Royal London One-Day Cup 2021: All the Match Scores, Results, Reports and Scorecards for Sunday, July 25th

Royal London One-Day Cup 2021: All the Match Scores, Results, Reports and Scorecards for Sunday, July 25^th

Royal London Cup 2021 Fixtures Schedule

 

 

Royal London One-Day Cup 2021 - Sunday July 25th 2021

Sussex vs Durham, Group A County Ground, Hove 11:00 AM 

Sussex Sharks and Durham had their Royal London Group A match called off without a ball being bowled.  There was overnight rain at the 1^st Central County Ground and more rain in the late morning and early afternoon gave umpires Mark Newell and Bill Taylor little option but to abandon the game.

It was a frustrating outcome for both sides.  Sussex were looking to get off the mark after coming close to causing an upset by beating Lancashire in their opening fixture, while Durham were the form side after posting a record List A score for the county against Kent in their first game.  But the umpires made their last pitch inspection at 2.45 and decided to call off the game a short time afterwards.

Essex vs Middlesex, Group A County Ground, Chelmsford 11:00 AM 

Essex Eagles vs Middlesex at the Cloudfm County Ground, Chelmsford

Middlesex 212 lost to Essex Eagles 213/1 by nine wickets

Sir Alastair Cook and Tom Westley crashed big half-centuries as Essex Eagles crushed Middlesex by nine wickets in the Royal London Cup.

England legend Cook clocked his 48th List A fifty to end 92 not out while Eagles captain Westley returned an unbeaten 87 – putting on 159 together.

Eagles were only chasing 212, after Shane Snater’s three for 45 and two-fors for Simon Harmer and Ryan ten Doeschate, and completed a comprehensive victory with 11 overs to spare to maintain Essex’s 100 per cent record in the competition.

Westley won the toss and restricted Middlesex to a below par 212, with runs not flowing particularly freely on a green-tinged wicket under thick grey clouds.

Sam Robson was the exception to the rule has he stroked 18 in nine balls before he was strangled down the leg-side by Shane Snater.

Joe Cracknell was leg before to Snater and Australian Peter Handscomb was excellently snaffled at first slip by  Cook – as the visitors slumped to 31 for three.

Middlesex then produced their two, much needed, partnerships of note as Max Holden and Robbie White added 49 before Holden top-edged a sweep to the short boundary and was replaced by Jack Davies – who put on 67 with White.

Neither White nor Davies scored at any great speed but ticked along, the former falling for 47 lbw to Paul Walter, while List A debutant Davies reached his half-century in 67 balls.

Middlesex lost their last five wickets for 39 runs as Luke Hollman was lbw to Tom Westley, James Harris chipped straight back to Simon Harmer, Thilan Walallawita edged Ryan ten Doeschate behind and then the Dutchman produced cat-like reactions to pouch a return from Davies.

Snater ended up at the top of the wicket pile, returning three for 45, as Ethan Bamber pulled into the leg side to end the innings.

The Eagles’ chase looked in little doubt from the moment Will Buttleman cut Walallawita to the boundary with the fourth ball.

Cook looked in sumptuous form with pure timing trumping outright power.

An on-drive through mid-wicket, a straight drive and a push through the off side typified his style and got him motoring.

Buttleman flicked straight to Sam Robson at short midwicket, having put on 54, with Cook in a rare batting misjudgement from the hosts.

Cook reached his 20th format fifty for Essex in 60 balls with a flick off his legs, with Westley unfurling some glorious stroke play as the duo reached a century partnership in 118 deliveries.

Westley moved to his half-century in 59 balls before threatening to overtake his experienced partner, and eventually preventing him from reaching three figures.

Essex captain and batter Tom Westley, who scored 87 not out:

“You can’t get a better start to a competition than this, which is pleasing.

“That is one of our best team, from batting to bowling to fielding, performances that we have seen for a while. It is exciting times.

“I think our bowling display was outstanding. There is a bit of doom and gloom around Ports [he went off the field halfway through an over] so we’ll see what that is. But after Wheats’ unbelievable catch [first wicket] we were on it.

“To bowl a team out in 50 over cricket is an unbelievable performance. Obviously, we won the game one wicket down but the bowling took all the pressure off us.

