One-Day Cup: Hampshire beat Lancs to maintain winning Group B start, while Middx top Group A
- Published
Scott Currie's burst of three wickets in four balls for Hampshire played a big part in limiting Lancashire to just 183
Hampshire won a 13th successive game in all competitions as the T20 Blast winners repeated last month's Edgbaston triumph against Lancashire to maintain their 100 per cent One-Day Cup start.
On a day of nine centurions, six 300-plus scores and three double-century stands, the Hants-Lancs Group B table-topper served up the lowest score.
But Toby Albert's match-winning 65 not out helped Hants win by two wickets.
They top Group B, while Middlesex won a thriller at Taunton to top Group A.
Chasing winless Somerset's 335-6, Middlesex got home by one wicket with just four balls to spare.
With three games left for most teams before the knockout stages begin on 26 August, Middlesex are top on eight points, thanks to a better run rate than Leicestershire, who have also won four of their first five games, with Sussex, Notts and Gloucestershire all two points behind on six.
In Group B, Hampshire have 10 points, three clear of second-placed Lancs, while Yorkshire, who have a game in hand on six points from four games, going into their next three successive away matches, against Essex, Kent and Derbyshire.
Group A
Middlesex kept their nerve to win by one-wicket at Taunton as they condemned Somerset to a fifth consecutive group defeat.
Somerset's 335-6 was centred on a double century stand for the second wicket between teenager James Rew, who hit 114 off 120 balls, his maiden List A century, and Australian Matt Renshaw (120).
But experienced South African Pieter Malan hit 110, backed by Sam Robson (76) and Max Holden (71) as the visitors survived a last-over run-out with the scores tied to win on 336-9.
Second-placed Leicestershire also made it four wins out of five as they beat Warwickshire to end the Bears' unbeaten start.
Another fine innings from Louis Kimber helped the Foxes post 338-8 at Leicester before then bowling out the visitors for 207.
Kimber hit three sixes in his 78 off 68 deliveries, as he added a second half-century to the ton he made against Somerset two days earlier.
Helped by another disciplined bowling display, led impressively by former Bear Chris Wright, who took 3-29, the hosts won comfortably by 131 runs.
Sussex picked up their third win in four games as they hammered Surrey by 216 runs at Hove.
Sussex's victory was built on the biggest total of the day, 378-6, largely constructed by a third-wicket stand of 205 between Tom Clark (104) and Cheteshwar Pujara, who hit 174, his second ton in successive matches = and also surpassing David Wiese's 171 against Hampshire in 2019 as the highest List A score for the county.
Sussex's India Test star Cheteshwar Pujara is averaging 91.75 in five One-Day cup matches this season
Nottinghamshire also enjoyed their third group win as they beat pointless Durham at Grantham.
England Lions spinner Liam Patterson-White took 5-45 as Notts bounced back from consecutive defeats.
Liam Trevaskis top-scored with 59 not out as Durham were bowled out for 226, before Matt Montgomery made 54 as Notts reached 227-8 to win by two wickets with two overs to spare.
Durham's fourth group defeat came on top of Saturday's announcement that they have been deducted two points for repeated disciplinary offences, which wiped their points total back to zero - and leaves last year's beaten finalists now out of contention to qualify for the knockout stages with three games remaining.
Group B
Something had to give at Southampton in the meeting of first against second as T20 holders Hampshire took on Lancashire in a repeat of their Finals Day meeting in Birmingham four weeks ago.
Lancashire won the toss but made a nightmare start when they slumped to 7-3 inside the first 26 balls - without a single run off the bat.
Keaton Jennings and Josh Bohannon were both caught behind off John Turner, either side of Luke Wells lofting a skier to cover point off Jack Campbell, all without scoring - the first three of five ducks in the innings.
Skipper Steven Croft repaired some damage in a 119-run stand with Rob Jones. But, when Campbell yorked him for 47, Lancs slumped from 126-3 to 183 all out.
Jones (84) was the first of three wickets in four balls for Scott Currie before Turner returned to claim the scalps of George Lavelle and Liam Hurt, the only other Lancs man to make double figures, to finish with 5-25, his maiden professional five-wicket haul.
Having slumped to 67-5, then 128-7, it looked as if Hampshire would fall short but, on the back of his match-winning 84 against Derbyshire on Friday, another nerveless effort from 20-year-old Albert got Hampshire home with 10 balls in hand - the County Championship hopefuls' 21st win in 23 games, in all forms of the game.
Teenage leg-spinner Luc Benkenstein ended with 6-42 in only his third List A game for Essex
Teenage leg-spinner Luc Benkenstein took six wickets in 36 balls as Essex beat Glamorgan at Chelmsford to earn a second straight win and sentence the One-Day Cup holders to a third straight defeat.
Chasing Essex's total of 341, the 17-year-old son of former Durham and South African all-rounder, and now Gloucestershire coach, Dale Benkenstein, had not taken a wicket for Essex's first team when he came on to bowl in the 22nd over with Glamorgan on 151-2.
But he took five wickets in as many overs, including the key scalp of Sam Northeast for 70 off 81 balls.
After opting to bat, Essex's imposing total had earlier been underpinned by a second-wicket partnership of 203 - a record for any Essex wicket in the competition against Glamorgan - between Feroze Khushi and Tom Westley, who both made 104.
Ben Compton hit 87 to help steer Kent to a four-wicket win over Northamptonshire at Canterbury.
After bowling out the visitors for 210, Kent got to 213-6 with seven overs to spare, to end a run of three straight defeats with only their second victory.
The relatively modest Northants total, in which Emilio Gay top-scored with 49 was largely down to Afghan off-spinner Hamid Qadri, who took 4-36 and ran out Rob Keogh.
Derbyshire opener Luis Reece hit a List A best score of 136 to help beat Worcestershire by 47 runs at New Road - and hand the Pears their fifth straight defeat.
Reece surpassed his previous best total of 128 - also against Worcestershire at Derby three years ago - as his side amassed 312-9, well supported by skipper Shan Masood (63) and Anuj Dal (46).
But despite Jake Libby's unbeaten 126, the hosts were bowled out for 265.
Wednesday's fixtures
Group A:
Durham v Sussex (Chester-le-Street)
Gloucestershire v Leicestershire (Bristol)
Surrey v Somerset (The Kia Oval)
Warwickshire v Nottinghamshire (Edgbaston)
Group B:
Derbyshire v Kent(Derby)
Essex v Yorkshire (Chelmsford)
Glamorgan v Lancashire (The Gnoll, Neath)
Northamptonshire v Worcestershire(Wantage Road)