South Group pair Hampshire and Kent secure their places in the Royal London One-Day Cup knockout phase, while Worcestershire and Warwickshire set up qualification showdown meet
Monday 4 June 2018 15:34, UK
South Group table toppers Hampshire booked their place in the Royal London One-Day Cup knockouts stage after defeating Glamorgan by four wickets.
Captain James Vince (41) got his Hampshire side off to a good start in their reply to Glamorgan's 227, however, frequent wickets meant an unbeaten seventh-wicket stand of 85 was needed to see them cross the line.
Brad Taylor (54) and Gareth Berg (52) - who had earlier taken 2-51 and 3-46 respectively - guided them to victory, with leg-spinner Mason Crane also proving pivotal with the ball, picking up 4-46 in Glamorgan's innings.
Kent also sealed a qualification spot with a seven-wicket win over Gloucestershire.
Their fifth consecutive victory in the competition, Kent had Heino Kuhn (113) to thank again as he struck a second successive century.
Set 323 to win, Kuhn and Joe Denly (109 not out) put on 186 for the second wicket, as Kent won with 21 balls left in their innings.
Kent now have the opportunity to take top spot in the South Group and automatically qualify for the semi-finals if they are victorious against Essex on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Essex put an end to Sussex's hopes of reaching the knockout stage and gave their own aspirations of reaching the next qualifying stage a boost after winning by four wickets.
Laurie Evans put Sussex into a decent position with his first hundred of the season, stroking 107 not out from 117 balls to lead his side to 281-7.
But Tom Westley (88) and Adam Wheater (60) ensured Essex had a relatively straightforward finish, concluding the chase with 12 balls to spare.
The result leaves Essex third in the table, knowing they must beat Kent to guarantee themselves a spot in the knockouts.
Surrey defeated London rivals Middlesex by five wickets to give them a slim chance of the knockouts.
Electing to bat first, Middlesex could only manage 234 as England's Tom Curran took his second consecutive List A four-wicket haul, finishing with figures of 4-33.
Surrey negotiated an early hiccup, after being reduced to 44-3, to comfortably win, Ben Foakes (86) and Ollie Pope (57 not out) seeing them home.
Callum Ferguson continued his sensational start for Worcestershire with another hundred to help them beat Northamptonshire by 34 runs and go top of the North Group.
Having introduced himself with an incredible 192 on debut last Tuesday, the Australian batsman then smashed an unbeaten 159.
Ferguson joined Joe Clarke (122) two balls into the match after the dismissal of Moeen Ali for a duck, and the pair went on to hit a club-record second-wicket stand of 231.
Northamptonshire tried hard to keep up with the run rate but three quick middle-order wickets proved decisive and Worcestershire ran out winners.
The victory leaves Worcestershire in a battle with rivals Warwickshire for the No 1 spot and a qualification place when they face each other on Thursday.
Warwickshire moved to within one win of securing their place in the knockout stages with a comprehensive victory over Leicestershire.
Former England batsman Jonathan Trott (102) struck an unbeaten hundred to secure an impressive nice-wicket win at Edgbaston.
Leicestershire were restricted to 207 after winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Mark Cosgrove (60) and Colin Ackerman (57) the only two to score half-centuries.
In reply, Trott then put on an unbroken second-wicket stand of 159 with Sam Hain (69 not out) to complete Warwickshire's chase and record his second century in three days.
Holders Nottinghamshire kept their hopes of progressing in the competition alive after defeating Durham by 31 runs.
Captain Steven Mullaney bashed a career-best 124 to guide his side post a competitive total of 255 having been reduced to 73-5 inside 16 overs.
Durham then looked on course to win the match when they reached 177-3, but the intervention of Mullaney again, removing Michael Richardson (68), began a collapse that saw seven wickets fall for just 48 runs.
Young spinner Matt Carter took 4-47 to bowl Durham out for 224 and leave his side in the final qualifying spot with one game to go.
Elsewhere, Derbyshire dropped to fourth having started the day top of the North Group, after Lancashire beat them by 25 runs.
Put in to bat, captain Liam Livingstone top-scored with 86 as Lancashire made 290-8 from their 50 overs.
Despite a 100-run opening stand, Derbyshire found it tough in reply, regularly losing wickets before a late hit from Hardus Viljoen (50 not out) gave them a slim hope of victory.
However, he ran out of overs as Derbyshire finished on 265-8, leaving them needing to beat Notts on Thursday to ensure they reach the knockouts.
