Callum Ferguson
Callum Ferguson

Royal London One-Day Cup round-up as Worcestershire beat Northamptonshire


A round-up of Sunday's action from the Royal London One-Day Cup.

Worcestershire v Northamptonshire

Worcestershire took a sizeable step towards the Royal London One-Day Cup knockout stages as centurions Joe Clarke and Callum Ferguson powered them to a 34-run success over Northamptonshire at New Road.

The pair plundered 239 runs in 37 overs for the second wicket as the Rapids amassed 348 for five after winning the toss.

Ferguson is having a start to remember for his adopted county as the Australian batsman followed his record-breaking 191 against Leicestershire with an unbeaten 159, while Clarke made 122.

Northamptonshire, despite half-centuries from Rob Newton, Adam Rossington and Rob Keogh, were bowled out for 314 in the final over as the Rapids secured a fifth win in seven games in the competition.

Victory moved the Rapids level on points with North Group leaders Warwickshire, who they meet in a crunch derby encounter under the Edgbaston floodlights on Thursday.

Worcestershire elected to bat on what was the same wicket used for the highest successful run chase in English one-day cricket against Leicestershire on Tuesday.

England all-rounder Moeen Ali was bowled for a second ball duck by Ben Sanderson but the visitors had to wait another 37 overs for their next success as Clarke and Ferguson dominated proceedings.

It was the county's highest second-wicket partnership in List A cricket, surpassing the 208 by Vikram Solanki and Phil Hughes against Lancashire in 2012.

England Lions batsman Clarke and then Ferguson also went past Worcestershire's previous best individual List A score against Northamptonshire - 120 by Graeme Hick in 2007.

Clarke reeled off a succession of fine drives and went to his fourth List A century from 105 balls with a hook for four off Rory Kleinveldt. It included one six and eight other boundaries.

Ferguson soon followed him to three figures in four balls less than Clarke with the aid of 10 fours, and he celebrated by twice lofting Sanderson for straight sixes.

The stand was finally broken when Clarke holed out to deep mid-wicket off Graeme White and in the same over the spinner accounted for Ross Whiteley lbw for a duck.

But Ferguson continued to score freely and was given excellent late order support by Ben Cox (39) and Brett D'Oliveira (22).

The 33-year-old left the field to his second standing ovation in five days after plundering three sixes and 13 fours from 136 balls.

The visitors put on 34 for the first wicket at the start of their run chase before List A debutant Ricardo Vasconcelos (20) clipped Worcestershire skipper Joe Leach to mid-wicket.

Newton and Ben Duckett scored freely in a second-wicket stand of 79 in 12 overs with the former pulling Pat Brown over mid-wicket for six to reach his half-century from 45 balls.

But Moeen made a crucial breakthrough when Duckett (37) went for a reverse sweep and top-edged a catch to keeper Cox.

Then Newton, after making a run-a-ball 61 with two sixes and six fours, aimed a pull at Brown and also perished at mid-wicket.

Skipper Alex Wakely (40) and Rossington (63) kept the Steelbacks' hopes alive when adding 95 in 12 overs

But three quickfire wickets swung the game decisively in the Rapids' favour.

Ed Barnard bowled Wakely and had Rory Kleinveldt (nine) caught off a skier at point while in between Rossington miscued D'Oliveira into the hands of Leach running back from cover.

Saif Zaib (10) and White (11) perished as the run rate rocketed and in the final over Keogh (51) and Nathan Buck (10) holed out on the boundary off Charlie Morris.

Middlesex v Surrey

Tom Curran celebrated his latest England call-up by keeping alive Surrey's Royal London One-Day Cup hopes with a five-wicket win against Middlesex at Lord's.

While his younger sibling Sam enjoyed being part of an England Test win at Headingley, Curran was named in the national squad for the upcoming one-day international series against Australia.

And the 23-year-old underlined his potential in the white-ball format with a match-winning four for 33 as Surrey restricted the hosts to 234 all out - a target they made with some comfort thanks to Ben Foakes' 86.

Alec Stewart's men now need to beat Glamorgan in the last round of games and rely on favours from elsewhere if they are to make the knockout stages.

For Middlesex those hopes are all but over after a third successive defeat.

