Gloucestershire 294 for 6 (Bracey 113*, Dent 89) beat Essex 293 (Chopra 154) by four wickets
James Bracey scored his maiden one-day century to hand Gloucestershire victory over Essex, but it was in vain as his side exited the Royal London Cup.
Batsman Bracey, who only made his format debut earlier in the competition, crashed a classy hundred from 86 balls to see Gloucestershire to a four-wicket victory. But wins for Middlesex and Somerset elsewhere meant the west country men failed to go through due to their lower net run rate.
Essex, who were knocked out before the match having only managed two victories in the tournament, had posted 293 thanks to Varun Chopra's third ton of this year's competition.
Gloucestershire began their reply confidently, although Miles Hammond rode his luck when he was dropped on 20 by Dan Lawrence on the square-leg boundary. Hammond, on the back of 95 against Sussex, only scored one more run before he was caught behind off Simon Harmer while aiming down the track, before Aaron Beard demolished Gareth Roderick's stumps.
Chris Dent and Bracey then settled the innings down and put Gloucestershire on track with the required run rate during an 117-run stand. Neither came across as overly aggressive but both accumulated with skill, both posting half centuries - Dent from 67 balls and Bracey from 51 balls, which included a firmly struck six down the ground.
The partnership was broken when Dent walked following a low catch to Harmer at short midwicket and Graeme van Buuren and Jack Taylor followed in quick succession, skewing to mid-on and lbw respectively.
Beard, on just his second List A outing, ended with figures of 3 for 51 as he had Ryan Higgins well caught by Harmer running around to cover. Gloucestershire still needed 86 from 9.5 after that wicket but Bracey maturely ticked the runs off along with Benny Howell, who had a runner after injuring his hamstring in the field. Bracey ended with an unbeaten 113 but it was Howell who ended the game by carting Matt Coles for six over midwicket.
Earlier, stand-in Essex captain Harmer won the toss and elected to bat on a good-looking wicket, which proved a tad sluggish as the match went on.
Chopra enjoyed stands of 42 and 66 for the first and second wickets with Alastair Cook and Tom Westley but both partnerships were ended by run outs. Cook was called through for a quick single after flicking to square leg, before Westley greedily attempted a third run - both comfortably short of their ground after van Buuren's throws.
Lawrence and Ravi Bopara both departed quickly, the former handing Bracey his maiden professional wicket and the latter bowled through the gate by Tom Smith.
Essex looked below par at 147 for 4 but they still had Chopra, who owed his team-mates, and he carried the innings - bringing up his half-century in 70 balls. The opener continued his sluggish pace as he ticked over three figures in 129 deliveries during an 83-run stand with Rishi Patel, who scored 26 before edging behind when trying to whoosh down the ground.
That wicket saw Chopra kick on with power - demonstrated with sixes down the ground and over deep square-leg - and deftness with paddle sweeps, as he passed through 150 in 163 deliveries. He fell a few balls later, finishing his season with 421 runs from five innings.
The hosts looked set for a push for 300 but Essex lost five wickets in the last six-and-a-half overs to stutter to the innings break, and Gloucestershire maintained the momentum to complete their chase with seven balls to spare.