“It is always nice to have a knight of the realm in the dressing room, and nice to have him in the runs as well. That was a typical innings for him in white-ball cricket. He was timing the ball beautifully. You know when he is hitting the ball straight and hard he is in a good space.”

Middlesex batter Jack Davies, who was one of five List A debutants for his side and scored 70:

“It was a tough day. It is going to be easy when they bowl that well up top. Robbie and I tried to get us to a decent total but it wasn’t our day.

“We were maybe even more than 50 or 60 runs light. We talk as a group a lot about keep going and sometimes you get bowled out for 140 but then some days they have two players who get on and you never know what they could have chased down.

“It is nice to get runs myself but ultimately it doesn’t mean a great deal if we don’t win the game.”

Warwickshire vs Nottinghamshire, Group B Edgbaston, Birmingham 11:00 AM 

Haseeb Hameed's maiden List A century lifted Nottinghamshire to an 86-run Royal London Cup victory over a seriously depleted Warwickshire side at Edgbaston. 

Against a home attack missing ten senior bowlers through injury and Hundred calls, Hameed stroked 103 (92 balls) which, along with Ben Slater's 86 (101 balls), lifted his side to a hefty 323 all out. 

Rob Yates's maiden List A century (103, 105 balls) kept Warwickshire in the hunt for a while, but they fell well short on 237 all out as Lyndon James took five for 48 and Liam Patterson-White three for 46. 

It means that Nottinghamshire open their RLC campaign with  commanding win while handing the home side a second defeat in two games. 

Nottinghamshire were given a flying start by Slater and Sol Budinger (29, 22 balls) who added 54 in 43 balls before the latter lifted Yates to mid off. Peter Trego soon slashed Ryan Sidebottom to point but Slater and Hameed batted with assurance to add 127 in 21 overs. Slater was closing in on a ton when he pulled Ethan Brookes to deep square. 

Matt Montgomery (35, 33 balls) helped Hameed add 66 in nine overs but after he was stumped off Jake Bethell, the innings lost momentum. Lyndon James was run out by Keil van vollenhoven's direct hit, Hameed's middle stump was knocked back by Will Rhodes and Liam Patterson-White lifted Ethan Brookes to fine leg. 

When Rhodes had Evison and Dane Schadendorf caught from successive balls, and Brett Hutton shanked Manraj Johal to extra cover, seven wickets had fallen for 60 runs in 49 balls. It was a big-hearted fightback from the young home side but still a meaty total for Notts.  

Warwickshire also began at a gallop. Yates and Ed Pollock added 62 in ten overs before the latter was caught by Slater at deep square leg off James. Slater pounced in the same position again to catch Rhodes (39, 47 balls) off Joey Evison, ending a dangerous second-wicket stand of 80 in 94 balls.  

Paterson-White's concession of just six runs from his first three overs, which also included the wicket of Michael Burgess, cranked up the pressure. When Yates played on to Evison, Warwickshire needed nine an over off the last 17 - a task well beyond their inexperienced middle order despite Matt Lamb's enterprising 36-ball 38. 

Northamptonshire vs Glamorgan, Group B County Ground, Northampton 11:00 AM 

Veteran seamer Michael Hogan and promising young all-rounder Joe Cooke took three wickets apiece to knock the stuffing out of a strong Northamptonshire line-up as Glamorgan claimed their second Royal London Cup victory by 59 runs.

Hogan turned in a hostile opening spell to claim two early scalps while Cooke, 24, followed up three wickets on List A debut against Warwickshire on Thursday by removing Northamptonshire’s middle order and hit an unbeaten 33 with the bat.

Earlier an assured 86 from New Zealand international Hamish Rutherford provided the bedrock for Glamorgan, before some brutal hitting from Cooke and Tom Cullen pushed them to an imposing 295 for six.

Despite 65 from Tom Taylor, the target proved beyond Northamptonshire’s reach in their opening game of the tournament.

Rutherford shared a 68-run opening stand with Nick Selman who offered a simple caught and bowled chance to teenage debutant, left-arm wrist-spinner Freddie Heldreich. The youngster picked up a second when he got one through Steven Reingold’s forward defensive and hit the top of off-stump.