Home skipper Steven Finn opted to bat under cloudless skies at Lord's, only to see Nick Gubbins bowled off the inside edge by Morne Morkel with only eight runs on the board.

Stevie Eskinazi played more freely than in previous games, hoisting a big six over mid-wicket, but departed in Rikki Clarke's first over courtesy of a thin edge through to wicketkeeper Foakes.

Curran then took centre stage, striking twice in an over when first Eoin Morgan and then Hilton Cartwright gave Foakes two more victims to leave Middlesex 78 for four.

Paul Stirling raised his 50 amid the slump and found an ally in the shape of wicketkeeper John Simpson in a stand of 45, but the mini-revival was snuffed out when the latter drove Gareth Batty into the hands of Clarke at backward point.

And hopes of a sizeable target all but vanished when Stirling (67) chipped Will Jacks to mid-off.

The fact the hosts saw out their overs was down to cameos from Nathan Sowter (29) and Tom Helm (30), the latter bowled by Curran off the final ball of the innings.

With a total short of par Middlesex needed early wickets and Finn obliged trapping England opener Jason Roy lbw in the first over.

England discard Mark Stoneman and Jacks progressed with few alarms until an almighty mix-up in the eighth over saw the former comfortably run out.

And Jacks departed himself seven balls later when he sent an ugly swipe off Finn into the hands of James Franklin at mid-off.

At 44 for three the game was in the balance, but Rory Burns and Foakes, who had shared an unbeaten century partnership to beat Middlesex 12

months ago, pieced together a stand of 89 with increasing confidence.

Such was their control it was a surprise when Burns (40) was bowled by Ravi Patel attempting an ill-advised scoop, but with no scoreboard pressure Foakes and Ollie Pope (57 not out) produced a 98 stand.

And although Foakes perished with four needed, the visitors eased home with 11 balls to spare.

Glamorgan v Hampshire

Hampshire secured their place in the knockout stages of the Royal London One-Day Cup after beating Glamorgan by four wickets at Swansea.

An unbroken 85-run stand between Brad Taylor (54) and Gareth Berg (52) saw Hampshire chase down their target of 228 with more than six overs to spare.

Berg (three for 46) and Taylor (two for 51) had earlier also provided good support to Mason Crane (four for 46) as Glamorgan were bowled out for 227, with captain Colin Ingram top-scoring with 64.

The hosts, having been sent in on a slow St Helen's pitch, made a steady start with Nick Selman and Aneurin Donald putting on 48 for the first wicket.

That stand was broken when Donald pulled a short ball to mid-wicket in Berg's first over, and Selman fell not long after, nicking Crane behind with the score on 66.

The Hampshire leg-spinner, having been introduced in the 11th over, also had Kiran Carlson caught at backward point and, with Berg having snared David Lloyd caught and bowled, Glamorgan had lost suddenly four wickets for 35 runs.

Chris Cooke came and went for 12, becoming Taylor's first victim, as Glamorgan slumped to 120 for five before Ingram and Graham Wagg joined forces to repair some of the damage with some sensible shot selection.

Ingram reached his third half-century in this year's competition but, having struck five fours and three sixes and sharing in a 56-run stand with Wagg, he was caught on the mid-wicket boundary off a long hop from Crane.

The 21-year-old England Test cap took his fourth wicket later in the same over when Andrew Salter became one of three caught-and-bowled dismissals in the innings.

After Wagg was caught on the long-off boundary for 36 off Taylor, the tail wagged with Lukas Carey and Timm van der Gugten putting on 30 runs before Glamorgan were all out with eight balls remaining.

Needing to score at the relatively modest rate of four and a half an over, Hampshire lost Rilee Rossouw in Van der Gugten's second over, with Donald holding on to a steepler on the mid-wicket boundary.

James Vince soon made his intentions clear, advancing down the pitch to Carey and striking him for two straight boundaries, and when Ruaidhri Smith replaced his team-mate, he was punished with three fours in his first two overs.

Van der Gugten claimed his second wicket when Tom Alsop struck a short ball to mid-wicket, where Selman held on to a low one-handed catch, but Vince continued to attack.

However, after scoring 41 from 38 balls with six fours, he was trapped lbw attempting to turn Salter's off-spin to the on-side.

