Nick Gubbins’ determined century helped Hampshire maintain their perfect start as they beat Nottinghamshire to go top of Group A in the One-Day Cup.
Gubbins’ three-hour 119 anchored Hants to 254 all out before their bowlers ran through Notts to dismiss them for 163, to seal a third win out of three.
Elsewhere, Kent’s 330-6 proved too much for winless Surrey who lost by 87 runs.
Four batters hit half-centuries as Durham beat Derbyshire by 54 runs while Sussex got their first win at Somerset.
Cheteshwar Pujara was again the star for Sussex as they chased down 318 at Taunton in a match that saw three centuries.
The India batter made an unbeaten 117 – his second ton of the competition – marshalling the visitors’ reply superbly as they reached 319-6 with 11 balls to spare to topple Somerset, who had hoped hundreds from Andy Umeed and Ireland’s Curtis Campher had given them a winning total.
Hampshire indebted to captain’s knock
Having thrashed Essex and then seen off East Midlands rivals Leicestershire – either side of their washout against Yorkshire – in their two previous games, Nottinghamshire chose to test Hampshire’s in-form batters first after winning the toss at Welbeck Cricket Club in Mansfield.
At 62-4 after 15 overs it looked like Hants were about to crumble, only for Gubbins to stand firm.
Impressively strong through mid-on and mid-wicket, Gubbins glued the innings together as he steered their recovery beyond 250 before they were bowled out with one ball of their 50 overs remaining, with in-form South Africa seamer Dane Paterson taking 4-41.
Gubbins’ effort, including 13 fours and two sixes, spanned three hours and 47 overs as he became the first visiting batter to score a century at Welbeck against Notts since games first started being hosted there in 2015.
The home side’s reply started badly with Ben Slater out to the fifth ball of their innings and, when skipper Hasseb Hammed missed a sweep to leg-spinner Mason Crane’s second ball, Notts were 51-4.
A punchy stand of 44 for the sixth wicket between Matthew Montgomery and Liam Patterson-White offered some resistance before teenage seamer Eddie Jack (2-28) plucked out Montgomery’s off stump for 44 to leave them eight down, as the 17-year-old claimed his maiden wicket in only his second first-team game.
Jack then took an excellent diving catch at long-off to remove last man Ben Hutton off Crane (3-38) as Notts were bowled out for 163 to slide to their first defeat.
Surrey lose again
At the Kia Oval, Surrey’s poor competition continued as they first watched Kent rack-up their highest score so far – and second highest in 50-over cricket against the Brown Caps – as captain Jack Leaning (87), Daniel Bell-Drummond (65) and Alex Blake (62) propelled them towards 300.
Wicket-keeper Harry Finch (34) and Grant Stewart (26) crashed 60 off 30 deliveries between them to pile the pressure on, to leave Surrey 331 to claim their first win.
A 98-run stand for the second wicket between Ryan Patel (68) and skipper Rory Burns (43) laid a platform but when both were dismissed within four overs of each other, the home side’s effort ultimately never recovered.
Jordan Clarke’s 55 kept them faintly in the chase but when he was out to the off-spin of Hamidullah Qadri (3-50) Surrey needed almost 10 runs an over in the final nine overs, with three wickets left.
On-loan leg-spinner Matt Parkinson (4-43) then helped mop-up the tail as Surrey were bowled out for 243 with nearly seven overs remaining.
Pujara takes Sussex to thrilling first win
Pujara continued his superb form with another century – to add to his unbeaten 106 against Northamptonshire – as Sussex made relatively comfortable work of Somerset’s testing total.
Pujara’s innings came off just 113 balls and was paced to perfection as he received noble support from Tom Alsop (60), wicket-keeper Ollie Carter (44) and spinner Jack Carson (22 off 12 deliveries).
Somerset’s total represented something of a recovery after they stumbled to 80-3, with in-form James Rew out for 22.
But Umeed (119) and Campher (101) put on 163 for the fourth wicket, falling five runs short of a new record against Sussex, to get them back on track before captain Sean Dickson (40) helped add 49 from the last four overs.
But Pujara’s brilliance ensured it was not enough, as Sussex finally won for the first time.
Durham see off spirited Derbyshire
In Group B, Graham Clarke and former England batter Alex Lees gave Durham a superb start against Derbyshire at Chester-le-Street.
The pair put on 142 for the first wicket – a county record against Derbyshire in List A cricket – as they cashed in on being asked to bat first.
Lees then ran himself put attempting for run a bye off wicketkeeper Brooke Guest for 62, before Clarke was pinned LBW by left-arm spinner Mark Watt 11 short of a century.
When Scott Borthwick was bowled first ball by spinner Alex Thomson (3-53), a large total looked unlikely, with Durham 218-6 with 15 overs left. But Liam Trevaskis blitzed 76 from 54 balls, in another record stand against Derbyshire of 80 for the seventh wicket, with Michael Jones (56) as the home side got up to 333-8.
Those runs were to prove crucial as the visitors made an excellent fist of their chase as Harry Came (44) and David Lloyd (30) gave them a solid start, before Wayne Madsen’s 65 and Guest’s 63 kept them in the hunt.
But Migael Pretorius (4-56) took two late wickets in as many overs as Derbyshire’s spirited effort ended on 306 – 27 runs short.