Rutherford combined a mixture of sweetly timed sweeps and cuts with some crunching boundaries and found an ally in skipper Kiran Carlson. The pair took the attack to the spinners, before Ben Sanderson removed both in quick succession.

First Carlson top edged a bouncer straight to Heldreich at fine leg. Then just when Rutherford looked set for a century, he chopped on to his stumps. When Billy Root hooked a short ball from Tom Taylor to a diving Charlie Thurston at deep square leg, Glamorgan had lost had lost three wickets for 23 runs in 5.2 overs.

Cullen broke the shackles with three boundaries off Heldreich before Callum Taylor hit namesake Tom over his head for six. After a stand of 60 in 10 overs, Taylor had a big swing at Taylor and was bowled.

Glamorgan needed a big finish and Cullen and Cooke obliged by taking the attack to experienced seamers Sanderson and Wayne Parnell.

The pair pummelled Sanderson for 23 in one over as the last five yielded 66 runs. Cooke hit Sanderson for a huge straight six into the pavilion and Cullen hit another maximum over long-on before running three to bring up his half-century off just 40 balls.

Hogan struck in the first over of the chase, drawing the edge from Emilio Gay and later bowling Rob Keogh. It was not all brute force from 40-year-old Hogan though who used conditions to beat the bat repeatedly.

Lukas Carey claimed the third wicket after an early mauling at the hands of Ricardo Vasconcelos, before the Northamptonshire skipper edged behind to leave the hosts 49 for three.

Curran and Saif Zaib looked to relieve the pressure, scoring three quick boundaries against rookie duo spinner Steven Reingold and seamer Andrew Gorvin, but the pair, with just one List A appearance behind them, started to exert control, backed up well in the field.

Curran kept busy with a run-a-ball half-century, after starting his account with two straight boundaries. He and Zaib added 65 before Northamptonshire lost three wickets for 18 in four overs.

Curran skied a delivery from Cooke which was comfortably caught by the keeper. Then Hogan returned to pick up Thurston who chipped to mid-on before Zaib pulled Cooke to square leg. Despite some aggression from Tom Taylor, a jubilant Cooke bowled Wayne Parnell to end hopes of a late recovery. Northamptonshire were eventually all out for 236 with 5.4 overs remaining.

Northamptonshire Head Coach John Sadler said: “They built their innings really well. They had a little bit of a wobble, we got on top and then for about 45 overs of the first innings we were magnificent. Then we didn't quite execute those last five overs. Obviously, that puts a different perspective on the game when we're chasing 290 instead of 260, 270 maybe.

“Then batting wise, we lost a couple of wickets up top, which can happen in this format. I thought we played pretty well and then we had the game by the scruff of the neck and then lost a couple of soft dismissals and that kind of put on the back foot. So, there are some good points to take from this, but ultimately, it's a feeling of disappointment.

“Tom Taylor is batting very low at seven, we know he could bat higher and in time I’m sure he'll find himself further up. But we went for the extra batter. It seemed to have worked at halftime because we were in a position to go knock those off and I was confident we would. So yeah, Tom's a fine cricketer. He’s going to get better and better, the more experienced he gets. But unfortunately, he ran out partners today.”

 

Glamorgan all-rounder Joe Cooke said: “I do whatever role I get told to do. Obviously opening the batting in the Championship has been a good challenge and I enjoyed that, but batting down the order and bowling, I’ve enjoyed that too so far.

“The lads found it was quite tough to score early on, the pitch was maybe a little slow, but we kind of built the earnings perfectly, kept wickets in hand and then I was able to go in and kind of give it my all and just go from almost from ball one which was quite nice. That came off for me and Tom [Cullen] at the end and I think we got a pretty good score.

"It was nice to get a wicket early, they had to keep coming so that was the thing because they lost early wickets, every batsman coming in had to keep trying to go at six, seven and over, so we took our chances when they came.

"Two wins from two is brilliant, a great way to start the tournament. We’re really enjoying our cricket. We've got the makings of a very good team."

