Yorkshire reached the semi-finals of the Royal London Cup with an enthralling 11-run triumph over Kent after their all-star batting line-up had appeared to under-achieve on a difficult pitch. Their reward is a home tie against Surrey and their captain, Alex Lees, admitted: “The boys just got over the line.”
Liam Plunkett, man of the match with four for 52, and some clever bowling by Adil Rashid saw Yorkshire ultimately prevail against a Kent side who always looked a batsman short. Their captain, Sam Northeast, said: “We lost too many wickets in the first 20 overs after our bowlers had pegged them back really well.”
Kent, chasing 257, made a poor start when David Willey swung one into Daniel Bell-Drummond to have him obviously lbw. Joe Denly and Northeast then put on a spirited 50 for the second wicket. Northeast clouted Tim Bresnan over midwicket for six while Denly drove Steven Patterson over mid-on for another.
But then, in successive overs, Northeast turned Plunkett straight to short midwicket and Sam Billings was lbw to a nip-backer from Patterson. When Denly then skied an attempted pull off Plunkett to Willey at mid-on it looked all over for Kent, at 66 for four and a long tail to come.
But Darren Stevens and Alex Blake revived the innings with a stand of 86 in 13 overs. The left-handed Blake twice drove and then pulled Plunkett for three fours in as many balls. And when, in the next over, Stevens hit Rashid for four and six, Kent were suddenly in it again. Stevens then lifted Rashid for another six, behind square-leg, and Kent looked on target at 121 for four at the halfway stage of their innings. But Blake, whose solitary first-class century was against Yorkshire, in 2010, was then caught behind, swishing at Willey. He had hit seven fours and a six in his 38-ball 50. And Stevens’ heroic half-century was ended when Plunkett took a stunning left-handed return catch, the turning point of the match.
Matt Coles hit some lusty blows, striking Azeem Rafiq for 4, 6, 6. But he was stumped for 22 and Kent again looked out of it before James Tredwell and Charlie Hartley refreshed their ambitions, nudging away so 21 were needed off four overs, then 16 off three. But Willey ended it when he had Tredwell lbw.
Earlier Yorkshire’s star-studded cast appeared to have a nasty case of stage-fright when they were restricted to an old-fashioned looking total of 256 for nine, with Adam Lyth top-scoring with a patient 88. They would have expected to set a stronger target after welcoming back their England players Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Gary Ballance.
Their batsmen were frustrated by the way the ball failed to come on to the bat. And Kent deserved credit for their steady bowling, sound catching and ground-fielding. Root, typically, was acquisitive from the start but the Kent bowlers never allowed him to escape. He and Lyth put on 90 for the second wicket but then Root, who scored a 55-ball 45, pulled a short delivery from Hartley and picked out Blake, who took a well-judged running catch on the deep midwicket boundary.
When Bairstow was third out at 140, in the 28th over, a silence fell over visiting supporters. He had scored nine from 16 balls when, attempting to straight-drive Hartley, he chipped to Bell-Drummond at mid-on. Six overs later Lyth edged Coles to Billings behind the wicket and they were 191 for five in the 39th when Bresnan, who had survived a Coles beamer a little earlier, attempted to flick will Gidman to the leg-side but got a leading edge and popped the ball up to Northeast at mid-off.
Next ball Willey was given out caught behind down the leg-side, though he looked most unhappy with the decision.
Plunkett chipped the ball straight up in the air and Northeast took a simple catch at mid-off; 219 for seven. At 235 Ballance, sent back by Rashid as he attempted to come back for a third run, failed to make his ground and was easily beaten by Bell-Drummond’s throw.
Rafiz had his off stump flattened as he swung across the line but Rashid brought up the 250 when, off successive Mitchell Claydon balls, he straight-drove a four and swung a six over cow corner.
