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Gloucestershire win thriller

Friday, August 8 2003

Dominic Cork won the toss and took some time before making the decision to bat at a sweltering RSA County Ground, Bristol for the first C&G semi-final between Gloucestershire and giant-killers Derbyshire, already the conquerors of Glamorgan and Surrey in this year's competition.

Derbyshire started their innings in watchful fashion with Michael Di Venuto and Steve Selwood putting on a reatively unhurried 28 in the first half an hour before Mike Smith made the decisive breakthrough in an exceptional opening spell, removing both openers in successive overs.

Di Venuto (14), having struck two powerful boundaries, played all round a straight one and was trapped in front, then an extraordinary piece of good fortune came to Gloucestershire's assistance as Selwood edged Smith when on just 10. The ball struck wicketkeeper Jack Russell, standing up, flush on the thigh before looping up to Ball who took a comfortable catch to reduce Derbyshire to 29-2.

Chris Bassano had an extremely fortunate let-off when on just 5 when he was involved in a mix-up with Mohammad Kaif. Both batsmen were stranded in mid-wicket as Jonty Rhodes pounced, only to miss the stumps at the bowler's end from point-blank range. His reprieve did not last long, however.

Gidman bowled a ball outside off stump which was little more than a long hop. Barrano went hard at the ball, cutting, but got a thick edge and Russell, standing up, took an exceptional reaction catch off a big deflection to leave Derbyshire in some disarray on 59-3.

Dominic Hewson enjoyed a let-off with the total on 74 when he drove hard at a delivery from Gidman, only for Ball to put down an extremely difficult chance at slip. Mark Alleyne, at the other end, troubled Kaif with a couple of balls which cut back off the seam and struck the Indian on the pad outside the line of the off stump as Derbyshire were, in general, making heavy weather of things.

Hewson drove Smith splendidly to the extra cover boundary, and a nudge to third man off the same bowler brought up the Derbyshire hundred in the 27th over as the recovery continued, followed shortly afterwards by the fifty partnership between the pair.

The dual introduction of Shoaib Malik and Martin Ball saw spin at both ends as Gloucestershire sought to dry up the all-too-frequent singles. A dreadful bounce left Averis looking rather foolish in the outfield and presented Kaif with another boundary.

The fourth wicket went down with Derbyshire on 134, and it was a gift. Hewson and Kaif had looked in total command for a while and a couple to backward square leg looked a complete formality. Inexplicably, Hewson (37) lost concentration and slowed up as he was seeking to make his ground and the throw from Averis thudded directly into the stumps on the full with the batsman a foot short of his ground.

Kaif continued to impress, progressing to a near faultless half-century from just 62 balls as he was joined in the middle by the busy Luke Sutton who started to improvise from the off, paddling Malik to the fine leg boundary.

A brilliant piece of fielding by Mark Alleyne at short fine leg restricted Kaif to a single but allowed Derbyshire through to 150 in the 37th over as they sought to accelerate, mainly through a series of nudges for scampered singles. One scamper too many, though, meant the demise of Sutton. Once again, indecision in mid-wicket allowed a diving Matt Windows to beat the batsman home, bringing the Derbyshire skipper Dominic Cork, complete with new hairstyle, to the wicket with the score on 157-5.

The hectic Cork style of batting had everyone on their toes, but Malik dropped fractionally short and paid the price as Cork bludgeoned him through the covers for just the 11th boundary of the day. Clever bowling by Ball, holding one back just a little, enticed Cork to clip the ball straight back to the bowler to reduce Derbyshire still further to 171-6 with just 8 overs to go.

A huge six by Kaif cleared the boundary, the crowd and the fence at long-on and deposited the ball neatly in the car park, presenting a driver with the bill for a new windscreen. At this stage, it was vital that Graeme Welch gave as much of the strike as possible to Kaif who was Derbyshire's one remaining hope of setting a competitive total.

Another lofted drive from Kaif off Ball with five overs to go produced an altogether different result as this time he found Windows of the Matt variety. Kaif had made a thoroughly accomplished 72 but at 193-7, Derbyshire were still a good 30 or 40 short of a decent total.

There was a collector's item in the 46th over as Russell missed a difficult stumping chance, and new batsman Nathan Dumelow celebrated by smashing Averis over long-on for four. A sweep by Welch brought up the 200 in the 47th over as Derbyshire sought to bat out their full allocation of overs.

A knee-high full toss by Averis was enough to see the back of Dumelow as he tamely patted it to Mark Alleyne at mid-on, although the Gloucestershire skipper needed two attempts to grasp the catch to leave Derbyshire on 206-8 as they continued to fritter away a position of some strength, bearing in mind that they had been 157-4 just 45 minutes earlier.

Innovative captaincy paid off in the 49th over when Alleyne re-introduced the previously expensive Malik, and his leg spin totally foxed Kevin Dean into prodding the ball to Averis at point - who required three goes at the ball - to leave Derbyshire on 211-9.

The final over saw Welch opening his shoulders for a boundary to fine leg before the innings ended in ridiculous fashion, quite in keeping with the way the innings had fallen apart. Averis overstepped and from the resultant 'free hit', Wharton aimed an enormous heave in the direction of square leg. The ball ran to Russell, the Derbyshire batsmen attempted to scramble a bye to get Welch back on strike only for the immaculate Russell to hit the wicket with a diving throw.

