Ballance 236 not out as Academy reach Final

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Gary Ballance, right, butchered Sheffield Collegiate with 236 not out and shared in a first-wicket partnership of 296 with Joe Root as Yorkshire Academy reached the final of the ECB Oxbridge Yorkshire County Premier League Cup.

Gary Ballance, right, butchered Sheffield Collegiate with 236 not out and shared in a first-wicket partnership of 296 with Joe Root as Yorkshire Academy reached the final of the ECB Oxbridge Yorkshire County Premier League Cup.

Academy rampaged their way to 357-1 in the 50 overs at Headingley Carnegie yesterday, but Collegiate could manage only 202-8 to finish 155 runs short.

The clouds hovered over Headingley as Collegiate won the toss and put Academy in - but all the shine came from Ballance and Root as they put the bowlers to the sword. Their stand of 296 took only 157 minutes as they decimated the Sheffield attack - sending the Collegiate players who included Joe's father, Matt, and younger brother Billy to all corners of the field.

Joe, 86, managed only two fours in his excellent supportive roll - but Ballance was merciless, bludgeoning 24 fours and 10 huge sixes: he took only 166 balls to reach his 236 not out in 174 minutes at the crease. When Joe was caught Callum Geldart, too, tried a mini onslaught - achieving his 21 in 16 balls.

Billy Root opened for Collegiate with Charlie Wall, no doubt hoping to emulate his brother. It was not to be: Charlie fell at 15, while Billy went for 18 with the total 35-2. The next four wickets went down for 37 runs - but things looked better as Matt Root, 34, and Nadeem Khan, 74, made an aggressive a stand of 77. Nadeem struck 14 fours in a forceful innings until he was clean bowled by Chavez Younes. Left-hander Gurman Randhawa bowled with excellent control on a wicket which took spin, his 3-33 being just reward for a fine 10-over spell.

Thus the Academy triumphed by 155 runs to meet the winners of the York v Scarborough Semi-Final.

Yorkshire Academy Innings (maximum 50 overs): J Root c J Jones b M Dickson 85, G Ballance not out 236, C Geldart not out 21. Extras (lb 3, w 9, nb 3) 15
Total (1 wkt, 50 overs) 357
DNB: C Roebuck, J Hargreaves, G Randhawa, C Younes, D Girling, H Chadwick (wicket-keeper), JA Blain (captain) and M Ashraf
FoW: 1-296

Bowling: K Nayager 10-0-51-0, J Jones 6-0-68-0, C Wall 4-0-22-0, D Adams 10-0-71-0, N Khan 10-1-63-0, M Dickson 10-0-79-1

Sheffield Collegiate Innings (maximum 50 overs): W Root b J Root 18, C Wall c G Ballance b M Ashraf 5, D Adams st H Chadwick b G Randhawa 9, M Root c G Randhawa b G Ballance 34, M Simpson c G Ballance b G Randhawa 11, A Patmore (wicket-keeper) b J Root 6, J Colton c H Chadwick b G Randhawa 2, N Khan b C Younes 74, J Jones not out 14, K Nayager not out 4. Extras (b 2, lb 5, w 17, nb 1) 25
Total (8 wkts, 50 overs) 202
DNB: M Dickson (captain)
FoW: 1-15, 2-35, 3-37, 4-49, 5-58, 6-72, 7-149, 8-194

Bowling: M Ashraf 4-1-14-1, D Girling 6-0-21-0, J Root 10-4-24-2, G Randhawa 10-2-33-3, C Roebuck 5-0-40-0, G Ballance 9-0-42-1, C Younes 6-1-21-1

Umpires: Mr S Roberts (Doncaster) and Mr R Knowles (Doncaster). Scorers: Mr HD Galley and Mr A Varley