Despite most of the group stages being dominated by Gloucestershire and Yorkshire, the One Day Cup Final at the end of September will be contested instead by Hampshire and Worcestershire.
When it really mattered, Gloucester’s wheels well and truly came off in Group A. Having lost their 100% record against Essex, their eight-pointer on Tuesday versus Hampshire also ended in defeat, by five wickets. James Bracey blazed his way to another century, but a rapid opening stand of 112 between Orr and Gubbins set the scene for a successful run chase. At the same time, Worcestershire cruised to a six-wicket win, grateful for Kashif Alli’s 58-ball 80. That meant Gloucestershire dropped from first to third while Jake Libby’s side sailed direct to the semis.
Group B leaders Yorkshire held their nerve to defeat Kent at Canterbury. James Wharton top-scored with 118 then, once Jayden Denly had been caught for 79 off Dom Bess, the home side struggled to make headway against spin. Bess ended on 4-43 but the coup-de-grace was applied by debutant seamer Matthew Firbank. Sussex’s Archie Lenham claimed 5-48 to end Warwickshire’s participation in the competition, but Somerset made no mistake against Northamptonshire, aided by Archie Vaughan’s maiden List A century. The other county in the hunt for progressing, Middlesex, had to work much harder to reach the top three. Chasing Lancashire’s 291 at Old Trafford, Harry Singh reduced them to 127-6 but the partnership of 126 between Morgan and Fernandes turned things around. The latter was caught in the final over with eight runs still required and the last pair at the crease. However, from the penultimate delivery, Noah Cornwell scored the winning runs and carried Middlesex into the quarter-finals.
That effort earned Middlesex a home tie against Hampshire and things looked positive when, in spite of Ali Orr’s 108, they restricted them to just 229-9. It didn’t last. The veteran Hants bowlers Kyle Abbott (2-38) and Liam Dawson (4-33) were instrumental in stemming the runs and taking wickets, eventually ending the innings 42 runs short. At Taunton, Gloucestershire were battered in their derby encounter with Somerset. Jake Ball bowled Bracey second ball and left their rivals all out for 159 with the wicket of Miles. The Rew brothers took charge of Somerset’s chase, which succeeded with eighteen overs to spare.
Even lacking several one-day experts, Somerset’s white-ball reputation
made them favourites against Worcestershire but it all went horribly wrong. Ben
Green and Jack Leach bowled well and the target of 266 wasn’t notably daunting.
Enter Khurram Shahzad with the ball. He had four of the top order caught, and the
rest of the batsmen fell regularly, sliding to a pathetic 141.
Yorkshire’s group stage supremacy also counted for nothing against Hampshire at Scarborough. Liam Dawson struck the week’s highest individual score (142), surpassing Harry Came’s 139 for Derbyshire, helping his county post a decent 304-6. When rain forced a reduction of nine overs, The White Roses must have fancied their chances, especially as Imam -ul-Haq in such imperious form. Indeed, he made 105 off 97 balls, his fourth ton of the tournament, but nobody else passed thirty, and they finished eighteen runs behind.
Next up for the men’s county outfits are the Blast quarter-finals and the return of the County Championship whose summer break has made me forget what the hell was happening. I look forward to having my memory jolted.
Team of the Week:- Orr (Ham), Came (Der), Imam-ul-Haq (Yor), Tribe
(Gla), Lammonby (Som), J Rew (Som +), Dawson (Ham), B Green (Som), Khurram Shahzad
(Wor), Lenham (Sus), Leach (Som)
