Metro Bank One-Day Cup semi-final, Uptonsteel County Ground, Leicester |
Gloucestershire 125 (32.3 overs): Van Buuren 44; Scriven 3-19, Mulder 3-38 |
Leicestershire 126-4 (28.3 overs): Mulder 55*, Handscomb 49* |
Leicestershire won by six wickets |
Scorecard |
Leicestershire overcame an early-innings wobble as they beat Gloucestershire by six wickets to reach the One-Day Cup final.
The Foxes qualified for their first List A final since 2001 as they bowled out the visitors for 125, then lost four quick wickets before getting home on 126-4.
South African Wiaan Mulder was the star of the show, taking 3-38, before he hit a half-century in an unbroken stand of 93 with Australian Peter Handscomb as the hosts completed a six-wicket win.
Leicestershire will stay in the East Midlands for the final in Nottingham against Hampshire at Trent Bridge on Saturday, 16 September.
Hampshire romped to a nine-wicket win in the first semi-final earlier against Warwickshire at Edgbaston, having also won the toss and stuck the opposition in.
Whereas there was no way back for the battered Bears at Edgbaston, Gloucestershire did at least cause their hosts a few alarms by reducing Leicestershire to 33-4.
But Mulder (55*) and Handscomb (49*), in his final innings before returning back down under, calmed any home nerves as Leicestershire booked their first white-ball final since beating Somerset at Edgbaston in 2011 to record the most recent of their three T20 triumphs.
Good toss to win for Foxes
After winning the toss and putting Gloucestershire in, the hosts did not take long to make an impact.
Inside five overs, the visitors were three wickets down as Chris Wright accounted for Miles Hammond before Mulder struck twice in three balls to remove James Bracey and Harry Tector.
Ollie Price and Graeme van Buuren mounted a recovery of sorts with a stand of 39 for the fourth wicket.
But Josh Hull accounted for Price on 22, before Matt Salisbury bowled Jack Taylor in the next over to make it 63-5.
Van Buuren then enlisted the help of Tom Price (19) to add a further 36 for the sixth wicket.
But, from 99-5, once the elder of the two Price brothers had holed out to Mulder off Tom Scriven, that started a clatter of wickets as the last five men went down for only 26 runs.
Paceman Scriven got three of them, while Wright returned to dispose of van Buuren before the hosts were all out just before the rain came.
After a two-hour delay before they restarted, Gloucestershire then quickly galloped back into the contest with three superb catches at second slip by Ollie Price.
He held on to left-hander Budinger comfortably to his left off England white-ball paceman David Payne, then four balls later took one above his head as brother Tom Price found Rishi Patel’s edge. And, in Payne’s next over, Price hung on to another one diving to his right to see the end of Lewis Hill.
When Anwar Ali swung a delivery in to trap Colin Ackermann in front with one that kept low, there was suddenly a sense of home concern.
But Handscomb and Mulder brought their experience and quality to bear, taking their time to settle in before upping the pace as the finish line got closer.