Finlay Bean smashed a record-breaking 53-ball century to strengthen Yorkshire's already dominant position in the county One-Day Cup 2025.
Bean walked into the match with a List A average of 15.8 and no centuries (and one fifty) from his 17 innings thus far. The former England U19 keeper also had a boom-or-bust County Championship, scoring a double century opening the batting against Nottinghamshire in June, but only managing one fifty in the other 17 innings.
It was just over three years since his record-breaking 441 for the Yorkshire Second XI where he first drew widespread attention.
Finlay Bean sets new Yorkshire record
Against Durham on Friday, the 23-year-old came in at five: by then, the top three of Adam Lyth, Imam-ul-Haq and William Luxton had put on starts, and Bean maximised it with a whirlwind knock. In 53 balls, he raced to a century, cracking eight fours and six sixes, and putting together a 101-run stand with James Wharton.
Shelving his usually steady approach, Bean brought up his first fifty in 33 balls, and took just 20 more to breach the three-figure mark. He hit six sixes, all on the leg-side, with Yorkshire managing 174 runs in the last 20.
In his only other One-Day Cup appearance this season, Bean had opened the batting, but Yorkshire have preferred to keep Lyth and Imam (currently among the top five run-getters) at the top otherwise, giving Bean a middle-order spot against Durham.
It was Lyth who held the previous Yorkshire record for the fastest List A ton, having cracked a 60-ball century back in 2016.
After the game, Bean said: "I have been at the top of the order in red ball as soon as I signed, so it's been – not pigeonholed – but that's where my focus has been. And then in the winter, I put more shift on the white ball, and days like these are pleasing".
Match 56, Yorkshire vs Durham
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Durham slip to their heaviest defeat
Chasing a mammoth 355, Durham never really got going. Ben Coad and Jack White started with three maidens combined, and it took them 23 balls to get their first run. By the tenth over, they'd slipped to 32-4, with skipper Ollie Robinson caught by Bean off the bowling of White, who finished with 3-24 in a combined team bowling effort. Durham folded for 142, the 212-run loss being their biggest in List A history.
Yorkshire currently sit pretty on 20 points at the top of the Group B table.
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