Davies, Foakes help Surrey book final berth

A well-compiled 104 off 116 deliveries by Steven Davies and his 130-run fourth-wicket association with Ben Foakes (90 off 100) paved way for Surrey's 19-run victory against Yorkshire in the first semi-final of the Royal London One-Day Cup at Headingley on Sunday (August 28). Asked to bat, Surrey posted a competitive total of 255 for 7 in the allotted 50 overs before their bowlers came up with a disciplined effort to bowl out the hosts for 236. A fighting 68 off 82 deliveries by Tim Bresnan went in vain.

Wickets at regular intervals meant that Yorkshire could not get the desired momentum in the chase. Adam Lyth, who had struck a crucial 88 in the quarter-final game against Kent, departed as early as the second over in this game, falling to Jade Dernbach. Following a 44-run second-wicket stand between Alex Lees and Gary Ballance, the hosts lost their way in the chase as they lost four wickets in quick succession. Lees was cleaned up by Gareth Batty while Meaker sent back Jonny Bairstow, Ballance and Jack Leaning to leave the home team reeling at 81 for 5 in the 22nd over.

Tim Bresnan and Matthew Waite kept Yorkshire in the hunt by putting on 80 runs for the sixth wicket. Waite though had to depart in the 38th over, dismissed by Sam Curran, but Bresnan kept the fight on and he was helped by Will Rhodes as they brought the equation down to 54 off the last six overs. While Rhodes was run out for 23 in the 45th over, Bresnan tried to take Yorkshire closer, but he was running out of partners as Tom Curran struck twice in the 48th over to leave the hosts nine down. With 22 required off 12 balls, Bresnan was the only hope for Yorkshire, but he fell to Dernbach on the fifth ball of the penultimate over to bring Yorkshire's Royal London Cup campaign to an end.

Earlier, The visitors did not have the best of starts as they lost Dominic Sibley and Kumar Sangakkara early, with Jack Brooks and Bresnan picking up the respective wickets. Waite then ended a half-century stand involving Davies and Rory Burns, leaving Surrey precariously placed at 61 for 3.

Davies and Foakes came to their team's rescue with a partnership that lasted for nearly 25 overs. Their initial approach was to stem the rot as they played the deliveries on merit and kept the scorecard ticking with singles and twos with the occasional boundary. They managed to pick up pace as their partnership progressed and set Surrey up nicely for a flourishing finish to the innings.

The partnership came to an end when Davies, who reached the three-figure mark in the 38th over, departed the very next over. Sam Curran and Foakes helped Surrey past the 200-mark in the 42nd over before Waite ended the former's stay. Yorkshire bowlers tried to keep things tight, but Bresnan went for 14 runs in the 47th over, the most expensive over of the match. Although only 15 runs came in the last three overs, with Foakes missing out a ton, Surrey ended up with a total that proved to be sufficient in the end.

Surrey, who have booked a berth for the finals at Lord's on September 17th, will await the victor of Monday's match between Warwickshire and Somerset at Edgbaston, Birmingham.

Brief scores: Surrey 255/7 in 50 overs (Steven Davies 104, Ben Foakes 90; Matthew Waite 3-48) beat Yorkshire 236 in 48.5 overs (Tim Bresnan 68, Matthew Waite 38; Stuart Meaker 3-61) by 19 runs.