Ballance holds his nerve as Yorkshire triumph

Yorkshire did not have their swashbuckling South African left-hander for their final qualifying game against Trinidad & Tobago in Centurion last night.

But it did not matter.

For they did have their swashbuckling Zimbabwean left-hander Gary Ballance, who produced an innings of Miller-esque brutality to propel Yorkshire into the tournament proper and towards a potential £1.6m winner’s cheque.

Miller had been the hero 24 hours earlier when his unbeaten 39 – fashioned despite having to retire hurt for a period after being struck in the face by a bouncer – earned a five-wicket win against Sri Lankan Premier League champions Uva Next.

The 23-year-old was always going to be unavailable for this second qualifying game due to commitments with his South African franchise Dolphins, only returning later in the tournament should Yorkshire advance.

Ballance ensured that will now happen after scoring an undefeated 64 from 37 balls with two fours and six sixes as Yorkshire hit 154-4 in reply to Trinidad’s 148-9 to earn a six-wicket victory with seven balls to spare.

It meant Yorkshire topped their three-team qualifying group to join the winner of the other qualifying group, Auckland Aces, along with eight already confirmed entrants for the 10-strong main event.

Those 10 teams are split into two groups of five and Yorkshire are in Group B where their opponents are Sydney Sixers in Cape Town on October 16 (12.30pm start UK time), Mumbai Indians in Cape Town on October 18 (4.30pm), Highveld Lions in Johannesburg on October 20 (12.30pm) and Chennai Super Kings in Durban on October 22 (12.30pm).

Miller will be available for the last of those matches, along with any semi-final and final.

Group A comprises Auckland Aces, Titans, Perth Scorchers, Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils.

Yorkshire earned £128,000 for qualifying, which would swell to £322,000 should they reach the semi-finals, £837,000 should they finish runners-up and £1.6m should they defy the odds and win the competition.

Can Yorkshire go all the way?

On this evidence, there is no reason why they cannot go deep.

Trinidad & Tobago may have been missing three of their best players in Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo and Sunil Narine, who have opted instead to play for their IPL franchises, but they were still strong on paper, with their side last night containing three players – Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul and Samuel Badree – who featured in West Indies’ Twenty20 World Cup triumph in Sri Lanka 72 hours earlier.

Yorkshire, however, have shown unequivocally what they are capable of despite the absence of Miller yesterday, plus England’s Tim Bresnan and Jonny Bairstow for the whole competition and Australia pace bowler Mitchell Starc, who is playing for his home franchise Sydney Sixers, Yorkshire’s next opponents.

Perhaps the biggest thing in Yorkshire’s favour is that they look a genuine team, one not simply reliant on such as Miller.

Ballance, who registered a golden duck against Uva Next, is proof of it – as is Adil Rashid, who followed his unbeaten 36 against Uva with an undefeated 33 from 27 balls.

Ballance and Rashid added 103 from 62 balls after Yorkshire had looked in some bother at 51-4 in the ninth over, with Phil Jaques having gone lbw to an inswinger, Andrew Gale to a misjudged cut, Adam Lyth to a swish across the line and Joe Root to a simple caught-and-bowled after being flummoxed in the flight.

But in yet another example of Yorkshire prevailing under pressure (something that happened often during their progress to the Twenty20 Cup final, which secured their passage to the global event), the fifth-wicket pair kept their heads.

“It was just one of those days when everything seemed to come off,” reflected Ballance, as he accepted his man-of-the-match award beneath the Centurion floodlights. The wonder of last night’s contest was that it was a contest at all after Trinidad began catastrophically.

Yorkshire could not have wished for a better start after Ramdin surprisingly elected to bat in good bowling conditions, Trinidad tumbling to 8-3 inside three overs.

A more hair-brained exhibition of top-order batting it would be impossible to witness; William Perkins lofted lazily to long-on, Lendl Simmons was caught behind off a wild drive and Adrian Berath bowled trying to hit over the mid-wicket boundary.

But Ramdin and Darren Bravo rebuilt the innings with dogged determination, adding 93 from 73 balls before Bravo was caught for 45 by Ballance at long-on off Rashid.

Ramdin played superbly as Trinidad rallied from 37-3 off nine overs to post a competitive total, scoring 59 from 40 balls before being run out. Amid a welter of wickets towards the end, Ryan Sidebottom finished with 3-13 from four overs – Yorkshire’s second-most economical performance in Twenty20 behind Bresnan’s 2-12 against Lancashire in 2008.