National League, 4 May

National Cricket League roundup - 4 May 2003

Division 1

Leicestershire v Glamorgan, Leicester

A solid, all-round performance by Glamorgan saw the reigning champions emerge victorious at Grace Road on Sunday. Leicestershire won the toss and elected to field, making early inroads by removing Robert Croft and Ian Thomas for just 33 runs. Powell and Maynard steadied the ship and were involved in a quick-fire half century partnership before Powell departed, only to be replaced by David Hemp who proceeded to set about the home attack, plundering nine boundaries and a six in an undefeated 83. The young wicket keeper Mark Wallace crashed 20 off just 10 deliveries at the end of the innings as the visitors ended on a challenging 249-5.

The hosts were looking to Indian opener Virender Sehwag to get them off to a flying start, but when he was dismissed by Andrew Davies for 23, it sparked a mini-collapse with five wickets going down for just 39 runs. Michael Kasprowicz picked up the wickets of Ward and Hodge, both caught behind by Wallace, and it was left to Darren Maddy to claw Leicestershire back into the match with a characteristic, hard-fought 80.

The entry of Robert Croft into the attack put paid to any lingering hopes that Leicestershire might have had of winning the game when he removed Snape, DeFreitas and Masters to leave the home side still 56 runs shy of victory with just one wicket in hand. Davies wrapped up the innings when he had Darren Maddy caught by man of the match David Hemp to give the champions a perfect start to the current campaign.

Glamorgan 249-5 (Hemp 83*, Maynard 43, Powell 40) beat Leicestershire 205 all out (Maddy 80) by 44 runs.


Surrey v Warwickshire, The AMP Oval

Surrey won the toss and decided to bat. Ian Ward and Ally Brown gave them a flying start, Brown hitting three fours and two sixes in a rapid 28 before he departed, caught by Richardson off the bowling of Wagg. Excellent knocks by Ramprakash and Thorpe coupled with some hard hitting from the lesser lights all down the order helped Surrey to 281-8 at the end of their 45 over allocation.

It was important that the visitors got off to a good start, but despite the best efforts of Nick Knight, wickets continued to tumble at one end. Bicknell, Azhar Mahmood and Alex Tudor all had early success as Warwickshire spluttered to 43-4 and then 127-7, with Tudor picking up 4 wickets for 45 runs. Knight remained seemingly immovable amidst the clatter of wickets and it was left to Mohamed Sheikh to add some steel at the other end.

Knight progressed serenely to his century, but with his dismissal for 105 with the total on 207, it seemed that the visitors' chance of victory had gone. When Sheikh followed without addition, one could be forgiven for thinking it was all over, but a thrilling last-wicket partnership of 49 between Wagg, who hit three sixes and Richardson gave Warwickshire a little hope before Hollioake finally dismissed Richardson in the 44th over.

Surrey 281-8 (Ramprakash 63, Thorpe 58, Ward 47) beat Warwickshire 256 all out (Knight 105, Tudor 4-45) by 25 runs.


Division 2

Derbyshire v Somerset, Derby

Half-centuries by Steve Selwood and Chris Bassano were the highlights of Derbyshire's narrow victory over Somerset.

It was not a day for big reputations, as firstly Derbyshire lost Dominic Cork and Shahid Afridi for ducks, to be followed later in the day by Marcus Trescothick trapped lbw by the Derbyshire skipper off the first ball of Somerset's reply. Johnson and Blackwell threatened to swing the game the way of the visitors, but the victory target of 221 was just out of sight in the face of some accurate seam bowling.

Derbyshire 220-7 (Selwood 88*, Bassano 57, Caddick 2-27) beat Somerset 205 all out (Johnson 53, Blackwell 40, Welch 3-44, Cork 2-23) by 15 runs.


Northamptonshire v Nottinghamshire, Northampton

The fans were treated to some big scores at Northampton as the home side squeezed to victory with just 3 balls to spare. Despite losing Bicknell and Afzaal for ducks, Notts managed to raise their score to 294-8 at the end of their 45 overs thanks largely to a whirlwind ton by Chris Read and a thumping 77 by Pietersen.

The home reply was almost a carbon copy with wickets falling early followed by a mammoth partnership of 149 between Jaques and Sales, who made a splendid undefeated 133. A fine return of 3-37 by Steve Elworthy was not quite enough to hold the hosts in check and Northants ran out victors by 5 wickets.

Northamptonshire 295-5 (Sales 133*, Jaques 68, Elworthy 3-37) beat Nottinghamshire 294-8 (Read 119*, Pietersen 77, Cook 3-69) by 5 wickets.


Hampshire v Sussex, The Rose Bowl

A hard-fought but low scoring affair on a bowler-friendly track ended with victory for the home side by 43 runs. Only Robin Smith really got to terms with a difficult surface with a fighting 44 from 79 deliveries on a day when the bowlers were on top from start to finish.

For a time, it looked as though victory might go the way of Sussex, but from 72-4 the last six wickets fell for just 29 runs, Udal and Tremlett bagging three apiece.

Hampshire 144-9 (Smith 44, Taylor 3-25, Innes 3-31) beat Sussex 101 all out (Udal 3-11, Tremlett 3-17) by 43 runs.


Durham v Scotland, Riverside

For years, the name 'Durham' was synonymous with the phrase 'Giant-killers'. On Sunday, they saw life from the other side of the fence as they were beaten by Scotland.

The visitors won the toss and elected to field, picking up a couple of early Durham wickets but with the hosts seemingly comfortable on 106-2 and looking to launch a late assault, the Paisley-born Majid Haq ripped the heart out of the home side with his gentle off breaks.

Durham eventually recovered to 167-7, but it was never going to be enough, especially when Douglas Lockhart and Ryan Watson added 77 for the opening wicket. Javagal Srinath produced a remarkably economical spell of 0-14 from his allocation of 9 overs, and despite the best efforts of test players Harmison and Pretorius, solid contributions right down the order were sufficient for Scotland to squeeze home with just 4 balls to spare on what had been an historic day.

Scotland 168-6 (Lockhart 44, Pretorius 2-23, Harmison 2-43) beat Durham 167-7 (Muchall 46, Majid Haq 4-36) by 4 wickets.


Posted by Eddie