One-Day Cup
All the action as the group stage comes to an end
THE rain that swept the country on Wednesday booked Somerset a quarter-final in the OneDay Cup and director of cricket Matthew Maynard believes that home advantage will be key.
Somerset’s scheduled match against Middlesex at Lord’s on Wednesday was washed out without a ball being bowled but that was enough to secure second spot in the South Group.
Essex finished top of the pile after beating Kent in Canterbury, while Surrey were denied the opportunity to overhaul Somerset for second place, as no play was possible in their game at Gloucestershire.
Nottinghamshire Outlaws will now visit Taunton for the quarterfinal on June 13, with the winner then facing a semi-final trip to Essex.
And Maynard is relishing the opportunity to play some knockout cricket.
“We’re delighted that we’ve made the knockout stages with a home tie,” said Maynard. “It’s a tough game (against Nottinghamshire) isn’t it?
“They’ve progressed and played some good cricket in their group, and we know they’re a very dangerous side full of internationals.
“But playing at home is going to be an advantage – we saw that last year when we performed really well in the quarter-final.
“So we’re looking forward to that game, but in the meantime we’ve got a good number of Championship matches that we need to focus on.”
Wednesday’s washout also brought Middlesex’s disappointing One-Day Cup campaign to a close as they finished eighth in the South Group, with just two victories from their eight matches.