Slim hopes remain for Yorkshire to reach semi-finals

Such advice has hardly been needed in this soggiest of summers but was thoroughly appropriate at Wantage Road, where the weather was sunny and the temperature sultry.

A 1,500 crowd watched the action in shirt-sleeves, while an ice-cream van did a roaring trade.

“Summer’s finally arrived,” said one Northamptonshire member, eagerly devouring a 99 flake.

Just as we have waited patiently for summer to appear, after four months of generally wall-to-wall rain, so the hard-wearing followers of Yorkshire and Northamptonshire have waited for their sides to shine in the 40-over tournament.

Yorkshire had won only two of seven CB40 games prior to this fixture, while Northamptonshire had prevailed in one of nine.

There is nothing sunny about those statistics.

They are the cricketing equivalent of heavy rain.

But as the sunlit evening gave way to the floodlit night, with Wantage Road illuminated by artificial glow, Yorkshire put a more cheerful complexion on their disappointing record with a well-earned victory by 69 runs.

After scoring 262-8 from their 40 overs, a redoubtable effort after being sent into bat, they dismissed the home team for 193.

Yorkshire’s heroes with the bat were Phil Jaques (87) and David Miller (44), while their star with the ball was Adil Rashid, who returned career-best List A figures of 4-38.

Although they still need a minor miracle to reach the semi-finals, which remain mathematically within their grasp, Yorkshire are at least battling on with four group games to play.

Only the winners of the three seven-strong groups, along with the best second-placed side, qualify for the semi-finals on September 1.

This result lifted Yorkshire one place above Northamptonshire and into fifth position – six points behind leaders Warwickshire and five behind second-placed Sussex, on whom they have a game in hand.

With only two points for a win, Yorkshire must rely not only on replicating what they achieved here but the help of their rivals if they are to squeeze into the semi-finals through the back door.

They conclude their group campaign against Unicorns (H), Sussex (H), Kent (A) and Warwickshire (H), so still have to play the top two again.

After the disappointment of defeat to Warwickshire on Tuesday evening, when they lost by three wickets at Edgbaston from a position of control, Yorkshire fielded an unchanged side.

As at Edgbaston, Andrew Gale lost the toss and was perhaps surprisingly asked to bat; not often does a captain survey sun-drenched skies and opt to chase a target beneath lights.

Not that Yorkshire were complaining.

Gale and Phil Jaques, who added 86 for the first-wicket at Edgbaston, once more gave their side a solid platform, adding 42 before Gale fell in the eighth over, caught at backward-point off seamer Luke Evans.

Jaques, back at the venue where he began his county career in 2003, put his local knowledge to good use as he found the boundary with increasing regularity.

Lee Daggett was square-driven magisterially to the electronic scoreboard and Oli Stone savagely cut to the foot of the old signal box. Blemishes by the Australian were few and far between.

Jaques was a tad fortunate when he top-edged an attempted pull off Evans to the third man boundary and again when he almost popped the same bowler to David Sales at cover.

Otherwise, his run-scoring was as attractive as the early August skies, which were a blanket of blue with just a few wispy clouds.

After going to fifty from 44 balls with seven fours, Jaques lost Adam Lyth with the total on 99, his fellow left-hander caught behind trying to sweep James Middlebrook. At the halfway stage, Yorkshire were 119-2.

The foundation had been set for an imposing total.

Jaques found a willing ally in Miller, with whom he added 87 for the third-wicket in 15 overs.

The South African left-hander played the shot of the night, lofting Evans for a straight six on to the roof of the Ken Turner Stand just above the press box, a stroke apparently effected with a minimum of effort.

Jaques perished on the Australian’s unlucky number, 13 shy of a hundred, when he pulled Evans to Stone at deep backward square-leg.

Shortly afterwards, Miller fell six short of a half-century when he made room to force Daggett through the off-side and dragged on to his stumps.

As Yorkshire sought to accelerate in the closing stages, Daggett picked up three more wickets.

He bowled Rashid for 25 from 16 balls, had Gary Ballance caught at deep backward square-leg and induced Azeem Rafiq to drive to mid-off. Gerard Brophy, another formerly of this parish, was the last wicket to fall, stumped by David Murphy standing-up as he tried to stroke Andrew Hall through the off-side.

Northamptonshire’s reply began impressively.

Rob Newton and Niall O’Brien added 54 for the first wicket in 11 overs before Newton drove Rashid to mid-off.

Rashid also had Alex Wakely stumped off a leg-side wide, O’Brien caught at mid-wicket off a full toss and Rob Keogh lbw.

The fatal blow came when Sales was run-out for 55 at the non-striker’s end coming back for a second run after Hall hit Iain Wardlaw to Miller at deep mid-wicket.

That left Northamptonshire 162-5 in the 31st over and as their challenge wilted, Miller ran out Murphy from mid-off, Moin Ashraf bowled Middlebrook, Patterson had Hall caught at long-on by Miller and Wardlaw bowled Daggett and Evans.

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