Thursday 15 September 2016 08:17, UK
As Warwickshire and Surrey prepare to do battle in the Royal London One-Day Cup final at Lord's, here's a look at how the sides made it to Saturday's showpiece occasion.
It looks set to be a closely fought contest as the pair arrive at the Home of Cricket with an identical record in this year's competition.
Warwickshire last triumphed in the competition in its previous guise of the Clydesdale Bank 40 in 2010 while Surrey claimed the trophy the following year and will be aiming to go one better having been narrowly beaten by Gloucestershire in last year's final.
Group - Played 8, Won 4, Lost 3, No Result 1
Warwickshire endured a difficult start to the competition as they fell to a 42-run defeat against a Jos Buttler-inspired Lancashire at Old Trafford, despite half-centuries from the experienced duo of Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell.
However, they got up and running in the next game with a convincing nine-wicket win over Leicestershire. Having restricted the visitors to 236, the Bears cruised to victory with nine overs remaining as Sam Hain (105no) hit the winning runs with a six that also brought up his century.
An incredible game at Trent Bridge followed and after a stunning century from Michael Lumb and Dan Christian's 94 from 47 balls, Warwickshire were set 416 to win.
Another ton, this time from Trott (100), meant that, against the odds, Warwickshire headed into the final 10 overs still right in the game. However, when Tim Ambrose (73 from 40 balls) was dismissed, they ran out of steam and were bowled out in the final over, 36 runs short.
Rain saw the clash with Derbyshire abandoned without a ball being bowled, meaning that four games in things looked bleak for Warwickshire. However, three wins from their final four saw them progress to the last eight in second place in the North Group.
Rikki Clarke was the catalyst for an eight-wicket win over Worcestershire, taking 5-26, before an opening stand of 180 between Will Porterfield (92) and Hain (88) saw Warwickshire to victory by the same margin over Northants.
Hain (107) made his second century of the competition at Durham but it was not enough to stop his side slipping to a third defeat. But another hundred for Trott (118) and a superb bowling display saw the Bears crush Yorkshire in the final game to seal their place in the knockout stages.
Quarter-final - Beat Essex by 70 runs
His England days may now be behind him but Trott has been in magnificent form for Warwickshire in the One-Day Cup and his third century in this year's competition set his side on their way to a comprehensive victory.
The 35-year-old scored 101 at the top of the order and shared a stand of 136 for the third wicket with Ambrose (60) before Laurie Evans' big-hitting got Warwickshire up to 283-7 from their 50 overs - the No 5 finishing unbeaten on 70 from 53 balls.
Nick Browne (39) and Tom Westley (61) got Essex off to a flyer in reply but, after the former was stumped off the bowling of Ateeq Javid with 75 on the board, they collapsed.
It was the Bears' spinners who did the damage and when Josh Poysden trapped Westley lbw, Essex were 134-6.
Ryan ten Doeschate did his best to claw the visitors back into contention but having reached fifty, he was the last wicket to fall as he became Jeetan Patel's third victim.
Semi-final - Beat Somerset by eight runs
It was an altogether tighter affair in the semi-final with Somerset, with a devastating spell from Patel ultimately proving decisive.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Trott and Hain put on 90 for the first Warwickshire wicket. Trott was eventually dismissed for 44 but Bell picked up where he left off and the Bears were approaching 200 when Hain, just 14 shy of his century, became the second wicket to fall.
The innings rather lost its way from that point but a late surge, led by Bell (94no), got Warwickshire up to 284-4.
Somerset's innings struggled to get going as they lost both openers inside the first eight overs. They did recover to 145-3 but from there Patel took over.
The Kiwi off-spinner picked up four wickets for just seven runs in 13 balls to tear through the middle-order and leave Somerset toiling at 161-7.
Ryan Davies (46) and Tim Groenewald (30no) made sure that Somerset at least went down swinging and even after Patel returned to break the partnership, they stayed in the hunt with 16 required from the final over.
