Bears, Pears, Foxes, Durham & Derbys win in One-Day Cup

Warwickshire's Ed Barnard was the leading run scorer in last season's One-Day Cup

The One-Day Cup made an exciting return as runs flowed, centurions flashed their blades and there was plenty of local derby drama on show in the opening five group games of 2024.

Holders Leicestershire won a rain-hit East Midlands derby against Notts, while Durham shocked Lancashire in the War of the Pennines at Sedbergh, while Derbyshire made a near-miraculous escape as they rallied from 79-7 to reach 236-8 and win the day's lowest-scoring game against Northants at Wantage Road.

And two Eds were most definitely better than one for the two Midlands sides Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

Former Worcestershire all-rounder Ed Barnard hit a career-best 173 not out for Warwickshire as the Bears chased down at target of 325 to win comfortably by seven wickets at Essex.

Meanwhile, former Warwickshire opener Ed Pollock smashed 180 for the Pears as Worcestershire walloped Middlesex by 183 runs.

Group A - Pollock plunders win for Pears

Pollock had help from fellow opener Gareth Roderick (115) as a young Worcestershire side outclassed Middlesex.

Their opening stand of 259 in just 35.2 overs was the Pears' highest first wicket List A partnership against any opposition as they piled up 371-3 at Worcester, beating the 241 by Jack Haynes and Brett D'Oliveira against Essex at Chelmsford in 2021.

Pollock hit five sixes and 21 fours in his 180 off 138 balls, the second highest individual score in List A cricket for the county, bettered only by Australian Callum Ferguson's 192 v Leicestershire, also at Worcester, in 2018 - and matched by Tom Moody's 180 not out at The Oval four decades ago.

“If you get in, you want to go big," Pollock told BBC Hereford & Worcester. "Everyone has bad days but it’s about turning your good days into very good days."

Debutants Harry Darley, Tommy Sturgess and Jack Home, the latest product off the conveyor belt from neighbouring Shropshire, then took three wickets each as, despite 75 from Mark Stoneman, the visitors were bowled out for 188 in just 25.4 overs.

Ed Pollock's only higher score in men's cricket was 227 not out for Herefordshire in a Minor Counties game in 2015

Durham captain Alex Lees hit 111 as the visitors claimed an opening day win over Lancashire.

Durham made their sixth highest List A total of 344-4, with half-centuries also from Bas de Leede (72) and Colin Ackermann (59).

Josh Bohannon then top-scored with an excellent List A best 147 off 119 balls for Lancashire - but Ackermann and de Leede were on form with the ball too, equally sharing six wickets to bowl out the visitors for 287.

Zak Chappell's List A-best unbeaten 94 saved Derbyshire from defeat as they pulled off an incredible two-wicket win over Northants at Wantage Road.

Emilio Gay (59) and George Bartlett (50) each struck half-centuries in a partnership of 79 as the hosts totalled 235 and then looked well on course for victory as teenager Raphy Weatherall (4-50) sparked the initial collapse on his List A debut.

But, in a stand of 131 in 23.4 overs with skipper Ross Whiteley (65), paceman Chappell, who had earlier taken best bowling figures of 4-39, turned the game on its head with a record eighth wicket partnership.

Group B - Barnard at his best for Bears

All-rounder Barnard was once again the Warwickshire hero at Chelmsford as the Bears recorded their highest successful List A run chase to beat Essex.

Nick Browne (75) and Charlie Allison (69) helped the hosts, who only won One-Day Cup game last summer, post a challenging 324-7.

But, on the same ground where he hit his previous career-best 165 in the County Championship in May, Barnard made his unbeaten 173 off 140 balls, also surpassing his previous List A score of 161, aided by Rob Yates (42), Will Rhodes (41) and Michael Burgess (59 not out) as last year’s semi-finalists won with 14 balls to spare.

Leicestershire had the weather to thank as an extended rain-break left Nottinghamshire needing to come back out and score 55 runs from just 23 balls.

India Test star Ajinkya Rahane enjoyed a debut innings of 71 for the Foxes, supplemented by captain Lewis Hill (81) and Sol Budinger (75) before some late big hitting from Ben Cox and Ben Mike took them to 369-6.

But the rain intervened with Notts on 50-0 from 10.1 overs and, when they resumed after a two-and-half-hour stoppage, the revised Notts target was 105, off just another 3.5 overs.

Ben Slater and debutant Freddie McCann were both retired not out but Tom Scriven quickly settled it with his first two balls as he claimed the wickets of Jack Haynes – lbw – and Lyndon James, caught on the mid-wicket boundary, before Notts ground to a halt on 89-6 – 16 runs short.

This year's One-Day Cup format

This is the fourth season in which the English first-class counties' main one-day knockout final will be held away from Lord's.

The final will again be held at Trent Bridge on Saturday 22 September.

As in the three previous years, the top three sides from each group will get through to the knockout stages.

The two group winners will stage a home semi-final on Saturday, 18 August.

The two sides finishing second in the group will stage a home quarter-final on Thursday, 16 August against the two sides finishing third. The winners of each will face an away semi-final two days later.

Next up . . .

Thursday

Group B

Sophia Gardens: Glamorgan v Gloucestershire (11:00 BST)

The Oval: Surrey v Yorkshire (11:00 BST)

Friday

Group A

Southampton: Hampshire v Northamptonshire (11:00 BST)

Taunton: Somerset v Kent (14:00 BST)

Group B

Nettleworth: Nottinghamshire v Sussex (11:00 BST)

Leicester: Leicestershire v Warwickshire (14:00 BST)

Saturday

Group A

Derby: Derbyshire v Middlesex (11:00 BST)