Gloucestershire vs Lancashire, Group A County Ground, Bristol 11:00 AM

Danny Lamb claimed career-best figures of 5-30 to inspire Lancashire to a comfortable six-wicket victory over Gloucestershire in a one-sided Royal London One Day Cup contest at Bristol.

Lancashire won the toss, inserted the hosts on a drying pitch beneath leaden skies and, with Preston-born seamer Lamb to the fore, dismissed Gloucestershire for 171 in 48 overs. Only lower-order resistance from Matt Taylor, who top-scored with 51 not out, and George Scott, who contributed 43 runs to a swashbuckling eighth-wicket alliance of 69 in 16 overs, prevented an even heavier defeat.

Keaton Jennings registered a patient 47 to afford the reply solid foundations, while Josh Bohannon, Luke Wells and Rob Jones all weighed in with useful cameos before Steven Croft and George Balderson helped Lancashire attain their target with 6.2 overs to spare. Gloucestershire's most effective bowler, Josh Shaw took 4-36 in a losing cause.

Gloucestershire were on the back foot from the very outset, openers George Hankins and Ben Charlesworth falling inside five overs to new ball bowlers Liam Hurt and Tom Bailey respectively. Any prospects of Graeme van Buuren and Tom Lace redressing the balance were dashed when their stand, worth 41, was terminated by the advent of Lamb, who claimed three wickets in 11 balls as the home side lurched from 56-2 to 63-5 in the space of three calamitous overs. Lamb induced Lace to miss-hit a drive to mid-off for 15, van Buuren became the latest batsman to play himself in and then surrender his wicket cheaply when slicing to point for 17, and Jack Taylor was pinned inside his crease as Lamb took a wrecking ball to the top and middle order.

Introduced from the Pavilion end at the mid-point of the innings, England Under-19 slow left armer Jack Morley made an instant impression, bowling debutant Ben Wells with his first ball, then hurling himself low to his right to take a startling return catch and send back Tom Smith on his way to incisive figures of 2-22 from 10 overs.

Deep in trouble at 89-7 in the 29th over, Gloucestershire were indebted to Scott and Matt Taylor, these two carrying the fight to the red rose county and at least restoring a semblance of respectability. Between them, they amassed 10 boundaries, more than the rest of their team-mates combined, and the visitors breathed an audible sigh of relief when Scott edged a catch behind off the returning Lamb and departed for an 84-ball 43.

Matt Taylor went to 50 in the grand manner, hoisting Bailey high over deep square leg to register his third six, and finished unbeaten on 51, made from 64 balls, while Lamb bowled Shaw to claim his first List-A five wicket haul and wrap up an innings which never quite recovered from the loss of early wickets.

Forced to set attacking fields in pursuit of early wickets, Gloucestershire made a breakthrough in the eighth over, Scott taking off at point to hold a marvelous catch and send back Bohannon for 24 off the bowling of Shaw with the score on 36. Smith took an equally thrilling catch at deep point as Luke Wells succumbed to Shaw for 31, but Jennings proved unmovable in his role of anchor, the former England opener chiseling 47 from 84 balls and raising 51 for the third wicket with Jones to usher Lancashire to within sight of victory.

The returning Shaw denied Jennings a half century and then accounted for Jones as the visitors experienced a slight wobble, but Croft and Balderson calmed any nerves in an unbroken stand of 41 for the fifth wicket.

Gloucestershire's Matt Taylor said: "There is no doubt we were on the wrong end of the conditions today and, had we won the toss, we would definitely have bowled first. But we cannot use that as an excuse. We lost early wickets and never really recovered from that. I don't usually get to bat for so long in one-day games and probably doubled my average with that knock, but 171 was not enough and there was no escaping that. Josh Shaw has been in great form in white ball cricket this summer and he bowled really well, but we couldn't take as many early wickets as we needed to build pressure. We've got another home game against Worcestershire here on Tuesday and it's up to us to change the momentum."

 

Lancashire's Danny Lamb said: "We have aspirations to win this competition this season and this was a really good start for us against a useful Gloucestershire side. There are still some really top players to come back into the team after the Hundred is over and we have tremendous strength in depth. You saw hat today, with everyone chipping in. On a personal note, it was great to get a career-best with the ball after making my highest score with the bat recently. It's beginning to cost me a lot in beer! I thought we took made the most of the conditions, took wickets at the right time and kept up the pressure on Gloucestershire throughout. There were some really good contributions with the bat and we took the game away from them early on, which stopped them from building any pressure."

