Vilas proves worth with a ton but Cup is over for Lancs

LANCASHIRE’S Dane Vilas hit a century to send Durham crashing out of the One-Day Cup after a 28-run victory but admits his personal success was bittersweet.

Despite the win for Lancashire, neither side progressed to the knockout stages of the competition.

Lancashire’s hopes of earning one of the top three places ended when Nottinghamshire’s game away to Northamptonshire was washed out.

Victory for the Red Rose meant that they finished fourth in the North Group, one place ahead of Durham.

Former England all-rounder Paul Collingwood took three wickets as Lancashire were reduced to 126 for four after a good start, but Vilas’s onslaught helped them to gather 135 runs from the last 15 overs, compared with 76 off the previous 15.

The second 50 of his 83-ball century came from 26 balls and his fifth-wicket stand of 118 with Steven Croft proved crucial.

And while South African Vilas was delighted to contribute with the bat and end the campaign with a win, he was understandably frustrated at not reaching the next stage.

He said:“It is always nice to get some runs and especially in a winning cause and helping the team get over the line.

“But unfortunately we fell short by one point and unfortunately did not qualify for the knockout stages.”

Looking back on the One-Day cup campaign as a whole, Vilas was impressed by how Lancs improved following a slow start.

He added: “The way we started was not ideal, to lose the first two games, but to then win four out of five was really good.

“We knew we had to win all of them to get ourselves into the mix but unfortunately we were relying on other teams and that is not the position you want to be in. But the guys wanted to win and we managed to do that, so we are happy with that.

“The improvement has come from the guys taking responsibility and I think we gave our wickets away a little bit and left a few runs out there.

“I think that is what helped a lot towards the back end now, putting some good scores on and I think the way the guys have bowled and fielded has been really good.”

When Durham batted, the accuracy of Kyle Jarvis was rewarded as he knocked back Keaton Jennings’ off stump and then Stephen Cook edged England bowler James Anderson into the slips.

Graham Clark contributed 32 and Michael Richardson hit 58 while Collingwood was on 20 when he was run out.

There were brief flurries from the middle order and the last-wicket pair added 44, but Durham never looked likely to get close and were 276 for nine after their 50 overs.