Royal London One-Day Cup
Gloucestershire 279 all out Surrey 291-8
RORY BURNS hit a career-best List A score of 95 to guide Surrey to a 12-run victory over Gloucestershire at Bristol on Tuesday and ensure top place in the Royal London Cup Group A.
Both teams could look forward to home quarter-finals from the moment Yorkshire’s game with Northants was declared a no-result because of rain in mid-afternoon.
But it is Surrey who will enter the last eight on the back of a win after running up 291-8, with Burns making his runs off 96 balls, with five fours and two sixes.
Burns departed five short of a deserved century caught on the boundary attempting a straight six off Benny Howell.
James Fuller was the pick of the Gloucestershire attack with 3-26 from eight overs.
The home side, who had won the toss, made 279 in reply, Benny Howell top-scoring with 60.
Gloucestershire reached 41 in reply before Will Tavare was caught behind driving at a wide ball from Tom Curran (4-65), who also had Gareth Roderick taken by keeper Wilson, having scored 19.
Geraint Jones fell lbw aiming to reverse sweep Gareth Batty and when Chris Dent, having made a bright 49 off 51 balls, cut James Burke straight to Burns at backward point it was 97-4 in the 18th over.
Kieran Noema-Barnett drove Batty to mid-off and when Jack Taylor was caught behind off Dernbach it was 137-6.
Howell and Fuller (46) made a game of it with a stand of 90 in 15.4 overs, but when the latter fell 65 were still needed and Howell soon followed, having struck six fours in his 77-ball innings.
Tom Smith’s 37 not out at the end was too little too late.
Gloucestershire head coach Richard Dawson admitted: "We got lucky with the weather in Yorkshire, which got us out of jail and means we have a home quarter-final, despite losing.
"We conceded too many extras, largely by not bowling accurately enough at the start of Surrey's innings, but in the end we have made a close game of it in spite of not being at our best.
"A big crowd at Bristol means a great atmosphere for the lads to play in and I think they have played in enough big games now to handle the pressure of a quarter-final."
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