Smith and Leatherdale guide Worcs to victory

Worcestershire 204 (Smith 54) beat Essex 183 (Flower 58) by 21 runs
Scorecard

Worcestershire snuck through to the semi-finals of the C&G Trophy with a thrilling 21-run win over Essex at New Road. In a low-scoring match, Worcestershire batted first and made 204 - a total that owed everything to a level-headed 76-run stand for the sixth wicket between Ben Smith and David Leatherdale. Despite a similarly ropey start, Essex were on course for victory, but were undone by a pair of calamitous run-outs.

Worcestershire won the toss and chose to bat first, but were soon given reason to regret that decision, when Stephen Peters wafted Scott Brant through to the keeper, and Andy Bichel was bowled by Darren Gough for a third-ball duck (14 for 2). That situation got even worse when Ravinder Bopara popped up with the big wicket of Graeme Hick in his first over.

Vikram Solanki and Andrew Hall gave their wickets away to poor strokes, but Smith and Leatherdale steadied the innings with a cool partnership. Apart from one wayward over from Graham Napier, which went for three leg-side fours, they were content to rotate the strike, until Bopara returned to the attack and Smith steered him to midwicket (151 for 6). Bopara then clung onto a good catch at backward-point to send Leatherdale on his way for 42, and the innings subsided.

Essex's reply was inauspicious. They lost Will Jefferson, Alastair Cook and the captain Ronnie Irani inside the opening 15 overs (36 for 3), and at 75 for 5, everything was resting on Andy Flower. But when he was run out for an excellent 58 from 98 balls (116 for 6), Worcestershire had taken control of the match.

Nobody told James Middlebrook, however, and with Darren Gough providing solid support, he set about hunting down the total. The match was tilting back into the balance, however, when Middlebrook was superbly run out by Kabir Ali at backward square-leg, who fielded and threw in a flash. There was a long delay as the third umpire decided whether Steve Rhodes had broken the wicket too soon, but once he was sent on his way, the game was up for Essex.