Durham ended the group stage of the Royal London One-Day Cup in fine style, winning all three fixtures this week. The first proved decisive, as the two-wicket defeat of closest rivals Essex ensured they topped the group and therefore sail straight into the semi-finals.
Alex Lees struck a fine unbeaten 126 in that match, while fellow opener Graham Clark’s run-a-ball 141 did the job against Hampshire. He is easily the tournament’s top scorer so far, with Lees right behind him. Dutch all-rounder Paul Meekeren and the evergreen Chris Rushworth starred with the ball. Essex didn’t have a bad week either. Batsmen at very different stages of their career ere in prolific mood. Sir Alastair Cook reached three figures in the tied match against Sussex while the 22 year-old from Whipps Cross, Feroze Khushi enjoyed successive knocks of 109 and 77. Ryan Ten Doeschate also rolled back the years, taking 4-34 against Sussex, eighteen years after his county debut.
Lancashire completed the week with the third highest points tally but, following their void fixture with Covid-hit Derbyshire, Gloucestershire progress with a fractionally superior points per match figure. Their comprehensive defeat of bottom-side Kent was aided by an unbeaten third-wicket stand between Chris Dent and Graeme van Buuren. However, the highest partnership of the week was the 219 shared by Sussex pair Ben Brown and Tom Haines in the entertaining contest with Middlesex at Hove. Chasing a formidable 333, the visitors gave it everything at the end but they fell just three runs short.
In Group 1, Somerset totally blew it, slipping from second to seventh thanks to three consecutive losses. I guess I won’t be heading for London to see them defend their title this year. They didn’t even play against any of the counties who did qualify for the knockouts. Glamorgan, Surrey and Yorkshire each ended up on ten points. The Welsh side topped the group, thanks largely to their demolition of Nottinghamshire who they bowled out for 73. Joe Cooke, Michael Hogan and James Weighell all look in good nick with the ball. If Nigel Selman could get more support amongst the top order, Glamorgan could be serious contenders.
Surrey’s Ryan Patel and Tim David have certainly seized their opportunities in this competition. Both aggregated almost 200 runs this week, including a ton apiece. The most spectacular innings came from Singapore-qualified David, whose 70-ball 140 not out against Warwickshire included nine fours and eleven sixes! South African paceman Conor McKerr’s 3-43 at Derby advanced his wicket total to a tournament-leading sixteen. Yorkshire completed the ‘quarter-final’ line-up after edging Glamorgan by four runs a Cardiff on Thursday.
They now meet a formidable-looking Essex while Surrey host Gloucestershire. The knockouts chase to a conclusion on Thursday when the first trophy of the domestic season will be decided. I think Essex will take some beating, but Surrey should be second-favourites.
Team of the
Week: Clark (Dur), Lees (Dur), Swindells (Lei +), R Patel (Sur), David (Sur),
Khushi (Ess), Ten Doeschate (Ess), Van Meekeren (Dur), Mike (Lei), J Cooke (Gla),
Rushworth (Dur)
