balls from Ryan Pringle the end came swiftly.

Until the end was in sight, this was another example of the pitch being counter-productive as the authorities try to attract a new audience to what is supposed to be a Blast. The turgid surface was hardly conducive to batsmen clearing the ropes.

There were no sixes and only 13 fours in the Durham innings, six of them by Phil Mustard, who top-scored with 45 off 43 balls before joining the list of those who succumbed to their own desperation.

Durham will surely have to consider pushing Hastings further up the order as his unbeaten 21 came off 13 balls after Pringle made one before skying a catch to long-off.

Hastings' fellow Australian Mark Cosgrove quickly showed what could be achieved when he drove Paul Coughlin over long-on for six in the third over of the reply.

Coughlin, who had replaced Rushworth, conceded 12 in that over then dropped Cosgrove on 20 before catching him at deep mid-wicket off Usman Arshad.

But the left-hander had set his side well on the way with 29 off 23 balls and O'Brien finished it with 48 off 34, while Elliott had 34 off 23 .

Leicestershire bowled well after a poor first over by occasional off-spinner Neil Pinner, which brought 15 runs off the first five balls. They tightened up immediately through ex-Durham all-rounder Ben Raine and left-arm medium pacer Rob Taylor.

Only eight runs came off the next four overs and Taylor, who has played for Scotland, went on to include 15 dot balls in conceding only 15 off his four overs. Raine's four cost 21 and off-spinner Jigar Naik saw his first ball reverse-swept for four by Mustard but conceded only a further 15 runs in bowling his full allocation.

Having won their first two games when batting first, Durham chose to do so again and made a cracking start as Pinner was not helped by some sloppy fielding.

Mustard was gifted a four off the first ball and then took a sharp single which also brought two overthrows.

Mark Stoneman cracked two fours through the off side, but it was a further five overs before Durham found the boundary again when Mustard hit Raine, his fellow Wearsider, through point.

After making a rapid start in the first two games, Calum MacLeod was unable to adjust to the pitch and made only seven off 13 balls before he attempted a scoop to fine leg and lobbed a catch to backward point.

That brought in Paul Collingwood at 41 for two in the ninth over, but he also struggled to get going and made three off 11 balls before he went down the pitch to Naik and skied a catch.

Mustard flat-batted a catch to long-off in the 15th over, which began with Kevin O'Brien bowling the only wide of the innings.

Pringle followed in the next over and only the 18th proved really productive as Muchall cut Clint McKay's first ball for four and Hastings twice found the mid-wicket boundary.

There were no boundaries in the last two overs, bowled by Raine and McKay, but Muchall still got to 31 off 27 balls, which probably reassured Leicestershire that sensible batting would see them home.