LONDON, Friday - Essex opener Varun Chopra compiled his one-day best 160 to help his side to their second One-Day Cup win in four games against Somerset at Chelmsford.
The cornerstone of Essex’s total of 313 was the 141-run fourth-wicket stand Chopra shared with Ravi Bopara (73). Roelof van der Merwe (61 off 54 balls) and Peter Trego (50) both hit half centuries, while Tom Banton made 40.
But Somerset fell short, being bowled out for 273 to lose by 40 runs, Shane Snater taking a ‘List A’ best 5-60. Zimbabwe-born Netherland international Snater’s efforts came on his home debut, in only his second game for Essex, having gone for 38 runs off just 4.2 overs in the six-wicket defeat by Hampshire on Wednesday.
Chopra’s innings has been bettered by only one other batsman in the competition so far this season, Yorkshire’s Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who made 164 against Durham a week ago.
Only five Essex batsmen, record holder Bopara (201*), Graham Gooch (three times), current captain Ryan ten Doeschate, Ken Mcewan and Nasser Hussain have scored more in an innings for the county in 55 years of limited-over cricket.
Paul Stirling hit his second One-Day Cup century of the summer as Middlesex beat Sussex by 74 runs at Hove.
The Ireland batsman made 116, despite needing a runner because of a thigh problem, as Middlesex posted 288-4. He shared an opening stand of 198 with Nick Gubbins (86) so their total was lower than they might have expected.
Sussex, though, lost wickets regularly in their reply and although David Wiese made 57 Ravi Patel took 4-54, as they were all out for 214 in the 44th over. The win was Middlesex’s third in a row after beginning the group stage of the competition with defeat by Essex.
Kent captain Joe Denly starred with bat and ball as they earned their first One-Day Cup win of the summer by beating Glamorgan by four wickets.
Denly hit 17 fours and two sixes in an imperious Kent record 150 not out off 143 balls, sharing a stand of 88 with Alex Blake (41) as they reached 278-6. Nick Selman anchored Glamorgan’s innings with a career-best 92 off 125 balls in a total of 274. But Denly’s leg-spin claimed key wickets as he finished with 4-56.
Glamorgan are now effectively out of contention for the knockout stages after four successive defeats.
Derbyshire beat Leicestershire by five runs after a thrilling finish to a rain-affected One-Day Cup contest.
With the match reduced to 33 overs a side after bad weather in Derby, Billy Godleman’s 64 and 49 from Gary Wilson helped the hosts to 211-9.
Leicestershire’s reply started well at 58-0, but regular wickets left them needing 38 from the last two overs. Two fours and two sixes from Tom Wells (49 not out) took the game to the final ball, but they fell short on 206-7.
Wells needed to hit his third six in the over from the last delivery, but Ravi Rampaul bowled a dot ball to win it for the home side.
Durham beat Worcestershire by nine runs via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method, despite earlier totalling only 209 in 45.2 overs at Gosforth.
The hosts had been well set on 55-1, but the loss of opener Cameron Steel for 18 sparked a collapse. Only Michael Richardson’s 64 and 48 from Gareth Harte guided them beyond 200, with Charlie Morris taking 4-33.
Worcestershire recovered from 40-4 to 82-4 before the rain arrived - but they were nine runs short on the DLS method.
English county cricket scores:
ONE-DAY CUP
GROUP A
* At Derby: Derbyshire 211-9 (B Godleman 64; V Aaron 4-31) v Leicestershire 206-7
Derbyshire (2pts) beat Leicestershire (0pts) by 5 runs
* At Gosforth: Durham 209 (M Richardson 64; C Morris 4-33) v Worcestershire 82-4
Durham (2pts) beat Worcestershire (0pts) by 9 runs (D/L Method)
* At Blackpool: Lancashire 50-1 v Warwickshire
No result (rain)
* At Headingley: Yorkshire 22-1 v Nottinghamshire
No result (rain)
GROUP B
* At Chelmsford: Essex 313 (V Chopra 160, R Bopara 73) v Somerset 273 (R van der Merwe 61, P Trego 50; S Snater 5-60)
Essex (2pts) beat Somerset (0pts) by 40 runs
* At Bristol: Gloucestershire v Hampshire
No result (rain)
* At Canterbury: Glamorgan 274 (N Selman 92; J Denly 4-56) v Kent 278-6 (J Denly 150 no)
Kent (2pts) beat Glamorgan (0pts) by 4 wkts
* At Hove: Middlesex 288-4 (P Stirling 116, N Gubbins 86) v Sussex 214 (D Wiese 57; R Patel 4-58)
Middlesex (2pts) beat Sussex (0pts) by 74 runs. – AFP
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