Yorkshire beat Lancashire by 2 wickets to take Second Eleven Trophy with James Lee scoring an unbeaten 39 to add to his two wickets to see Yorkshire home.

Well done to Simon Guy and his team today and congratulates to Kevin Sharp and Craig White who have led the 2nd Team through a successful summer!   Enjoy DAVE MAUD'S Picture Gallery - and then scroll on to MICHAEL SNOOK'S Match Report and Scorecard.

PHOTOGRAPHY IN SCARBOROUGH COURTESY OF DAVE MAUD - many thanks to Dave for these excellent shots. 

Bowlers win match - with the bat

The Lancashire supporters could not believe it - and quite a few had made the long trek across the Pennines and Wolds to the home of beach cricket, Scarborough, for the Second Eleven Trophy Final and a War of the Rosebuds.

The old enemies had not met in the group stage of the competition - their scheduled fixture was abandoned without a ball bowled - and as Yorkshire had sent southern pretenders Hampshire packing in the semi-finals it was the opportunity for the old rivals to settle their differences once again.

Could not believe what? Before four overs had been bowled the visitors had lost four, repeat four, wickets for 11 runs - the sorry quartet scoring only a single between them.  Three ducks - a birdwatcher’s delight! How Lancashire captain Gareth Cross, one of the three, must have rued his decision to bat as opening bowlers James Lee and Oliver Hannon-Dalby bagged a brace each.

The fifth-wicket partnership could go only one way if Lancashire were to make a fist of it - and this they surely did. Tom Smith and Luke Procter turned the tide, batting for 23 overs and weathering the storm to take the score to 78 before Ben Sanderson bowled Smith in his second over. Another three dozen were added by Procter and the incoming Chris Tipper before first Tipper and then Procter were trapped leg-before - Tipper by Joe Root and Procter by Sanderson. That was more or less it! Two more joined the duck club as the last three wickets fell for 13 runs - and last man Montgomery ran out of partners before he could get off the mark. There were still seven overs left when Lancashire finally subsided on 142.

Yorkshire only needed to bat sensibly - less than three an over is hardly a challenge - but there’s many a slip between cup or Trophy and the lip. Gary Ballance opened as though there were only 20 overs as he smacked a big six in Oliver Newby’s first over and a four in his second. Attempting a repeat, he top-edged the next ball almost into orbit before it fell into wicket-keeper Cross’s gloves. Adam Lyth joined Root, and there followed a little more circumspection. There was no rush...Root batted out a maiden, the first of three to be delivered by Smith - but after Lyth had taken a single Root was leg-before: Joe was almost walking before umpire Robinson had made his decision.

The Lancashire supporters perked up a little with the capture of two wickets - and when Richard Pyrah joined the duck club they realised their bowlers were making a fight of it. Lyth and Lee Hodgson had other ideas, and slowly Yorkshire's total began to rise. They had more than doubled it when Simon Kerrigan was called into the attack. The slow left-hander’s first delivery was hit for six...but the next trapped Lyth-leg before. Simon Guy, captaining the White Rosebuds in his last appearance for the county, dotted the third ball and took a single off the fourth. Hodgson was caught at slip by Smith on the fifth, and Azeem Rafiq dotted the last.

Strangely, four batsmen had faced the six deliveries, and it seemed that the tide had turned for Lancashire.

Kerrigan bowled Guy in his next over, the captain looking very disappointed with his meagre contribution. Four wickets remained - and Yorkshire were still 58 short of the target. Surely Lancashire must finish off their hosts without much more trouble? The new partnership got together. Rafiq batted through the fourth maiden of the innings to leave paceman Lee to face Kerrigan’s third over. With three wickets under his belt, he was not expecting what happened next: Lee dotted two balls - and hit the next for six. Two off the next...and four off the last. A dozen to Lee's credit and to Kerrigan’s debit.

Singles were now the order of the day as the pair poked and prodded their way through another 15 runs. Lancashire hopes were waning - but then came a stroke of luck: bowler Smith touched Lee's full-blooded straight-drive onto Rafiq’s stumps for him to be run out backing up. Three wickets left, and still 29 to go. Could Lancashire administer the coup de grace?

Bowlers often win matches with the ball in the hand. But with a bat in hand?

They did this time, as Nos. 9 and 10 frustrated Lancashire's best efforts and helped No. 8 Lee to edge Yorkshire ever nearer the finishing line. Steven Patterson’s contribution of six runs in a 25-run partnership with Lee ended four short of the target when he was trapped in front by Newby. The nerves jangled: Sanderson hit his first ball for one to give the strike back to Yorkshire’s star batsman of the day - and Lee finished it off with the best pull to cow corner he will ever strike. The third scampered run saw the celebrations begin.

It was a proud Simon Guy who collected the Trophy from Yorkshire President Brian Close, in front of a throng of Yorkshire supporters. It was only the second victory for the White Rosebuds in the competition - the previous win being 21 years ago. It was victory in what turned out to be a very close contest - despite the start - that was much appreciated by the supporters of both sides.

Lancashire 2nd XI Innings (maximum 50 overs): TC Smith b Sanderson 46 (6 fours), KR Brown c Guy b Hannon-Dalby 0, SJ Croft c Lyth b Lee 1, GD Cross (captain and wicket-keeper) lbw b Lee 0, SJ Mullaney b Hannon-Dalby 0, LA Procter lbw b Sanderson 41 (3 fours), CL Tipper lbw b Root 22 (5 fours), SD Parry c Pyrah b Patterson 19 (1 four), OJ Newby b Azeem Rafiq 0, SC Kerrigan b Azeem Rafiq 0, GS Montgomery not out 0. Extras (lb 5, w 8) 13
Total (42.1 overs) 142
FoW: 1-7 (Brown), 2-10 (Croft), 3-10 (Cross), 4-11 (Mullaney), 5-78 (Smith), 6-116 (Tipper), 7-122 (Procter), 8-129 (Newby), 9-142 (Kerrigan), 10-142 (Parry)

Bowling: Lee 8-0-31-2, Hannon-Dalby 8-0-25-2, Azeem Rafiq 10-1-24-2, Patterson 4.1-0-7-1, Sanderson 7-0-23-2, Root 5-0-27-1

Yorkshire 2nd XI Innings (maximum 50 overs): JE Root lbw b Newby 2, GS Ballance c Cross b Newby 16 (1 four and 1 six), A Lyth lbw b Kerrigan 28 (2 fours and 1 six), RM Pyrah b Smith 0,
LJ Hodgson c Smith b Kerrigan 16 (3 fours), SM Guy (captain and wicket-keeper) b Kerrigan 4, Azeem Rafiq run out 11, JE Lee not out 39 (3 fours and 1 six), SA Patterson lbw b Newby 6 (1 four), BW Sanderson not out 1. Extras (lb 8, w 12) 20
Total (8 wkts, 36.5 overs) 143
DNB: OJ Hannon-Dalby
FoW: 1-20 (Ballance), 2-21 (Root), 3-32 (Pyrah), 4-75 (Lyth), 5-76 (Hodgson), 6-85 (Guy), 7-114 (Azeem Rafiq), 8-139 (Patterson)

Bowling: Newby 9.5-1-35-3, Smith 9-3-30-1, Mullaney 2-0-12-0, Parry 6-1-21-0, Kerrigan 10-1-37-3

Result: Yorkshire won by 2 wickets

Umpires: NL Bainton and RT Robinson. Scorers: M Snook and DM White

Match Report and Statistics: MICHAEL SNOOK