He didn't get a century, no. In fact, Jason Roy fell agonisingly short of one. But, at the end of his 81-ball 92, he walked off to a rousing applause from the crowd and dressing room, having set up a solid platform for Surrey's match-winning total of 363 in the second Royal London One-Day Cup semifinal. At their home ground, and having seen how Nottinghamshire made a short work of Essex's record List-A total just the previous day, Worcestershire would have fancied their chances of pulling off this massive chase but Gareth Batty's five-for ensured there wasn't another high-octane drama on the cards. With wickets falling more often than they would have liked, 210 was all the hosts could eventually manage, succumbing to a hefty 153-run loss, on Saturday (June 17).
Roy, Batty set up Surrey's finale date with Nottinghamshire
Opting to bat was a no-brainer for Surrey but opener Roy's form remained under the scanner, more so after being dropped from England's Champions Trophy semifinal line-up. Cautious at start, he settled in quite quickly and then tried to match fellow opener Mark Stoneman shot for shot. The first signs of aggression came as early as in the fifth over, when Roy slammed John Hastings for the first six of the game, and then the boundaries started to flow in more regularly.
The openers put on 90 in the mandatory powerplay but Moeen Ali struck in just his second over of the day to break the 114-run stand as he bowled Stoneman nine short of his half-century. Coming in at one-down, Kumar Sangakkara joined hands with Roy for a 65-run stand to take their side 179 at the halfway mark. Roy, unfortunately, was trapped LBW immediately afterwards. The wicket, along with Rory Burns's early departure in quick succession, gave the home side a flicker of hope to run through the rest of the batting and keep Surrey to a manageable total. But Sangakkara and Ben Foakes stood in the way.
The 73-run stand that came at nearly six runs an over took Surrey past the 250-mark in the 39th over. Sangakkara followed it up by hitting Hastings for back-to-back boundaries but the bowler had the last laugh, getting the legendary Sri Lankan caught behind for his first wicket of the day.
Foakes then took charge for the final 11 overs and posted two quick-fire partnerships - worth 51 with Ollie Pope and 43 with Sam Curran - before eventually falling for 86. His 70-ball assault consisted eight hits to the fence and two over it, and by the time he fell, off the first ball of the final over, Surrey already had 353 on the board. Tom Curran wrapped with consecutive boundaries off the last two deliveries.
There weren't any centuries like in the first semifinal, but the script looked eerily similar to the Nottinghamshire-Essex clash at the innings break. However, Surrey knew better than to take their mammoth score for granted. Daryl Mitchell took the long walk back to the pavilion without troubling the scorers as Sam struck with his fourth ball of the game.
Moeen kept the chase on briefly before his wicket in the seventh over reduced the home side to 42 for 3, and Worcestershire never recovered from there on. Brett D'Oliveira and Ross Whiteley offered some resistance - with both notching up half-centuries - but with little support from the rest, the 350-plus chase was never on the cards.
Batty opened his account with the wicket of Joe Clarke, who put on 48 with D'Oliveira - the highest stand in Worcestershire's reply - and picked up four more in the space of his next six overs that all but sealed the fate of the game. En route his 55, highest from a Worcestershire batsman on the day, Whiteley put on the next-three best partnerships with the tail-enders, but only to delay the inevitable.
Surrey wrapped up the formalities in the 34th over, much to the disappointment of the home crowd, for a 153-run win to set up a final with Nottinghamshire.
Brief scores: Surrey 363/7 in 50 overs (Jason Roy 92, Ben Foakes 86, Kumar Sangakkara 73; Joe Leach 2-66) beat Worcestershire 210 in 33.2 overs (Ross Whiteley 55, Brett D'Oliveria 53; Gareth Batty 5-40, Sam Curran 2-19) by 153 runs.
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