That marks the end of our coverage from the grand finale of the England One-Day Cup 2025. Worcestershire have come out with flying colours by defeating Hampshire by 3 wickets and with just a couple of balls to go. This is their first List A trophy since 1994 and they have every reason to rejoice.
For now, this is Saptak Sanyal signing off on behalf of my co-commentators Pritam Dey and Anirudh Modi and the scorer/analyst of the game Sahil Khan. Good night.
Now the trophy is in Jake Libbyβs hands as he walks up to join his teammates on the podium. Together, they lift it high in celebration, marking the end of a 31-year wait as Worcestershire clinch a List-A championship for the first time since 1994.
Jake Libby (Worcestershire Captain):"Absolutely. It has been a tough couple of years. But then it is really special. The support we got from the crowd! The way Ethan played! Everything was special.
We speak a lot about Josh (Josh Baker) in the dressing room. A special guy. I think we played consistently good cricket. We stuck into a few individual performances but then we did well as a team too. Credit to Hampshire, they also played well.
When he (Ethan Brookes) walked in it was not easy. Henry has also been good for us this season. But then yes, Ethan got the most deserving player of the match award."
Nick Gubbins (Hampshire Captain & Player of the Tournament): "Well, it was not a good start from us. We initially lost the crucial toss. We started well with the bat but they came back strongly in the game. Small margins which work a lot in such a crucial game.
We played really good cricket and I am really proud of the boys. We batted well, we bowled well too but felt a bit short in the end. Ethan played a brilliant knock and Waite as well. Congratulations to Worcestershire as they deserved it. Really happy to see Josh's family out here. My thoughts go to his family. They deserve it and it's time for them to celebrate. Sometimes somethings are better than cricket."
Player of the Tournament: Nick Gubbins
Player of the Final: Ethan Brookes
11:43 PM IST and 7:13 PM Local Time : Worcestershire Rapids have clinched a nail-biting thriller and won it by 3 wickets and with just 2 balls to go. The match swung like a pendulum and went down the wire till the final over. Worcestershire kept their nerves and came out victorious and they are the champions of England One Day Cup 2025. This is their first List A trophy after 31 years. They won it the last time in 1994 and finally this year again.
Earlier in the game, Hampshire batted first. They were off to a solid start as Alastair Orr and Nick Gubbins added 82 runs for the opening stand. Gubbins got out for 38 and they lost Fletcha Middleton for 18. But Orr was then joined by Toby Albert. Latter helped the former get going. Alastair Orr batted really well and added a century beside his name and eventually went onto score 110 off 130 balls with 10 fours and a couple of maximums. Meanwhile a couple of rain breaks interrupted the innings and the game was curtailed to 45-overs per side. A good cameo from James Fuller took their score to 237/7 at the end of the 45th over.
For the Worcestershire, Matthew Waite took 3 wickets for 60 runs. Ben Allison took a couple of wickets. Tom Taylor and Ethan Brookes took a wicket each.
The DLS-adjusted target for the Worcestershire was 251 from 45 overs. But when the players entered and the batters took their stance, rain decided to play spoilsport again. It was an interruption that lasted for over an hour and the newly adjusted target for Worcestershire was 188 from 27 overs.
Gareth Roderick and Dan Lategan came to bat and they hit a few boundaries early in the innings. But they got out for 13 and 18 respectively. Kashif Ali was out in the middle but he struggled a bit on his way to score 25 from 33 balls.
Things changed into the Worcestershire's favour when Ethan Brookes came out to bat. Skipper Jake Libby took his team over the hundred-run mark but got out on 37 off 40 balls. Ethan Brookes hit a few big hits and also rotated the strike with expertise. He was the lone warrior for the Worcestershire in the last 10-over phase of the match. He ended up scoring 57 from just 34 balls with 5 fours and 4 sixes.
Scott Currie turned the game by taking 3 wickets in the penultimate over. He removed Rob Jones, Ethan Brookes and Tom Taylor. The equation was down to 13 off the final over. Matthew Waite hit Bradley Wheal's second ball of the over for a maximum and the equation was 5 off 4 balls. A couple of balls later, a mistimed pull from Henry Cullen fetched him with a boundary as Kyle Abbott slipped to touch the boundary cushion with the ball in hand after taking the catch. That was the winning run for the Worcestershire that ended their 31-year long List A trophy drought.
For Hampshire, Scott Currie who is fresh from his return from Ireland after getting released from the England's T20I squad, proved his mettle to take a fifer conceding just 34 from his 5 overs. James Fuller and Andrew Neal also contributed by taking a wicket each but their efforts fell just short.