Leicestershire vs Yorkshire, Group B Grace Road, Leicester 11:00 AM 

A first century in senior cricket by 19-year-old Harry Duke led a youthful Yorkshire side to a seven-wicket Royal London Cup victory over Leicestershire, eclipsing hundreds by Australia star Marcus Harris and captain Lewis Hill for the home side in a high-scoring 50-over contest.

Harris, whose 127 was his maiden List A ton, and Hill (108) shared a third-wicket partnership of 212 as Leicestershire posted 327 for seven, despite Yorkshire seamer Matthew Waite’s first five-wicket haul in List A cricket.

It looked a daunting target after Will Fraine (45) and Gary Ballance (43) had both fallen when well set, with the hopes of a depleted Yorkshire side seeming to rest on their shoulders, but wicketkeeper-batsman Duke and 20-year-old George Hill - like Duke playing in only his second List A match - won the day for their team with a partnership of 172 in 33 overs.

Duke was bowled by Ed Barnes for 125 before Hill (90 not out) and Jonny Tattersall saw their side over the line with 13 balls to spare.

At 19 years 322 days, Duke is the youngest Yorkshire player to make a List A century since Sachin Tendulkar (19 yrs, 100 days) in 1992.

After Leicestershire won the toss, they lost George Rhodes in the first over, picking up two boundaries before being bowled off an inside edge by Waite.

The Powerplay finished with the home side 49 for one. Rishi Patel then chipped straight to extra cover as 19-year-old pace bowler Matthew Revis claimed his first List A wicket in his second appearance.

Harris, missed on 35 when Dom Bess, diving to his left, failed to take a return catch, reached his half-century from 69 balls, Lewis Hill joining him on that mark from 47 balls as the partnership moved into three figures, Harris passing his previous highest List A score of 84 before moving to his hundred off 114 balls.

As Waite returned, Harris cut to backward point to be third out at 261 and Leicestershire lost four wickets in the last six overs, although there was still time for Hill to complete his second List A hundred off 96 balls before holing out to deep square leg off Waite, who also dismissed Arron Lilley and Louis Kimber to catches in the deep.

Yorkshire passed Leicestershire’s Powerplay score in the ninth over, but had a setback when Fraine was caught behind, pushing tentatively at a ball from Wright.  Ballance maintained the momentum but,  after the industrious Duke had raised his fifty from 59 balls, was caught at backward point, reaching for a wide ball from Dieter Klein.

Hill had a life on 12, Wright failing to hold on to a difficult chance to mid-off that would have given 16-year-old debutant Rehan Ahmed a maiden wicket with his leg spin. It would prove an expensive miss.

The two young batters thereafter played superbly, running well between the wickets, rarely missing an opportunity to keep the scoreboard moving. The 39th over saw their partnership into three figures, Hill go to fifty with a six over Ahmed’s head and Duke complete his maiden century off 111 balls.

Yorkshire’s 19-year-old centurion Harry Duke said:

“Getting my first hundred was a magic moment, something I’ll never forget. My mum and dad and my girlfriend were here today so it was special to do it in front of them.  I had a bit of nerves in the 90s but I had plenty of time to just knock it through.

“Me and George (Hill) have played together at Yorkshire since we were nine years old, so we know each other’s game really well. We just spoke about keeping it simple, for example when we’d taken a boundary early in the over, to just knock a few singles about and keep them under pressure.

“I said to him when there were about 30 or 40 left to get, when he was getting close to a hundred, ‘do you want me to knock it around for you?’ but he said ‘no, just try to finish the game.’ It would have been special to be there at the end together. It wasn’t to be but it was nice to take it most of the way.”

Leicestershire top scorer Marcus Harris said:

“We thought we were a little bit above par at halfway, so it was disappointing not to get the result.  But credit to them, they batted really well.

“Lewis Hill played really well again, like he did on Friday. He is really good to bat with in one-day cricket and we put a good score on the board but I think the wicket didn’t deteriorate as much as we thought it would. Arguably it got better as the game went along.