Following Vince's dismissal, Hampshire lost Jimmy Adams, Joe Weatherley and Lewis McManus to slip to 144 for six and give Glamorgan a glimmer of hope.

But that was ended by seventh-wicket pair Taylor and Berg, with the two all-rounders each scoring half-centuries to guide the South Group high-flyers through to the knockout stages.

Warwickshire v Leicestershire

Warwickshire maintained their challenge for Royal London One-Day Cup qualification by cruising to a nine-wicket win over Leicestershire at Edgbaston.

Jonathan Trott (102 not out) and Sam Hain (69no) eased the Bears to victory and handed the visitors a sixth successive defeat in the North Group.

The Foxes were punished for wasting first use of an excellent batting track. After winning the toss, they reached a relatively promising 135 for three in the 24th over but collapsed to 207 all out.

A strong total looked achievable while Mark Cosgrove (60 off 58 balls, including 10 fours) and Colin Ackermann, whose 57 came from 68 balls and included a six and seven fours, were together.

However, after Olly Stone dismissed Cosgrove the last seven wickets fell for 72 runs in 19 overs.

Stone took three for 44 and Aaron Thomason three for 45 before limping off with a side strain during his final over.

Warwickshire made light work of their small target. Ed Pollock smashed 33 from 18 balls before Trott and Hain added an unbroken 159 in 31 overs.

On a good pitch, Leicestershire hit early trouble at seven for two after captain Paul Horton steered Keith Barker to second slip and Neil Dexter sent a return catch to Stone.

Cameron Delport hit four successive fours off Stone but then skied a pull at Barker to leave the Foxes 31 for three.

Cosgrove and Ackermann got the innings going with a stand of 104 in 17 overs, Cosgrove passing 50 for the fourth successive match before hitting Stone to mid-off. Thereafter the innings tailed off dramatically.

Ackerman lifted Thomason for six over long-on then tried to repeat the blow next ball and only found the hands of mid-on.

Thomason dismissed Lewis Hill lbw, Tom Wells was trapped in front of his stumps by Jeetan Patel and Zak Chappell spliced a pull at Thomason to short midwicket as the visitors' challenge faltered.

After Stone rattled Dieter Klein's stumps with a yorker, last pair Callum Parkinson and Gavin Griffiths had 66 balls at their disposal. They used 24 of them before Parkinson's off-stump was knocked out by Henry Brookes.

When Warwickshire replied, Pollock and Trott put 50 on the board in 38 balls, the half-century brought up by six off Chappell for Pollock over fine leg.

Chappell soon got his revenge with a yorker into Pollock's stumps but Trott, whose runs came off 121 balls and included nine fours - and Hain, whose contribution came off 87 balls and contained five fours) were utterly untroubled.

Trott's second century in successive List A games was greeted by a standing ovation and he went on to escort his side all the way to a win which sets up a mouth-watering group finale against old rivals Worcestershire at Edgbaston on Thursday.

Durham v Nottinghamshire

Steven Mullaney smashed a career-best 124 and then took two key wickets as Nottinghamshire beat Durham by 31 runs in the Royal London One-Day Cup.

Notts' skipper guided his team out of trouble from 73 for five to a competitive total of 255, before he removed Michael Richardson (68) and Stuart Poynter in successive overs to spark a Durham collapse.

Victory leaves the holders on course for a quarter-final berth with one game left to play.

The visitors were inserted by Durham skipper Tom Latham, and Mark Wood got his side off to the perfect start by clean bowling Riki Wessels off the first ball of the innings.

Alex Hales struggled to get going and was caught looking to break the shackles by Richardson.

The introduction of Gareth Harte paid dividends as Tom Moores knicked off behind for 23, while Matt Dixon had Samit Patel caught at fine leg.

Ross Taylor looked in good form as he scored a brisk 25 but then played on to a Harte delivery to put the home side in the ascendancy.

Mullaney and Chris Nash were able to stabilise the innings by knocking the ball around the ground. The duo were steady in their approach, putting on a fifty partnership in 92 deliveries.

Ryan Pringle ended the stand with a turning delivery to dismiss Nash lbw for 40, while Billy Root followed cheaply.

However, Mullaney remained composed at the crease to notch his fifty before upping the ante towards the end of the innings.

