A STUNNING all-round performance from Liam Plunkett kept Yorkshire on course for the double this season with a 20-run win over Essex in their One-Day Cup quarter-final at Chelmsford.

The 30-year-old hit 49 not out from just 32 balls as the Vikings made 252-9 batting first, before taking 3-58 to reduce Essex from 95-1 to 129-5 — the hosts eventually finished 232 all out.

Essex seamer Reece Topley had taken 4-56 to leave Yorkshire tottering at 202-9 despite 72 from Jack Leaning, before Plunkett intervened.

The Vikings will host Gloucestershire in a semi-final and are undefeated and comfortably top of the Division One County Championship.

Essex put Yorkshire in and Alex Lees made 18 before being caught at the wicket, while Adam Lyth reached a fluent 36 from 40 balls but chopped on off Jamie Porter, both failing to make starts count.

Similarly, England internationals Jonny Bairstow and Gary Ballance looked good without going on, hitting 19 and 32 respectively alongside Leaning.

Ballance was caught at the wicket off Bopara, starting an extraordinary collapse from 163-3 to 202-9 as Will Rhodes and Adil Rashid fell cheaply, the latter for a third-ball duck.

Topley then outfoxed Leaning, who fell into a trap set for the hook shot, to gain revenge after earlier dropping the batsman, whose resilient 72 held the innings together.

The 21-year-old made it three wickets in three overs by having Bresnan caught pulling and castling Patterson, leaving Yorkshire almost down and out at 202-9 with just five overs left.

Plunkett was not reading that script.

He had reached five not out from 13 balls, but crashed 44 from his next 19 deliveries in a brutal assault, signalled by a straight six off Topley and a deftly guided four through fine-leg.

Porter was hooked for four and hit for sixes over mid-on and dead straight from a full toss, before Topley, who bowled impressively to take 4-56, was taken for his 12 in the last over.

A dot from the last ball left Plunkett one short a deserved fifty, while Topley reached 20 wickets in this competition. Both can play important roles in the national team — watching England selector Angus Fraser must have been left purring.

Yorkshire had an early wicket as Mark Pettini was unfortunate to be run out backing up off the barrel-chested Tim Bresnan, though Tom Westley settled quickly and reached a 51-ball half-century.

Westley smacked two disdainful sixes off Plunkett while opener Nick Browne appeared set too — Essex were 95-1 and set for victory.

Plunkett had other ideas.

He splattered the stumps of Westley with a top-class inswinging yorker then took a stinging catch at mid-wicket to remove Browne, who had leathered a Rashid long hop.

The seamer then clean bowled Jesse Ryder with an outswinger — suddenly a Plunkett-inspired Yorkshire had taken 3-5 in 11 balls, and Essex had fallen from 95-1 to 100-4.

Bopara and Ryan ten Doeschate then hit five boundaries across the next three full overs. The Chelmsford crowd roared each one with increasing gusto. Was the game shifting towards the hosts?

Not with Plunkett about.

The 30-year-old produced an absolute jaffa that Bopara could only edge to Bairstow, who took an excellent diving catch. 127-5.

Plunkett finished with 3-58, though the raw figures fail to show just how telling his all-round contribution was — his batting gave Yorkshire a reasonable total to bowl at.

The game was far from done though James Foster and Doeschate shared a valuable sixth-wicket stand of 60.

The pendulum continued to swing — just as Essex had two set batsman with only five an over needed, Foster was caught for a responsible 30 in the deep off Rhodes.

Ten Doeschate reached a composed fifty to pass 5,000 List A runs, though the very next ball Rhodes, whose 2-22 was outstanding under intense pressure, had the Dutch international holing out to Bresnan at long-on.

Thereafter the Vikings were ruthless as Patterson (1-37) had Masters lbw, while Bresnan (2-45) dismissed Aaron Nijjar lbw before castling Topley for a duck to seal the win.

Though Yorkshire captain Lees was superb, it was primarily the heroics of Plunkett that mean the Vikings can dream of the double.

Given the difficult summer the seamer has already endured with injuries, England and disciplinary issues, only the cruelest man would deny Plunkett his happy ending.