Plunkett bowls Vikings to victory; Sangakkara stars in Surrey win
Thursday 18 August 2016 21:51, UK
Yorkshire's treble hopes remain alive after an 11-run victory over Kent in the quarter-finals of the Royal London One-Day Cup, at Canterbury.
Adam Lyth (88) top-scored as the visitors, bolstered by the return of Joe Root (45), Jonny Bairstow (nine) and Gary Ballance (37), scored 256-9 off their 50 overs.
Kent slipped to 66-4 in reply before Darren Stevens (54 off 74 balls) and Alex Blake (50 off 38) rallied with a fifth-wicket stand of 86 runs off 80 balls.
But the target proved just beyond the Spitfires as Liam Plunkett claimed 4-52, producing a stunning one-handed return catch to remove Stevens.
With England's one-day series against Pakistan starting on Wednesday, Bairstow took a painful blow on his right thumb during Kent's chase but opted to play on after having his hand strapped and seemed to suffer no ill-effects as he executed a superb stumping to remove dangerman Matt Coles.
Boasting eight internationals in their ranks, Yorkshire were well-set at 117-1 only for Root to hole out in the deep off Charlie Hartley, who then also picked up the prized scalp of Bairstow, who chipped a slower ball to mid-on.
Lyth's 96-ball knock ended when he pushed hard at a cross-seamer, trying to run Coles down to third man, and nicked behind and Yorkshire were wobbling at 191-5 when Tim Bresnan, looking to work to leg, got a leading edge and popped a simple catch to Sam Northeast at extra cover.
Worse followed for the Vikings as David Willey was adjudged to be caught down the leg-side to the first legitimate ball he faced from Alex Gidman - the all-rounder leaving the ground shaking his head at the decision after a magnificent take by Sam Billings.
Adil Rashid (24no) gave the innings late impetus with a 16-ball cameo and Yorkshire's attack kept up the momentum, Kent slipping to 66-4 when Joe Denly (31) skied a towering catch to Willey at mid-on.
Stevens and Blake redressed the balance and at 152-4 Kent were back in the hunt until Willey broke through, Blake nicking behind as he attempted to swat a short ball.
Plunkett then took successive return catches, the first a blinding effort to send Stevens back, and although the run-rate remained attainable, Kent could get not home - Rashid (2-43) trapping Hartley with a fine googly.
Yorkshire will now face Surrey in the semi-finals after a magnificent Kumar Sangakkara century earned the Oval outfit a tense one-wicket victory over Northamptonshire.
Sangakkara (130no) struck two sixes - one of them a scoop in the final over - and 11 fours to drag his side into the last four, hitting the final ball of the match for four to seal victory.
Northants were indebted to some late hitting from Rory Kleinveldt, who struck an unbeaten 76 off 62 balls to propel his side to 276 all out off 49 overs.
Josh Cobb hit 66 at the top of the order but the Steelbacks were consistently pegged back by Surrey's attack, led by Jade Dernbach (4-39) who knocked over Richard Levi (20) and Ben Duckett (seven) early on.
Skipper Alex Wakeley weighed in with 45 and then saw his side strike early as Richard Gleeson bowled Steven Davies for a duck.
Jason Roy (42 off 34) led the Surrey charge but Sangakkara lost partner after partner as Graeme White (2-46) and Cobb (2-28) chipped away at the middle-order.
Two run outs failed to help the cause of Surrey, who needed 12 off the final over with one wicket left but Sangakarra kept his cool, striking Azharullah for a maximum over the head of wicketkeeper Adam Rossington before driving the final ball past point to seal the win.
Watch the Royal London One-Day Cup semi-finals live on Sky Sports 2. Yorkshire take on Surrey on Sunday 28th August, while Warwickshire play Somerset on Monday 29th August with coverage of both matches beginning at 10.55am.
