Yorkshire ended their Metro Bank One-Day Cup campaign with a low-scoring defeat to Group B winners Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff, falling short in pursuit of 231.
The Vikings lost by 62 runs having limited the Welshmen to 230-9 from 47 overs following a delayed start to 11.30am because of rain.
Ben Cliff and Dan Moriarty both claimed three wickets for the Vikings, who elected to bowl, while captain Jonny Tattersall later hit 51 in 168 all out in 42 overs.
Yorkshire came into this final group fixture knowing they had to win big to give themselves any chance of achieving a top-three finish in the group and qualifying for Friday’s quarter-finals. They would have had to chase the target in 25 overs to keep themselves alive, that coupled with a narrow Gloucestershire win over Leicestershire.
It just wasn’t a realistic task.
Unfortunately, they weren’t able to complete victory at all, with Glamorgan’s new ball quick Timm van der Gugten outstanding for 2-32 from 10 overs following his unbeaten 34 down the order. Billy Root’s 66 was the highest score of the contest, while seamer Andy Gorvin finished with 4-35 from eight overs.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Ben Cliff impressed with the new ball in defeat at Sophia Gardens.
The Vikings finish the campaign with four wins and four defeats, all coming in a win one, lose one pattern.
Ottis Gibson handed a second debut to an Academy product in as many games; Noah Kelly followed fellow top-order batter Yash Vagadia into the side after the latter played in Sunday’s win over Warwickshire at Rugby School.
The Vikings started well following overnight and morning rain.
Cliff (3-37 from seven overs) led the way with the new ball as he claimed the first three wickets, leaving Glamorgan at 40-3 after eight overs.
Wicketkeeper Will Smale was first to go when he miscued a heave across the line to mid-on before trapping the other opener, Asa Tribe, lbw with one angled in that kept a touch low.
When George Hill took a one-handed screamer diving to his right at slip, helping Cliff oust Sam Northeast, Yorkshire had the definite advantage at a venue where they had won on their last two visits in this competition.
Experienced pair Colin Ingram and home captain Kiran Carlson steadied the home ship with a 44-run stand in the Cardiff gloom. The floodlights were employed from approximately halfway through the Glamorgan innings.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Noah Kelly made his first-team debut today having graduated through Yorkshire’s Academy.
By that stage, the partnership had been broken as Hill had a driving Ingram caught behind by Tattersall, who had taken over the gloves from Harry Duke – maybe with the return to Championship cricket next week in mind.
Ingram’s departure for 18 – 84-4 in the 17th – was then followed by a steady flow of wickets on a pitch offering a bit more pace than we have previously seen here but still on the slow side and with definite signs of turn.
Carlson was trapped stuck on the crease but having missed a straight one for 31, 103-5 after 22 overs, before Root tried to advance the innings in watchful fashion.
And he did so, despite Moriarty (3-47 from 10) claiming the next three wickets to leave Glamorgan at 165-8 in the 38th over.
Ben Kellaway was caught behind on the cut, Gorvin caught at slip off a beauty he could do little about – one which turned and bounced a bit more than he thought – and Dan Douthwaite slapped to debutant Kelly at cover.
From there, the hosts did very well to get up to 230 – and while Root finished as the top-scorer in the innings, it was Dutch fast bowler van der Gugten, who added the impetus.
He lofted Dom Bess straight, towards the River Taff, for the only six of the innings and shared 56 inside nine overs for the ninth wicket with left-handed Root, who was caught behind off Hill in the penultimate over of the innings.
Picture by John Clifton/SWpix.com. Dan Moriarty matched Ben Cliff’s three-wicket return.
Van der Gugten’s influence on this fixture continued as, with the first ball of Yorkshire’s reply, he had Duke lbw as he played to leg.
Duke opened with left-handed Kelly, and unfortunately he wasn’t able to make a significant impact on debut as Jamie McIlroy bowled him on the drive for three shortly afterwards.
And when Will Luxton lost his off-stump for the same score to a beauty from van der Gugten which jagged back, the Vikings were 11-3 and in the seventh over.
Tattersall and Vagadia steadied, the latter handsomely lofting Kellaway’s off-spin for six over long-off. But it wasn’t long before Glamorgan struck again.
In last month’s win over Surrey, Kellaway made headlines for taking a wicket bowling both right-arm off-spin and left-arm spin.
Here, he removed Vagadia caught at cover for 21 with his first ball of left-arm spin having bowled the previous 10 with his right, leaving Yorkshire at 57-4 in the 16th.
Tattersall was then able to advance Yorkshire’s cause with help from Matthew Revis.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Jonny Tattersall has now scored three successive One-Day Cup on this ground.
In Yorkshire’s wins here in 2021 and 2022, the wicketkeeper-batter scored half-centuries in both. And he had designs on making it a hat-trick.
The skipper wasn’t without fortune. He was dropped on 12 at point and twice inside-edged Douthwaite’s seam to fine-leg for four. But he worked the ball around nicely and got used to the pace of the pitch. Before reaching his fifty, off 66 balls, he lofted Kellaway’s off-spin over mid-on’s head for four.
With 20 overs remaining, Yorkshire were 116-4 needing 115 more.
But Gorvin was about to swing the contest back in his side’s favour, striking twice inside three balls in the 28th over and three times in 12 balls in all as Yorkshire fell to 127-7 after 30 overs. He had Revis caught behind for 28, ending a 59-run stand with Tattersall, who himself was trapped lbw. In his next over, he bowled Hill.
Bess pulled Douthwaite for a six and four but perished on the reverse sweep against Kellaway’s off-spin for 22 – 152-8 in the 36th. And that was realistically that.
Kellaway had Leech caught at deep mid-wicket before Cliff was caught at mid-on to hand Gorvin his fourth wicket and a victory which secures a home semi-final here on Sunday.
Yorkshire are next in action against Sussex in the Vitality County Championship at Scarborough a week tomorrow. It is the first of five remaining games in the Division Two promotion race.
