CLYDESDALE BANK 40 GROUP B, Headingley:
Essex 211-3 (36.3 ovs) bt Yorkshire 209-8 (40 ovs) by seven wickets
Match scorecard

Cook's century came off 108 balls, with 10 fours and a six

England opener Alastair Cook hit an unbeaten 101 to guide Essex into the CB 40 semi-finals with a seven-wicket win over already-qualified Yorkshire.

David Masters took a competition-best 4-41 as Yorkshire were restricted to 209-8, a total built around 59 from Jacques Rudolph and Gerard Brophy's 52.

Cook and Mark Pettini (82) then laid the platform for Essex's comfortable victory with an opening stand of 161.

Essex qualify for the last four by virtue of being the best runner-up.

They finished a point behind Group B winners Yorkshire but finished with superior records to Group A runners-up Sussex and Group C's second-placed side Kent.

Essex had lost to Yorkshire by 10 wickets in their opening match of the competition and with Cook and Pettini going well it looked like they could mirror that result.

But Pettini was caught behind off paceman Ben Sanderson, with Grant Flower trapped leg before by David Wainwright in the following over.

Matt Walker also fell just short of the finishing line, but there was enough time for Cook to complete his century off 110 balls before Ryan ten Doeschate hit the winning boundary with 21 balls to spare.

Masters had earlier played a key role in restricting Yorkshire, while wicketkeeper James Foster also played his part with a sharp stumping and three catches.

The pair combined for the first two dismissals as Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale was stumped by Foster before Adam Lyth edged behind.

Rudolph, who broke Darren Lehmann's Yorkshire record for one-day runs in a season on the way to his 59, and Brophy helped steady the ship, but after they fell Masters returned to remove Adil Rashid and Rich Pyrah in successive balls.

Jonathan Bairstow then hit a spirited 30 to help Yorkshire past 200 but it never looked like being enough.

Essex batsman Alastair Cook told BBC Essex:
"Two hundred was a long way below par and I think the way the guys fielded and bowled set it up nicely.

"When you're going five an over on a good wicket with that batting power play always up your sleeve it was an easy chase.

"We played really well, we had two must-win games, so it was like a last-16 and a quarter-finals and now we're in the semis."

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