Lancashire seal C&G final place

Lancashire 250 for 7 (Law 68, Loye 60) beat Warwickshire 249 for 5 (Trott 76*, Wagh 51) by three wickets
Scorecard
Final points tables

Mal Loye's blazing 44-ball 60 put Lancashire on course at Edgbaston © Getty Images

Half centuries from Mal Loye and Stuart Law guided Lancashire into the C&G final although not without the occasional nervy moment against Warwickshire. Derbyshire's last-gasp win over Durham eventually made this result academic, but this wasn't known until Edgbaston had finished. Chasing 250, Loye launched the chase with a thunderous 60 but wickets fell at regular intervals and it needed a calm stand between the old pro, Dominic Cork, and young rookie, Steven Croft, to take Lancashire home.

Lancashire had earlier bowled and fielded tightly to restrict Warwickshire on a decent batting surface - held together with a new-style glue on the surface - and with one very short boundary. The two spinners, Gary Keedy and Simon Marshall, were effective in restricting the scoring rate but Jonathan Trott lifted the total to respectable levels.

But 249 was being made to look rather insignificant when Loye launched the run chase in a blaze of boundaries. He smashed four massive sixes over the legside using his trademark sweep, down on one knee, against the seamers. With England going through a prolonged slump in one-day cricket, batting with this power continues to push Loye's claims for international selection. As far as this match was concerned the early blitz ensured Lancashire were always ahead of the rate, however things didn't always go their way.

Heath Streak, who didn't take the new ball, removed Mark Chilton with his first delivery then trapped Nathan Astle, making his Lancashire debut, lbw to remove two senior batsman from a Lancashire order than also included plenty of youngsters. But Law, at No.4, is a player who has certainly 'been there and done that' and brought a calm influence to proceedings.

Loye's fireworks were ended by Neil Carter, but the batsmen continued to push on at more than a run-a-ball. Gareth Cross, Lancashire's reserve wicketkeeper for the injured Luke Sutton, contributed 20 off 14 balls as Law soaked up the pressure. He stroked ten classical boundaries, but when he fell to Nick James, the England Under-19 left-arm spinner, Lancashire's progression was still not certain.

Cork, though, enjoys nothing more than the big occasion and was busy running the fielders ragged from the moment he came in. Croft, who is playing because of the absence of Glen Chapple, Sajid Mahmood and James Anderson, showed outstanding maturity and it was his lofted drive over the boundary that released the tension in the dressing room.

Warwickshire, with nothing to play for apart from pride, produced a solid batting effort although they struggled for boundaries after Mark Wagh and Naveed Poonia were separated following a bright stand of 96. Keedy nabbed himself a couple with a tidy spell, but Trott and Michael Powell formed a sensible partnership of 87. However, after missing out in last year's C&G semi-final at Edgbaston, and picking up the tag of chokers in recent seasons, Lancashire have reached their first Lord's final since 1998.