Essex boys off to Lord's

8:06pm Saturday 5th July 2008

England opener Alastair Cook and big-hitter Graham Napier - plus a deadly spell from Ryan ten Doeschate - inspired Essex to reach their first Friends Provident Trophy final for 11 years via a 87-run success over Yorkshire.

Cook fell just five runs short of the third one-day century of his career as Essex amassed 285 for eight in their 50 overs at Chelmsford. The left-hander, playing only his second game in the competition this season, made 95 off 127 balls with 10 fours.

Ten Doeschate wrecked the middle part of the Yorkshire innings with a three-wicket salvo to shatter Darren Gough's dreams of a Lord's swansong as the visitors were dismissed for 198 in the 43rd over. In all, they lost their last nine wickets for 58 runs in 13 overs.

Yorkshire, needing to score at 5.72 runs per over, had been given a confident start by openers Andrew Gale and Adam Lyth and the 50 arrived in the 11th over.

But David Masters made the breakthrough with 56 on the board when Lyth (21) attempted a pull through mid-wicket and was adjudged lbw.

The Essex bowlers began to slow down the scoring in mid-innings and Gale's knock ended at 64 when he was needlessly run out.

Much of Yorkshire's hopes now rested with Anthony McGrath and his 50 came up off 84 deliveries. But the game effectively ended as a contest when four wickets fell in the space of three runs.

Essex skipper Mark Pettini had decided to bat after winning the toss in blustery conditions and Cook and Jason Gallian put on 61 in 14 overs before the latter was run out for 28 by Tim Bresnan's direct throw from mid-on.

And it was Napier, who had scored 152 off 58 balls in the Twenty20 clash with Sussex on the same ground, who gave the innings late impetus. He saw James Foster (10) caught behind and ten Doeschate managed just a single before holing out to McGrath on the deep mid-wicket boundary.

Napier was undeterred and raced to his half-century off only 27 balls, with five sixes and two fours. He cleared the boundary once more and had had smashed 61 from 34 deliveries when he eventually perished at wide long on in the final over from Bresnan, who also accounted for Grant Flower (21).

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