Worcestershire into semi-finals, Warwickshire eliminated; Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire earn play-off spots
Thursday 7 June 2018 22:45, UK
Moeen Ali starred with bat and ball as Worcestershire sealed a home Royal London One-Day Cup semi-final following a frantic one-wicket win over the now-eliminated Warwickshire.
Ali (114 off 75 balls) smashed a 64-ball hundred after taking 3-40 with his off-spin as the visitors reached their target of 293 with 4.2 overs to spare to cement top spot in the North Group - but only after a late wobble. SCORECARD
Worcestershire were in control at 272-5 but then lost Ross Whiteley (47), Ben Cox (80), skipper Joe Leach (four) and debutant Dillon Pennington (three) to slip to 288-9 during a madcap finish at Edgbaston.
However, Keith Barker's tumble in the outfield allowed Ed Barnard (13no) to steer the ball to the third-man fence to level the scores and the Worcestershire all-rounder then finished the game with another boundary.
Warwickshire would have qualified at Worcestershire's expense had they won but their defeat saw them slip to fourth, behind defending champions Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire, and out of the play-off spots.
Sam Hain scored 68 for Warwickshire before becoming one of Ali's three victims, leaving Tim Ambrose (75) and Will Rhodes (69) to rescue the Bears from 126-5 with a sixth-wicket stand of 133.
Young pacemen Olly Stone (4-71) and Henry Brookes (3-57) impressed for Warwickshire with the ball - Stone's wickets including Ali and the in-form Callum Ferguson (seven) - but Worcestershire squeaked home.
Nottinghamshire finished second in the North Group and Yorkshire third, meaning the sides will now host Kent and visit Essex respectively in the play-offs on Thursday, June 14.
Nottinghamshire thumped Derbyshire by eight wickets at Trent Bridge, skittling the Falcons for 110 in just 35 overs and then sealing an emphatic victory in just 11.5 overs, with Riki Wessels (63 off 34) and Tom Moores (41no off 28) hammering eight sixes and nine fours between them. SCORECARD
Jake Ball - called up to England's ODI squad to face Australia with Chris Woakes nursing a quad injury - bagged 4-29 during Derbyshire's innings, with off-spinner Matthew Carter snaring 3-19.
Yorkshire, meanwhile, beat Northamptonshire by four wickets, with David Wiley following up his hundred in the Roses clash on Tuesday with 71 and Gary Ballance (66) and Jonathan Tattersall (52no) also striking fifties as the Tykes topped their opponents' 241 all out. SCORECARD
Charlie Thurston's 53 on List A debut and some lower-order resistance from Graeme White (41no), Brett Hutton (30) and Rory Kleinveldt (29) saw Northants recover from 101-6, an in innings in which Willey took 3-41.
Plus, Leicestershire cantered to a five-wicket victory at home to Durham, with Cameron Delport's 122 and Colin Ackermann's 50 seeing the Foxes to their target of 241 with 5.4 overs in reserve. SCORECARD
Durham had earlier tumbled to 137-8 before Ryan Davies (61) and Barry McCarthy (43) put on 100 for the ninth wicket in the away side's 240 all out.
