Yorkshire CCC exits One-Day Cup after defeat in South Wales

THE win-loss record suggested a defeat.

Going into their final group game, Yorkshire’s results read: WLWLWLW.

Sure enough, unwanted symmetry followed in South Wales, where Glamorgan prevailed by 62 runs.

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Another ‘L’ rendered academic any outside chance Yorkshire had of claiming the final qualifying place, which Leicestershire bagged with victory at Bristol.

Ben Cliff capped a good tournament on a personal level with figures of 3-37 for Yorkshire in Cardiff. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.comBen Cliff capped a good tournament on a personal level with figures of 3-37 for Yorkshire in Cardiff. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com
Ben Cliff capped a good tournament on a personal level with figures of 3-37 for Yorkshire in Cardiff. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com

And so another year goes by without Yorkshire winning a one-day trophy - now 22 and counting.

Of the side on show at Sophia Gardens, where Yorkshire made 168 in reply to Glamorgan’s 230-9, four players (debutant Noah Kelly, Will Luxton, Yash Vagadia and Ben Cliff) were not even born when the club lifted the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy in 2002, while Harry Duke and Matthew Revis were under a year old, and George Hill and Dominic Leech less than two years old.

Of the others, Jonny Tattersall, the stand-in captain, was a positive veteran at the age of seven, Dom Bess five, and Dan Moriarty three. It was a long time ago, in other words, and there is no real sign of the drought ending.

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For Yorkshire to have reached the quarter-finals, they had to win this match by a big margin and hope that Leicestershire lost to Gloucestershire, while at the same time overhauling Gloucestershire’s net run-rate. It can all get horribly complicated but, put simply, their chances were small.

Jonny Tattersall raised his bat for the third successive time in one-day cricket in Cardiff, where he followed scores of 53 in 2021 and 55 in 2022 with one of 51 this time. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.comJonny Tattersall raised his bat for the third successive time in one-day cricket in Cardiff, where he followed scores of 53 in 2021 and 55 in 2022 with one of 51 this time. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com
Jonny Tattersall raised his bat for the third successive time in one-day cricket in Cardiff, where he followed scores of 53 in 2021 and 55 in 2022 with one of 51 this time. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com

After rain delayed the start by 30 minutes, reducing the game to 47 overs per side, Yorkshire inserted in cloudy conditions. They bowled well overall, led by pace man Ben Cliff, who enjoyed a promising tournament.

Cliff got rid of both openers with the first and final balls of his third over, the sixth of the innings. Will Smale skied high to mid-on, and Asa Tribe was palpably leg-before, stuck on the crease.

With the last delivery of his next over, Cliff had the dangerous Sam Northeast brilliantly caught at slip by Hill, who dived full-length to his right to take the ball one-handed, low to the turf. Yorkshire’s fielding has been impressive this year, as befitting a young and enthusiastic team.

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Hill turned wicket-taker when Colin Ingram was caught behind driving, and Glamorgan lost another key wicket in Kiran Carlson, their captain, when Leech’s perseverance paid off with another lbw decision, which left the hosts 103-5 in the 22nd over.

Having kept back Bess and Moriarty, his spinners, Tattersall now used them to good effect. Moriarty nipped in with three wickets in relatively short time, having Ben Kellaway caught behind, Andy Gorvin nicking to slip and then Dan Douthwaite thumping to cover, where Kelly claimed his first senior catch.

At 165-8, Glamorgan were short of a competitive score, but Billy Root, brother of Joe, made the classic Root number - 66.

The left-hander shared 56 for the ninth-wicket with Timm van der Gugten, the highest stand of the innings, with a measure of the task at hand - and the quality of Yorkshire’s bowling - the fact that it took Root just over an hour-and-a-half to reach a fifty that contained only three fours. As the floodlights shone down, Root was out in the final over, caught behind off Hill, with van der Gugten finishing on 34 from 35 balls.

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Yorkshire lost a wicket to the first delivery of the chase, Duke lbw to van der Gugten. It was tough going for the young Yorkshire batsmen - but also valuable experience - against a bowler of that quality, with Jamie McIlroy providing staunch support from the other end.

After McIlroy bowled Kelly with one that came back, van der Gugten bowled Luxton to leave Yorkshire 11-3 in the seventh. It might have been 29-4 but Kellaway was unable to cling on to a difficult chance when Tattersall, on 12, struck van der Gugten firmly to point.

Vagadia, making his second appearance, played a couple of nice shots, off-driving Douthwaite to the boundary and then lofting Kellaway for six over long-off.

But Kellaway - clearly the Ronnie O’Sullivan of off-spin - had his revenge when he switched from bowling right-arm to left-arm to have Vagadia taken at cover.

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Tattersall and Revis lifted Yorkshire’s hopes with a partnership of 59 for the fifth-wicket in 69 balls, but the loss of both in three deliveries to Gorvin’s medium-pace effectively settled things.

First, Revis was caught behind by Smale, standing up, then Tattersall lbw for a determined 51, his third successive half-century in this fixture, made from 68 balls with four fours.

In his next over, Gorvin bowled Hill, then Bess reverse-swept Kellaway to backward-point.

When Leech launched Kellaway to deep mid-wicket, and Cliff lobbed Gorvin to mid-on, it was all over, Yorkshire finishing with a perfect results symmetry but, once again, no silverware.

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