“For myself it was good to get the monkey off my back of not having a List A hundred.  I like that role at three, it is a spot I would like to make my own. Hopefully if I do well over the next six games here I can go home and do the same thing.”

Worcestershire vs Kent, Group A New Road, Worcester 11:00 AM 

Club Captain Joe Leach and Ed Barnard powered Worcestershire Rapids to a dramatic three wicket victory with a record-breaking seventh wicket stand against Kent Spitfires at New Road.

George Munsey’s maiden List A century had enabled Kent to set a demanding 324 target and he and Harry Finch’s partnership of 184 was a Kent List A record for any wicket against Worcestershire.

But Rapids opener Jack Haynes laid the foundations with a fine 77 and he received good support from Tom Fell before Leach’s late assault alongside excellent support from Barnard.

Leach and Barnard came together at 184-6 in the 34^th over and their stand of 134 in 15.2 overs was a new Worcestershire record for the seventh wicket in all List A cricket.

Leach put the Spitfires into bat on a hybrid pitch and the move initially paid off.

Spitfires captain Ollie Robinson (13) was caught at cover off Charlie Morris and Heino Khun (19) was run out by Jake Libby’s direct hit from mid on.

Tawanda Muyeye (22) played back to spinner Josh Baker and was bowled but Scotland international Munsey and Harry Finch seized command for Kent.

Harry Finch was initially the more aggressive and reached his half century from 63 balls – 12 less than Munsey.

Munsey, who had scored 96 against Durham in the opening One-Day Cup game, gradually upped the tempo and required only another 33 balls in moving fifty to three figures.

Adam Finch broke the stand when he trapped his namesake lbw for 84 from 79 deliveries with one six and 10 fours working to leg.

Munsey’s superb knock came to end on 108 and he also went lbw attempting a reverse sweep against Ed Barnard. His 113 balls innings contained two sixes and 14 fours.

Darren Stevens hit a quickfire 23 and late order runs from Milnes and Marcus O’Riordan lifted the final total past 300.

When Worcestershire launched their reply, Haynes drove Stevens for two boundaries and Dell collected three fours in a Milnes over.

Dell, on 20, was caught at cover off Stevens but new batsman Fell and Haynes prospered.

Fell reeled off a succession of impressive strokes and Haynes also looked in good touch although he had one left off on 23 to Henry Finch off Matt Quinn.

He completed a 51 ball fifty and Haynes followed him to his half century from the next delivery, the 61^st he had faced.

The second wicket pair added 94 when Fell was caught behind off Grant Stewart for 57 with two sixes and six fours.

Jake Libby, on 17, fell to a smart catch at backward point off Matt Quinn and

Haynes top edged a catch to backward square leg off James Logan who played for Worcestershire Seconds earlier this season.

Gareth Roderick and debutant Jacques Banton fell cheaply but then came the heroics from Leach and Barnard who finished unbeaten on 39 from 46 balls.

Jack Haynes, who scored 77 for Worcestershire said, “It was certainly a thrilling start to our campaign and a great chase to finish off a pretty exciting day’s cricket.

“The knock by the captain (Joe Leach) was probably one of the best knocks I’ve seen live to be honest.

“There was some seriously clean ball striking and he has led with the front as captain, both with the ball and the bat there.

“Myself, it is always disappointing not to go on (and score a hundred) but I thought Felly played brilliantly as well and we seemed to dovetail quite well together.

“We always talk about being positive and aggressive and it was nice to set a platform for Joe to come in and finish it off.

“It was a great wicket and these days in 50 over cricket you are looking at  scores of 300 to 320 as par on good decks like that.”

 

Kent century-maker George Munsey: “It is a pretty hard one (the result) to take if I’m honest.

“I thought we did pretty well throughout the whole game and the innings by Joe Leach at the end there took it away from us. Fair credit to him.

“It is always nice to score a few runs but we play this game to win and it’s always disappointing when you can’t quite get the team to a position where you can win.

“There were some fine margins today. There were definitely things we could have done better but at the same time I don’t think we were too horrendous.

