Jonny Tattersall and Rich Pyrah hailed Yorkshire’s remarkable win over Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens as they marched into the Royal London Cup knockout stages.
Yorkshire defended a target of 231, with Glamorgan 121-0 in the 28th over and shortly afterwards needing 108 off the last 20 overs with nine wickets in hand.
In the end, Matthew Waite, who had earlier hit 44 to help support Tattersall’s 53 in a Vikings recovery from 132-7, defended 11 off the last over.
Glamorgan finished on 226-8, with Yorkshire now travelling to Chelmsford to face Essex in Saturday’s Eliminator clash for the right to advance to Tuesday’s semi-final.
Tattersall’s fifty was only his second in Yorkshire’s first team this season, but what a time to shine!
“We’ve been playing some really good cricket in our last few games, and it was nice for me to contribute with some runs and to help the team,” he said.
“It was a pretty tricky wicket, but we stuck at it and we got our rewards in the end.
“It showed how tough it was out there when their new batters came in towards the end. It was difficult for them to get going and to strike the ball cleanly.
“We knew that with a score of around 200 we would be in with a chance if we could take wickets throughout. We got to 230, and it proved to be enough in the end.
“We were nice and tidy in the field, and bowled beautifully at times to keep the rate down. We came up trumps in the end.
“Getting (opener) Nick Selman (92 – 187-4 in the 44th) out was a big wicket for us. That made it difficult for them because the wicket was crumbing.
“We just had a feeling that if we could keep taking wickets, and with the run-rate going up to six, that we were right in the game.
“Trying to hit boundaries on that pitch was difficult.”
Yorkshire finished third in Group B with 10 points, behind Surrey in second and Glamorgan at the top on the same points haul. Net run-rate was the separator.
“It’s a great achievement to qualify having 13 players unavailable, 14 with Steve Patterson in a new role,” said RL50 coach Pyrah.
“It’s pretty much a new side with a couple of players who’ve played a bit before.
“It’s a tough group. But it makes it even more special with a performance like that.
“It was a great game of cricket on a tough pitch, a used one which had been glued.
“We got ourselves in a position where we had a chance of winning with 230 on the board, and the discipline we showed with the ball was outstanding.
“All I asked for was to stick to Plan A as long as possible.
“If Glamorgan are scoring five an over on there, fair play to them. We showed great skill to do it for the whole 50 overs.”