The summer finale to the county cricket season takes place this Saturday at Lord’s as this year’s two best 50-over teams go head-to-head in the final of the inaugural Royal London One-Day Cup, live on Sky Sports.
New for 2014 summer schedule, the One-Day Cup has been played over the last two months using the 50-over format, bringing one of county cricket’s major limited overs trophies back in line with the length of one-day internationals, after several years of chopping and changing between formats.
This year’s final sees Durham take on Warwickshire in the summer finale at the home of cricket, with Durham coming off the back of crushing the Nottinghamshire Outlaws in the semi-finals, whilst their opponents the Bears saw off Kent at the same stage to give themselves the chance of collecting a second major trophy of the season.
Several England internationals past and present will be on display at Lord’s on Saturday, including Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Jonathan Trott, Paul Collingwood and, dependent on recovery from injury, Ian Bell.
Durham all-rounder Stokes is hitting the best form of his career ahead of the final and could be the key to guiding his team to more trophy success thanks his incredible century in the semi-final win against Kent recently.
Despite enduring a relatively up and down year for England, Stokes is finishing the summer on a high after making a successful return to the national limited overs team, which he followed up with a brutal 164 off 113 balls in the semi-final of the Royal London One Day Cup against Nottinghamshire.
With Durham’s place in the LV= County Championship top flight secure following a comprehensive defeat of Middlesex at Lord’s prior to this week’s final, the team can turn their attention fully to the prestigious Lord’s final against a Warwickshire side who have been very familiar with the surroundings of Lord’s down the years in major finals.
The Bears will be seeking a second trophy inside a month after they claimed the NatWest T20 Blast crown in August, the club’s first domestic Twenty20 title, which was held on their home patch at Edgbaston.
Jonathan Trott’s classy half-century, along with a 50 from skipper Varun Chopra, fired Warwickshire into the One Day Cup final in their six wicket win over Kent in last month’s semi-finals, and Bears fans will be hoping both players are in top form for the season finale.
An exciting conclusion to Sky Sports’ county cricket coverage for the 2014 season awaits at Lord’s as the remaining piece of cricketing silverware this summer is won by either Durham or Warwickshire.
Sky Sports will be screening exclusively live coverage of the 2014 Royal London One Day Cup Final at Lord’s as the domestic limited overs season draws to a close at the home of cricket.
Charles Coville presents live coverage on Sky Sports 2 from 10.00am on Saturday, September 20, where he will be joined throughout the day by Sky’s usual team of expert commentators, which includes Michael Atherton, Nasser Hussain, Paul Allott and Nick Knight.
Alongside full live coverage on TV and online via Sky Go (subscription required), extended highlights will be shown over the follow days across the Sky Sports network, with the first showing on Saturday evening at 10.00pm on Sky Sports 3.
Before coverage of the final begins, Sky Sports will broadcast highlights at 9.00am from the recent NatWest Club T20 National Finals from Northamptonshire, with another chance to watch it again following the conclusion of the Lord’s contest at 6.00pm.
Further behind-the-scenes features, live score updates and text commentary can be found online the Sky Sports cricket website, with additional updates on Twitter via @SkyCricket.
.
Saturday 20th September
DURHAM v WARWICKSHIRE
Royal London One Day Cup Final 2014 | Lord’s | Play Starts: 10:30
LIVE: 10.00am-6.00pm Sky Sports 2
Highlights: 10.00pm-11.00pm Sky Sports 3
.
.