Oliver Hannon-Dalby kept his nerve though to confirm Warwickshire's progress to the final.
Group - Played 8, Won 4, Loss 3, No Result 1
Like their opponents at Lord's, Surrey's One-Day Cup campaign got off to a less than impressive start with a win over Sussex at Guildford all they had to show for their efforts at the halfway stage.
Their first game against Kent was a thriller but having set their hosts 256 to win - Kumar Sangakkara top-scoring with 58 - and taking wickets at regular intervals throughout the second innings, Surrey fell to a one-wicket defeat in the final over.
It was a rather more one-sided affair as Surrey's first home game in the competition ended in an eight-wicket loss (DLS) to Somerset after rain reduced the match to 24 overs per side.
Ravi Rampaul and Rory Burns were the stars of the victory over Sussex, the West Indian bowler taking 4-47 before Burns hit an unbeaten 70 as Surrey chased down 235 in another rain-affected match.
But a Tom Alsop century condemned Surrey to another loss, this time by six runs against Hampshire, although that proved to be their last defeat in the competition.
Jason Roy (55), Steven Davies (82) and Burns (52) all made half-centuries as Essex were swept aside at Chelmsford, before Gareth Batty's five-for gave Surrey a crushing victory over Gloucestershire at The Oval.
Roy was then left unbeaten on 93 from 67 balls as the game at The Oval against Glamorgan was washed out but despite more rain at Lord's, Surrey were able to recover from 2-2 and get over the line in their crucial final group game against Middlesex.
The win saw them sneak into the knockout stages in the final qualification place at the expense of their London rivals at Lord's.
Quarter-final - Beat Northamptonshire by one wicket
Northampton's County Ground was the backdrop as one of modern cricket's greats proved that class really is permanent.
Northants won the toss and elected to bat first. Josh Cobb's quickfire 66 at the top of the order and some lusty hitting from Rory Kleinveldt (76no from 62 balls) late on saw them reach 276 before being bowled out for an over to go; Jade Dernbach taking 4-39 for Surrey.
Sangakkara came to the crease with Surrey 2-1 in their reply after Davies had been bowled for a duck. He put on 86 with Roy (42) for the second wicket but when the England man fell it was left to the 38-year-old to hold the innings together.
At the other end, wickets fell at regular intervals but Sangakkara remained. The Sri Lankan went to his century with Surrey seemingly cruising to victory, needing just 67 runs from 13 overs and with five wickets in hand.
However, when Stuart Meaker was run out with 14 balls remaining, Surrey found themselves nine down and still 27 short of their target. Sangakkara (130no) was unmoved, and having already clubbed a six in the final over, he hit the last ball for four to complete a stunning one-wicket win.
Semi-final - Beat Yorkshire by 19 runs
Having found themselves 8-2 and 61-3, Surrey got themselves out of trouble courtesy of a fourth wicket stand of 130 between Davies and Ben Foakes.
Davies, who was instrumental in Surrey's run to last year's final, batted superbly and went to his first century in this year's competition before he was eventually dismissed for 104.
Foakes remained until the penultimate over when he was caught off the bowling of Tim Bresnan for 90 as Surrey rather stumbled their way to the end of the innings.
Set 256 to win, Dernbach had Yorkshire danger man Adam Lyth caught early in the second innings and after Batty bowled Alex Lees, three wickets in two overs from Meaker left the hosts' chances hanging by a thread at 81-5.
Bresnan and Matthew Waite (38) put on 80 for the sixth wicket to keep the game alive but another clutch of wickets dashed any lingering Yorkshire hopes of an unlikely victory.
Tom Curran (2-35) picked up the wickets of Azeem Rafiq and Steven Patterson, while Bresnan (68), caught on the rope off Dernbach (2-45), was the last man out with seven balls remaining.
Watch the Royal London One-Day Cup Final between Warwickshire and Surrey from 10am on Saturday, Sky Sports 2.
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