The group stages of the Royal London One-Day Cup are now firmly consigned to the history books and the quarter-finals have been decided, but before we get to that stage, let’s look back on the 25 days of action which preceded the knockout stages. And while the final round of group games on Wednesday may have been a washout, there was still plenty to get excited about before then. Here are some of the best (and weirdest) bits:
Best Batting performance:
Some notable names in this category include the 39-year-old Paul Collingwood for his best ever List A score of 132 against Northants and Surrey’s Jason Roy for his 79-ball 108 in an opening stand of 195 with Steven Davies to beat Northants by 220 runs. This was surpassed two days later by Durham openers Mark Stoneman and Phil Mustard who put on 211 together in a seven-wicket win at Somerset. A mention must also go to Kent’s Sam Billings, whose 89-ball 118 was crucial to Kent beating Nottinghamshire by five wickets and Glenn Maxwell of Yorkshire, who hit 111 from 76 balls in a 133-run win over Worcestershire.
But the winner is Middlesex David Malan, who lit up Lord’s with four massive sixes in a thrilling 156 not out to help his side thrash Glamorgan by eight wickets.
Best Bowling performance:
There are some worthy candidates to choose from, such as Gloucestershire’s Craig Miles taking 4-29 from nine overs (including two maidens) in a rain-affected game against Yorkshire in Scarborough. Special mention must also go to Warwickshire’s Oliver Hannon-Dalby for his career-best List A figures of 5-27 in a nine-wicket victory over Glamorgan in Edgbaston while Middlesex deserve credit for bowling Hampshire out for 117 in a ten-wicket win at Hampshire, with Internationals Fidel Edwards and Jackson Bird among the wickets.
But the standout performance came from Worcestershire’s Joe Leach, who took a hat-trick with the first three balls of the match against Northamptonshire who were bowled out for 126 at New Road. However, it didn’t stop the hosts from losing by 21 runs after they were all out for 105.
Best all-round performance:
Lancashire’s James Faulkner impressed with 2-27 and a crucial 35 in an eight-wicket win over Middlesex in Blackpool. But the award goes to Essex and England’s Ravi Bopara who took 4-31 to reduce Lancs’ to 161/9 before hitting an unbeaten 101 to guide his team home by seven wickets.
Best match:
An unbeaten 94 from 54 balls by Glamorgan’s Chris Cooke helped his side to beat Kent by three wickets with two balls to spare while Gloucestershire secured a last-ball win over Derbyshire by six wickets via the Duckworth-Lewis Method. Warwickshire overcame Lancashire by three wickets at Old Trafford with a ball to spare while Middlesex defeated Sussex by three runs in Hove (DL method) in a high-scoring thriller.
All of these are worthy candidates but the most dramatic encounter came at Leicestershire’s Grace Road, where Gloucestershire sealed a one-run win with a direct hit from their captain Michael Klinger in the very last ball of the game to bowl them out for 314.
Most bizarre moment:
Hands down, it has to be the abandonment of Glamorgan versus Hampshire after the umpires deemed the Cardiff pitch “unplayable”. This occurred after Hampshire openers Michael Carberry and Jimmy Adams were both struck on the helmet by deliveries which rose up sharply on a good length.
This led to the game being called off after 6.4 overs of the second innings and after an inquiry, the Welsh side were forced to forfeit the match to Hampshire and in addition were deducted two points for preparing an “unfit” pitch on top of another two-point deduction for the state of their pitch during last year’s One-Day Cup, the same one as this year’s. This was despite Glamorgan completing the first innings on the same surface earlier in the contest but the pitch had obviously changed dramatically during the interval.
All of this sets us up nicely for the quarter finals, which are as follows: Notts – Durham (Aug 25, 14:00), Gloucs- Hampshire (Aug 26, 10:30), Essex – Yorkshire and Surrey – Kent (both Aug 27, 14:00).