The Notts skipper reached a century off 111 deliveries and pushed on in the final over to reach his highest List A score, hitting Dixon for three-straight sixes before he was caught by Richardson for 124.

The home side's reply began poorly as Cameron Steel edged behind to hand Jake Ball his 100th List A wicket.

Graham Clark and Richardson built a steady partnership, putting on 50 off 80 deliveries.

Samit Patel dropped Clark off his own bowling, but returned in the following over to dismiss the opener for 36.

Latham arrived at the crease with an attacking intent. He found found the rope four times and also scored a six, but was then out tamely to Nash for 28.

Will Smith joined Richardson in the middle and the in-form duo reached their fifty partnership at a brisk pace.

With 12 overs left, Durham required 80 runs and had seven wickets in hand, but Mullaney then struck twice in quick succession to swing the game.

Smith fell to Matthew Carter (four for 47) for 45 soon after, the first of five wickets for just 22 runs as Durham collapsed to a fifth defeat in seven games in the competition.

Derbyshire v Lancashire

Lancashire's hopes of qualifying for the knockout phase of the Royal London One-Day Cup ended despite a 25-run victory that dented Derbyshire's chances of emerging from the North Group.

Liam Livingstone's 86 from 73 balls and Jordan Clark's 51 from 40 balls took the Lightning to 290 for eight with Duanne Olivier taking two for 36 from nine overs.

Billy Godleman (73) and Ben Slater (46) put Derbyshire on course before Lancashire's spinners turned the game as the home side ended on 265 for eight, but results elsewhere put the Lightning out.

Derbyshire backed up their decision to bowl first with some disciplined bowling that restricted Lancashire to 42 from the first powerplay with Haseeb Hameed dropped at deep midwicket on two.

Hardus Viljoen found some late movement to have Hameed caught behind for 26 in the 13th over but Livingstone picked up the tempo by pulling Matt Critchley for six and then lifting Alex Hughes high over wide long on.

Hughes had Alex Davies lbw caught on the crease for 39 from 58 balls before Livingstone hit his third six when he pulled Critchley over the pavilion and into the car park.

A ramp over the wicketkeeper took him to 50 from 35 balls and Dane Vilas improvised well after surviving a difficult running catch on nine until he scooped Ravi Rampaul to deep cover in the 31st over.

Livingstone drove Viljoen straight into the stand and looked set for a hundred until he tried to ramp the fast bowler and was bowled in the 37th over.

The Lightning were in danger of falling short when Rob Jones missed a sweep at Wayne Madsen in the 40th over but Clark responded impressively to ensure they posted a competitive total by reaching 50 from 39 balls before edging a big drive at Olivier in the 48th over.

Godleman and Slater came into the game on the back of an opening stand of 182 at Northampton on Friday and they established another solid launching pad by taking 55 from the opening powerplay.

Godleman reached 50 from 48 balls and Slater brought up the century stand by driving Matt Parkinson for six but was beaten by the next ball and lost his middle stump.

Madsen survived a fierce return chance to Parkinson before he was run out after being sent back and, when Jones brought off a stunning diving catch at mid on to remove Hughes, the momentum was shifting towards Lancashire.

Derbyshire's progress had stalled against the spinners and Critchley's attempts to break free against Stephen Parry only ended in the hands of long off.

Godleman also fell to Parry and although Viljoen smashed four sixes in 34 ball 50, it could not save Derbyshire from a defeat that leaves them in fourth place with one game to play.

Sussex v Essex

Essex closed in on the knockout stages of the Royal London One-Day Cup after they chased a target of 282 to beat Sussex by four wickets at Eastbourne.

Tom Westley hit his fourth half-century in this season's competition to leave Essex sitting third in South Group with one game to play.

Westley had some luck along the way in his 88. Chris Jordan put down a difficult chance at slip when he had scored one and he was also dropped on 68 at long off by David Wiese.

The 29-year-old hit five fours and two sixes, adding 84 with Dan Lawrence to take Essex to within 35 runs of victory.

But there was a wobble for the visitors when Westley was unnecessarily run out after being sent back by Lawrence when he was halfway down the pitch and Jofra Archer bowled Lawrence for 36 in the same over.

Ravi Bopara was pinned by Wiese but by then Essex were only six runs short of their target, which they reached with 12 balls to spare.

