CB40: Luke Wright century earns Sussex home semi-final

Sussex guaranteed themselves a home semi-final in the CB40 with a nine-wicket win over Kent at Canterbury.

Luke Wright hit an unbeaten 101 off 90 balls as he and Matt Prior (78 not out) saw them home with 10 overs to spare.

The Sharks will face Hampshire at Hove in the last four, with Lancashire taking on Warwickshire at Old Trafford.

Tom Smith (106 off 46 balls) and Stephen Moore (113) saw Lancashire to 324-4 against Worcestershire before rain forced the game to be abandoned.

Smith's century, which spanned just 44 balls, was the joint fifth fastest in List A cricket. He struck 10 sixes and eight fours and scored 30 off the eighth over of Lancashire's innings.

He shared an opening stand of 150 with Moore, whose 105-ball knock took him past 500 runs in this season's competition.

Final group results

• Derbyshire v Northants: no-result
• Durham v Hampshire: no-result
• Sussex beat Kent by 9 wkts
• Leicestershire v Gloucestershire: no-result
• Middlesex beat Essex by 54 runs (D/L method)
• Notts v Glamorgan: no result
• Somerset v Surrey: no result
• Worcestershire v Lancashire: no result
• Warwickshire beat Yorkshire by 56 runs (D/L method)

Only Brett D'Oliveira, grandson of former England all-rounder Basil, emerged with any credit among Worcestershire bowlers, taking 1-37 from eight overs.

The Royals were relieved that the weather forced the players from the field at New Road.

Kent's clash with Sussex like being a close-fought contest before the start of play, but Kent's total of 210-5 was soon made to look inadequate by the Sussex top order.

Darren Stevens bowled Chris Nash for 20 but, once Wright and Prior were into their stride, the result was never in doubt.

Kent had to wait and see whether they would also progress as the best runners-up from the three groups, but they were denied asWarwickshire beat Yorkshire by 55 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis methos at Scarborough.

In a rain-affected match, former England wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose struck 87 not out off 64 balls, sharing a fourth-wicket partnership of 89 with Darren Maddy (44 off 27 balls) as the Bears made 211-6 from 29 overs.

Steve Patterson took 3-25 from six overs for Yorkshire, but they were soon struggling in reply with Adam Lyth lbw to left-arm seamer Neil Carter for a duck.

Carter bowled superbly for figures of 4-16 and only skipper Gary Ballance, with 68 off 50 balls, made a significant contribution as Yorkshire were dismissed for 158 in the 26th over.

The abandonment of holders Surrey's game at Somerset guaranteed FL t20 champions Hampshire's passage to the last four as winners of their group, even though they managed only six overs of their match against Durham at Chester-le-Street.

The semi-finals will take place on Saturday, with the final at Lord's on 15 September.

Source: Los Angeles Times