Yorks beat Durham to maintain One-Day Cup momentum

Yorkshire players, in blue shirts, celebrate with spinner Kuldeep Yadav after the dismissal of Ben StokesImage source, SW Pix
Image caption,

Yorkshire's Finlay Bean (right) and team-mates celebrate the wicket of Durham's Ben Stokes

ByGideon Brooks
BBC Sport England
  • Published

Durham's unbeaten start to the One-Day Cup campaign came to a shuddering halt against Yorkshire, who made it four consecutive wins in the competition to move top of Group B.

Ex-England captain Ben Stokes fell cheaply as Durham struggled to 165 at York, with James Wharton and Sam Whiteman steering the home side to a comfortable seven-wicket victory.

Worcestershire moved up to third in the group with victory over Middlesex, while there were also wins for Derbyshire and Hampshire.

Rishi Patel scored a century as Leicestershire moved third in Group A with victory over Northamptonshire, while Kent claimed a dramatic win against Somerset and Surrey beat Gloucestershire in their day-night game to go fourth in the standings.

Stokes falls cheaply as Yorks cruise to win

Led admirably so far by Kasey Aldridge and boosted by the availability of superstar all-rounder Stokes, Durham have cut an impressive swathe through the first three rounds of the competition.

But after winning the toss and electing to bat at York, they were cut down in brutal style to post 165 in 48.1 overs as Ben Cliff (4-38) and overseas spinner Kuldeep Yadav (2-23) dominated, the latter dismissing Stokes for 12.

Yorkshire spluttered a touch early in their reply with Liam Robinson and Stokes striking to leave the hosts 5-2 in the third over.

But Will Bennison (36) steadied the ship with Wharton (68 not out) before the latter chased down the total with Whiteman (52 not out) to help Yorkshire to a seven-wicket win with 54 balls to spare.

Middlesex opener Josh de Caires is enjoying a fine tournament with both bat and ball having posted a career best 75 and 6-35 against Hampshire last week, and he raised his mark with the bat to 130 against Worcestershire as his previously unbeaten side posted 293-7.

Unfortunately for Ben Geddes's side he was unable to add a wicket as the Rapids judged their chase to perfection.

Brett D'Oliveira (50) ensured the hosts got their reply motoring, but it was Jake Libby with an unbeaten 109 and Henry Cullen (73) who combined for a 117-run partnership for the fourth wicket, leaving Worcestershire needing 70 from 57 balls.

Middlesex bagged two more wickets, but could not get the pivotal one of Libby as Worcestershire went third in Group B with Yorkshire's earlier win dropping Middlesex to second spot.

Essex opener Noah Thain continued his fine form with the bat in this competition by posting the second century of his campaign, but it was not enough to prevent Hampshire winning a second match to move up a place to fifth.

The 21-year-old sits second in the batting charts with 325 runs behind Yorkshire's Will Luxton (335) after his 109 here as Essex scored 317 in 49 overs after electing to bat first at Chelmsford.

However, Ashutosh Sharma, with 5-51, went one better to move top of the wicket-taking charts.

Hampshire were in good order in reply as captain Nick Gubbins (53), Fletcha Middleton (47), Tom Prest (51) and James Fuller (58 not out) all contributed in a total of 321-7, getting home with 14 balls to spare to win by three wickets.

In the other Group B match, Derbyshire posted a first win of the competition at the fourth time of asking, beating Glamorgan by 44 runs at Repton.

Wicketkeeper Brooke Guest hit an unbeaten 108 and was ably supported by Caleb Jewell (84) as Derbyshire posted 315-5 in 50 overs.

Zain-ul-Hassan (61) and Alex Horton (81) did their best to keep Glamorgan in the hunt but the latter's exit with 53 still needed from 28 balls removed all the wind from their sails. The last two wickets fell in the 48th over as the innings was becalmed.

Foxes stay in hunt after second Patel century

Rishi Patel beams with arms outstretched to celebrate his centuryImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Leicestershire opener Rishi Patel has two centuries in the competition this season

A second hundred of the campaign for Leicestershire opener Patel ensured the Foxes kept the heat on Group A pacesetters Lancashire and Nottinghamshire, moving into third place level on points with the top two but behind on net run rate.

Lancashire moved into pole position with a win over their nearest pursuers Notts Outlaws on Thursday night, but Leicestershire kept tabs with a victory over Northamptonshire that came at a canter despite the Steelbacks opting to bat after winning the toss at Wantage Road.

Ricardo Vasconcelos (46) and George Bartlett (66) continued their fine form with the bat, but Northamptonshire's 246 total never looked likely to be enough and so it proved with Patel launching a blistering attack on the home bowlers, bettering his 110 against Surrey in round two with a 115 in 61 balls with 13 fours and five sixes.

After the opener holed out at deep mid-wicket, Ben Mike (71 not out) and Hamza Sheikh (20 not out) brought home the win by eight wickets with 67 balls remaining providing a welcome boost to the net run rate into the bargain.

Kent pulled off a brilliant run chase at Canterbury to post their second win of the campaign, running down a formidable total of 313-9 from Somerset, by two wickets with eight balls to spare.

Savin Perera (75), captain Lewis Goldsworthy (87) and Joshua Thomas (60) looked to have help build a significant total for the visitors, but Kent captain Daniel Bell-Drummond (100) put the chase on track.

Ekansh Singh also provided a power-packed 40 from 20 balls, while an unbeaten 35 from 26 balls from Grant Stewart kept Kent on target.

Stewart hit the winning runs in company with Matt Milnes, who had earlier taken 3-53 as Kent moved from the bottom of the table to sixth spot.

In the day-nighter at Bristol, Surrey beat hosts Gloucestershire by 19 runs after successfully defending a total of 311-5.

Dom Sibley struck his first century of the competition with captain Rory Burns adding a 71-ball 89 as Surrey posted a solid score after being put in to bat.

In reply, Graeme van Buuren hit a belligerent 85 from 79 balls, taking up the charge at 123-4 and taking it to 275-9 before falling to Ralphie Albert with 37 still needed from 19 balls with just one wicket left.

Albert wrapped up the innings and the win with the wicket of Will Williams to finish with 3-48 as Surrey moved to fourth in the Group A table.