Earlier, Laurie Evans had held Sussex's innings together with an unbeaten 107 - his second List A hundred. The Sharks were in trouble on 46 for three in the 11th over when he joined Harry Finch to put on 113 in 22.5 overs.

But they were forced to rebuild again when three wickets fell for six runs, including Finch for 56 who was stumped by Wheater off a wide, the first of two wickets in successive balls for Zaidi who then deceived Michael Burgess with an arm ball.

Sussex were 174 for six with 10 overs to go, but Evans found excellent support from Jordan and Archer as 107 were plundered.

Jordan made 35 at a run a ball before Archer hit out spectacularly with 33 from 15 balls including three sixes and two fours to the delight of a crowd of more than 4,000.

Evans reached his century in the final over when he belted Sam Cole to the mid-off boundary for his eighth four.

Wheater and Varun Chopra gave Essex's reply a good foundation with 86 in 14 overs before Jordan pinned Chopra for 33.

Wheater looked in good touch, hitting eight boundaries in his 60 off 62 balls and it was a surprise when he missed a reverse sweep at Briggs.

Archer had Zaidi (5) caught behind in the 38th over but Essex were well ahead of the required rate by then and on their way to an important victory.

Kent v Gloucestershire

Heino Kuhn and Joe Denly hit centuries as Kent swept aside Gloucestershire by seven wickets at Beckenham in the Royal London One-Day Cup.

Chasing 323 for victory, the Spitfires eased home with 21 balls to spare with Denly unbeaten on 109 after Kuhn made 113.

The victory, their fifth in the competition, moved Kent up to second place in the South Group.

Kent made a solid start to their pursuit, reaching 66 within their 10 powerplay overs before opener Daniel Bell-Drummond chipped a Craig Miles length ball to midwicket to go for 40.

With good running between the wickets Kuhn and Denly took the hosts to three figures in the 16th over to ensure they remained on track with the required rate.

Fresh from his maiden Kent hundred on this ground on Friday, Kolpak signing Kuhn continued his fine form with a 44-ball half-century with six fours and a maximum as Kent reached 164 for one at the half-way stage.

Denly posted his 50 from 61 balls as he and Kuhn beat Kent's second-wicket record for List A cricket of 131 set by Trevor Ward and Chris Cowdrey at Canterbury in 1990.

The experienced pair marched on, setting the highest List A stand for any wicket on the ground and then reaching 152 to pass Kent's List A best partnership against Gloucestershire recorded by Ed Smith and Matt Walker at the St Lawrence ground in 1984.

Kuhn notched the 10th List A century of his career by cutting his 90th delivery from Benny Howell to the ropes for his 11th four to go with two sixes.

Kuhn's fun ended when he just failed to clear the ropes at long-off where George Hankins held on to a good overhead chance to end a stand worth 186 in 28.1 overs.

Miles held a stunning low catch in his follow-through that accounted for Sam Billings cheaply and, with 64 required off the last 10 overs, Denly reached his second century of the competition from 104 balls.

While Denly continued to supply the finesse, Alex Blake provided the muscle with an unbeaten 44 as Kent romped home.

Gloucestershire, batting first after winning the toss, posted 322 for eight with Hankins top-scoring with 92.

Openers Chris Dent and Hankins added 132 before Darren Stevens, fresh from his career-best figures here on Friday, broke through to have Dent, on 63, well held at midwicket by a diving Calum Haggett.

Stevens struck again to have Howell caught at fine-leg when attempting to lap-sweep, then Gareth Roderick holed out to cow-corner to give leg-spinner Denly his only success.

Hankins was eight runs short of his hundred when he advanced looking to drive against Matt Henry only to york himself, lose off stump and depart after a 120-ball stay.

With wickets in hand and more than 13 overs remaining, the experienced pairing of Jack Taylor and Ian Cockbain went for their shots and upped the tempo.

Taylor took three sixes off a Mitchell Claydon over to reach a 37-ball 50 then Cockbain reached the milestone from 41 deliveries.

Taylor clipped to long-off in the penultimate over to go for 53, then four balls later, Ryan Higgins holed out to Sean Dickson on the ropes at long-on to give Haggett a couple of deserved wickets.

Two run-outs in the final over accounted for Cockbain and Tom Smith as Kent were left to chase at 6.46 an over.

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