Yorkshire Keep Hopes Alive With Double Win
Two wins from three games in the most recent round of games in the Metro Bank One Day Cup have kept Yorkshire’s hopes of progression to the knock out stages alive.
Following a home loss to Gloucestershire, the Vertu Motors-backed side welcomed Essex to Scarborough for a crucial match in Group B, which proved to be something of a rollercoaster affair that swung one way and then the other.
Yorkshire won the toss and elected to bowl first, which looked to be an inspired call when Essex lost three wickets for four runs early on to sit on 27-3.
Robin Das and Luc Benkenstein however then added 125 for the fourth wicket before Das fell for 67 to get Essex out of trouble somewhat, although another flurry of wickets saw the visitors then fall from 184-4 to 190-8.
A vital 34 run partnership between Simon Fernandes and Ben Allison took the score beyond 200, with Essex closing their innings on 243-9; Ben Coad and Ben Cliff both taking three wickets.
Yorkshire’s reply also started badly as openers Finlay Bean and Harry Duke were dismissed early on, before a partnership of 84 between Shan Masood and James Wharton helped to move the score into three figures.
Even though Masood was dismissed for 58 from 56 balls, Wharton’s knock of 71 helped keep the runs ticking over until he was seventh man out with the score on 184 – with Dom Bess hitting a half century to help Yorkshire to reach their target in an unbeaten stand of 60 with Coad.
Defending champions Leicestershire were next to visit Scarborough and this time it was the home side who would bat first – struggling early on in the innings and appearing to be in trouble when Will Luxton was dismissed to leave the score on 118-6.
Bess impressed again with the bat however and hit 60 in a partnership of 112 with Matthew Revis to help Yorkshire progress to 236-7 by the close.
Rain during the interval caused a near two hour delay before Leicestershire went in to bat, chasing a revised target of 150 for victory from 22 overs under the Duckworth Lewis Stern method.
Although Sol Budinger was removed early by George Hill, Ian Holland and Lewis Hill then went on the attack to put the visitors in control before Holland fell with the score on 62.
Lewis Hill and Ajinkya Rahane smashed a quickfire unbeaten partnership of 90 – with Hill hitting 71 from 54 balls – to take Leicestershire to their target with eight wickets to spare.
After two home ties, Yorkshire hit the road to take on Warwickshire in the penultimate group stage game in Rugby, with the home side bidding to add to an unbeaten record of five wins and one no result in six matches.
Yorkshire elected to bowl first and were indebted to the efforts of Hill as he produced a star performance with the ball.
Having removed Ed Barnard, Will Rhodes and Hamza Shaikh in an impressive first spell, he returned to the attack to secure a further three wickets late on and end up with figures of 6-28 from his ten overs.
Rob Yates was one of the batsmen not to be dismissed by Hill, instead being caught off the bowling of Revis as he top scored with 72 as Yorkshire were set 243 to win.
After Yash Vagadia was dismissed for one early in the reply, Luxton came to the crease and would prove to be the lynchpin of the innings as he hit an unbeaten 105 to help steer Yorkshire to victory by six wickets – aided by half centuries from both Duke and Revis.
It means Yorkshire can still hope to progress from the group stage with one game left to play.
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