“I just thought it was a pretty special knock from Joe (Leach) and he really had to come out and have a world beating sort of knock and he certainly did that.

“We will go back, we will look at it and come together as a team and se eif there is anything we can do better for next time. That is the key for all these tournaments.”

 

Somerset vs Derbyshire, Group B The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton 14:00 PM 

James Hildreth’s eighth List A century and an elegant 94 from Steve Davies helped Somerset begin their defence of the Royal London Cup with a six-wicket victory over Derbyshire at Taunton. 

The visitors ran up 298 all out after losing the toss, Fynn Hudson-Prentice, who made 93, and Brooke Guest (74) hitting career-best List A scores, while 18-year-old seamer Sonny Baker claimed three for 46 on debut. 

In reply, Somerset made 299 for four, winning with two overs to spare. Davies led the way with an imperious 72-ball innings, before Hildreth weighed in with 110, including 9 fours and 3 sixes. 

A crowd of well over 3,000 at the Cooper Associates County Ground saw Derbyshire reduced to 36 for three at the start.

Baker, a product of Devon age-group cricket, had Harry Came and Tom Wood caught behind in a five-over spell of two for 14, while Jack Brooks accounted for Billy Goldleman, caught at fine leg. 

Guest and Hudson-Prentice exercised understandable caution and at the halfway stage of the innings had taken the score to 117 for three. 

Hudson-Prentice took advantage of anything short to reach an impressive half-century off 60 balls, while Guest cleverly picked gaps in the field to move to fifty from 67 deliveries. 

England spinner Jack Leach went for 18 off the 33^rd over, Hudson-Prentice clearing the ropes for the second time. 

The stand of 142 with Guest was a Derbyshire List A record for the fourth wicket against Somerset. It ended when Hudson-Prentice was caught and bowled by new Somerset List A captain Ben Green, having hit 10 fours and 2 sixes. 

After Anuj Dal had been run out by Brooks, Guest was caught at cover off seamer Kasey Aldridge, making his List A debut, to make it 224 for six. 

Alex Thomson contributed 24 and last man Ravi Rampaul boosted Derbyshire’s score with 3 sixes off Green before the last wicket fell in the final over. 

Despite the early loss of Plymouth-born debutant Sam Young, caught behind down the leg side looking to glance off-spinner Thomson, Somerset were soon in charge on a true pitch. 

Davies took 3 fours off an over from Rampaul and looked in great touch. But George Bartlett flattered to deceive, carelessly pulling a short ball from Hudson-Prentice to Dal at deep square. 

Hildreth began well and when Davies moved to an effortless fifty off 46 balls, with 5 fours and a six, home supporters were in high spirits. 

The pair continued to flourish, bringing up a hundred partnership from 98 balls before Hildreth went to a typically attractive half-century off 62 deliveries. 

Davies fell to a catch in the deep, having struck 12 fours and a six. But Hildreth brought up the 200 with a pulled six off Ben Aitcheson in the 35^th over and found an equally positive partner in 20-year-old Lewis Goldsworthy, who celebrated his List A debut with a mature 57 not out, off 66 balls. 

Hildreth required treatment for cramp and batted with a runner in the later stages of his innings. But it didn’t stop him reaching three figures with a six over cover off Rampaul before falling with just 23 needed. 

New Somerset List A captain Ben Green said: "That's one out of one for me as skipper, which is great! Sonny Baker showed what an amazing talent he is as a bowler and wicket-taker and I thought we were exceptional in the second half of the game, with two very experienced one-day players in Hildy and Steve Davies controlling our run chase before another talented youngster in Lewis Goldsworthy finished it off.

"When they put a big partnership together, we were looking down the barrel of 320-plus, so we were pretty happy to restrict them to 298 on a good pitch."

 

Derbyshire top scorer Fynn Hudson-Prentice said: "We felt we were 20 short of a good total. Having lost wickets early, Brooke and I had to start cautiously. The plan from mid-innings was for me to take on the spinners to push the run-rate up and him to bat through because we knew we needed a decent score on that pitch.

"If I had stayed in for a few more overs, it might have been a different story. In the end, we conceded a few too many boundaries and two very experienced batsmen have taken the game away from us."

 

 

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