NCL 1 - Elliott takes Glamorgan top
Monday, May 3 2004
NCL Division 1 - 2 May
Gloucestershire v Glamorgan, Bristol
The visitors won the toss and had no hesitation in asking Gloucestershire to take first strike. It was a decision that paid off immediately when Michael Kasprowicz had Philip Weston caught behind without scoring off just the second ball of the day. Craig Spearman made a quickfire 46 but apart from him the only home batsman to flourish was Matt Windows who contributed a valuable 79 as Gloucestershire crumbled to 213 all out.
The Glamorgan reply was as dominating as it was swift. First of all Robert Croft and Matthew Elliott added a brisk 98 for the first wicket with Croft (56) rattling along at better than a run a ball, then another partnership of more than ninety between Elliott (91*) and Mike Powell (41) took the visitors within touching distance of their victory target.
Three clubbing drives by Maynard to take them over the finishing line were just the icing on the cake as Glamorgan ended the day sitting proudly on top of the table. Gloucestershire, on the other hand, are rock bottom - unfamiliar surroundings indeed.
Hampshire v Essex, Southampton
Batsmen found few favours at The Rose Bowl, Southampton as only Nic Pothas and William Kendall came to terms with a wicket which helped seam and spin alike.
Hampshire won the toss and elected to take first knock, making steady progress as Pothas and Derek Kenway took the score on to 59 before Kenway (25) edged a catch to James Foster off the bowling of Adrian McCoubrey. From that point onwards, bowlers wrested the upper hand.
James Middlebrook went through his nine overs for just 23 runs but Pothas battled on, eventually departing for a valuable 64 which included five boundaries and a six. The later overs were dominated by William Kendall who nudged and scrambled his way to an undefeated 55 as the home side ended on a challenging 184-7.
Essex may well have been pleased to restrict the hosts to a total well below 200, but they found the going no easier themselves. Alastair Cook and Nasser Hussain gave them some semblance of a platform, putting on 33 for the first wicket, but once again wickets began to tumble with alarming regularity.
Of the seven bowlers used, only opener Dimitri Mascarenhas failed to take a wicket as no Essex batsman managed to post a score in excess of Hussain's 24. Shane Warne can feel especially pleased with his day's work, picking up the wickets of Jefferson, Foster and Napier at a personal cost of just 21 as Hampshire maintained their promising start to the season.
Lancashire v Kent, Old Trafford
Kent won the toss and elected to bat first, a decision which seemed sound as England discards Ed Smith and Robert Key set about seeing off the new ball attack of Glen Chapple and Dominic Cork.
Key was by far the more aggressive, contributing 29 from an opening partnership of 38 before he was run out following good work by Kyle Hogg.
Hogg chipped in again, this time shortly after being given the ball as he prised out the ever-dangerous Andrew Symonds for just 9. Kent struggled to make much impression in the face of some accurate seam bowling from the home side, only Robert Ferley profiting to any great extent with a well-constructed 42. It was left to Alamgir Sheriyar to take the visitors beyond 200 with a couple of clubbed sixes off off-spinner Carl Hooper.
When Lancashire replied, they found few demons in the wicket that had given the Kent upper order so many problems. Saggers and Sheriyar were seen off with little ceremony as Mal Loye and Iain Sutcliffe carried the opening partnership to 93 before Symonds accounted for Loye for 48, an innings which included one towering six, then nipped out Stuart Law first ball.
Lancashire's position of relative supremacy evaporated completely a short while later as first Sutcliffe (44) then Hooper (18) departed tamely. It was left to Kyle Hogg, who ended his excellent day's work undefeated on 37, to steer Lancashire to victory with just four balls to spare and spare the blushes of his more experienced and illustrious colleagues.
Match summaries
Gloucestershire v Glamorgan, Bristol
Gloucestershire 213-8 (Windows 79) lost to Glamorgan 216-2 (Elliott 91*, Croft 56) by 8 wickets
Hampshire v Essex, Southampton
Hampshire 184-7 (Pothas 64, Kendall 55*) beat Essex 153 (Warne 3-21) by 31 runs
Lancashire v Kent, Manchester
Kent 203 (Mahmood 3-39) lost to Lancashire 207-7 (Tredwell 2-23) by 3 wickets
Posted by Eddie
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