Royal London Cup: Durham beat Surrey to reach final after Alex Lees and Scott Borthwick star in chase
England's Ollie Pope bowled for six-ball duck on his Surrey return after being released from squad for the second Test against India; Mark Stoneman scores 117 as Surrey post 280-8 batting first; Durham chase it down with 15 balls to spare to book place in Thursday's final
Tuesday 17 August 2021 21:52, UK
Durham successfully chased 281 to secure their place in the Royal London Cup final against Glamorgan after defeating Surrey by five wickets at Emirates Riverside on Tuesday.
Alex Lees and Scott Borthwick notched scores of 75 and 71 respectively to provide the foundation for victory with a 119-run partnership for the second wicket.
David Bedingham (56 off 34 balls) then blasted a quickfire half-century to send his team into the final at Trent Bridge on Thursday, where they will aim to win a first trophy since 2014.
Earlier in the day, Chris Rushworth (3-49) claimed three early wickets to hand the hosts a perfect start. However, former Durham captain Mark Stoneman then scored a brilliant 117 for the visitors, while Jamie Smith notched a career-best 85 in Surrey's total of 280-8. But their efforts would prove in vain.
After winning the toss and putting Surrey in to bat, Rushworth capitalised on advantageous conditions and found Ryan Patel's (9) outside edge before producing a sublime delivery to bowl England's Ollie Pope for a duck.
Tim David arrived at the crease after scoring two centuries and a fifty in his last three innings. However, he was powerless against Rushworth, edging behind to Cameron Bancroft to fall for 3.
But Stoneman and Smith then dug in, with Smith the first to pass fifty, from 71 balls. Stoneman, meanwhile, survived a strong lbw appeal from Borthwick before working his way to his third half-century of the tournament.
The pair defied the home side with a stand of 155 to manoeuvre Surrey into position for a late assault and, although Borthwick (2-44) halted their progress by removing Smith lbw, Stoneman went through to his seventh List A century.
Stoneman was eventually run out for 117, but his effort gave the Surrey bowlers a competitive total to defend on a flat wicket.
In reply, Durham made a solid start thanks to Graham Clark (46), who dominated an opening stand of 64 with Lees before picking out Nico Reifer on the boundary.
Lees rebuilt patiently with Borthwick, with the former working his way to his sixth score of over fifty in the competition. The duo passed their century stand for the second wicket and the Durham skipper soon joined Lees in reaching a half-century.
David notched a vital breakthrough to dismiss Lees lbw and then spurned a caught and bowled chance to remove Borthwick and make it a double strike.
The Durham skipper eventually fell for a fine 71 to Matt Dunn, but his innings and partnership with Lees ensured the hard work was done.
Bedingham then all but powered the home side over the line with a 29-ball fifty before Cameron Bancroft (24no) struck the winning runs with 15 deliveries to spare to book Durham's first 50-over final in seven years.
Watch the Royal London One-Day Cup final between Durham and Glamorgan, live on Sky Sports The Hundred from 12.30pm on Thursday.