Whilst Derbyshire might well have taken 219 at the start of the day, they will consider that they had probably finished 20 or 30 short of their full potential.

The Gloucestershire reply started in frenetic fashion with Dominic Cork and Kevin Dean simply smashed all around the park by Phil Weston and Craig Spearman, the first three overs being pasted for 33. Cork's second over was particularly awful, Spearman having little hesitation in taking the aerial route as he plastered the boundary four times.

With Cork's first two overs going for 25, Graeme Welch was introduced into the attack much earlier than expected, but there was no end to the indiscipline and Gloucestershire continued to profit from the resultant mixture of wides and no-balls.

Welch struck in his second over with Gloucestershire already on 48. His gentle away swing drew the belligerent Spearman forward, a thin edge was the result and Luke Sutton took a straightforward catch. Spearman's 27 had come off just 21 balls and included five boundaries.

A glorious drive by Alex Gidman brought up the Gloucestershire fifty in the eighth over as the Derbyshire seam attack gradually made it a little more of a contest, at least when bowling to Weston. Gidman, meanwhile, stroked an exceptional straight drive for four.

Weston was the second to depart as Derbyshire continued to fight back, and it was Welch again - albeit courtesy of a quite fantastic one-handed catch by Cork at short midwicket - who struck with the total on 57.

Brilliant in-swing bowling by Kevin Dean took Jonty Rhodes out of the equation for a duck, the South African almost walking before the umpire gave him the inevitable finger for the plumbest leg-before you are ever likely to see - a decision which brought Matt Windows to the wicket with Gloucestershire in a bit of a crisis at 58-3.

Windows's reply was to stroke his first ball from Dean through the covers quite majestically for four as the game continued to progress at almost breakneck speed. Impeccable timing brought two further boundaries by Gidman off the bowling of Welch - one past square leg, one through the covers - as Gloucestershire progressed on to 70-3 after just 11 overs of cricket which varied from inept to simply breathtaking.

Dean continued to extract prodigious movement through the air in these most un-English of conditions as Gidman twice came down late to dig out inswinging yorkers. A lovely leg glance by Gidman from a rare leg-side delivery from Dean brought yet another boundary, but gradually Derbyshire were tempering the scoring rate somewhat to under a run a ball.

Dean's wonderful spell earned further reward when he clean bowled a very out-of-sorts Windows for just 7 as Gloucestershire were once again pegged back with the total on 78, bringing Shoaib Malik to the centre. Malik opened his own account with a classy boundary through the leg side as Gloucestershire moved on to 85-4 at the end of the 15 over fielding restrictions with the game very much in the balance.

Cork brought himself back into the attack following the relaxation of the fielding restrictions and it was immediately apparent that more thought was going into his bowling as he looked for swing rather than pace, but Gidman crunched his final delivery straight past the bowler for yet another boundary.

The hundred came up courtesy of a wide delivery from Dean which went for four byes as Gloucestershire once more found themselves in the ascendancy. Derbyshire introduced the flat left-arm spin of Lian Wharton in the 21st over, followed almost immediately by the off-spin of Nathan Dumelow but by and large Gloucestershire were looking very comfortable, reducing the deficit below 100.

The half-century partnership came courtesy of a cut from Gidman to the backward point boundary off a short ball by Wharton, and with the outfield now speeding up appreciably in comparison to earlier in the day, Dominic Cork might well have been ruing his decision to bat first.

The slingy, gentle medium pace of Dominic Hewson became Derbyshire's sixth bowling option, and it was an inspired change as the final, skidding ball of his first over dismissed the hitherto unruffled Gidman leg before for a fine 41 to give Derbyshire just a sniff of victory with Gloucestershire on 134-5. Umpire Barry Duddlestone's finger was extended almost before ball had left pad.

A cracking shot by Malik for four set Gloucestershire on their way again, and when Mark Alleyne opened his own account with a cracking back-foot drive to the extra cover boundary off Hewson, the signs were ominous for Derbyshire.

Cork's third spell started with him bowling a much tighter line outside Alleyne's off stump, then an easy pushed single by Malik brought up the 150 in the 32nd over as Derbyshire's attack struggled to exert any real pressure on the one-day international players as the wicket flattened out.

Alleyne looked for all the world a goner as he played back and across to a Cork delivery, and the bowler looked incredulous as his pleading appeal was firmly rebuffed by the umpire. The batsman profited in the following over with an extraordinary clubbing drive past extra cover for four, then Malik profited in turn against Hewson with a crashing pull to square leg. It was all looking rather easy.

Malik moved into the forties with a deft flick to third man for four off Cork who seemed unable to supply that spark which is so often present in his game. Having gambled by bowling Dean through at the start of the innings, Derbyshire's lesser bowlers did not seem up to the task in hand, but stronger teams than Derbyshire have had trouble keeping the Gloucestershire middle order in check this season.

Alleyne once again profited from a leg-side ball by Welch, having little trouble in turning another boundary to fine leg. Dumelow was reintroduced and almost immediately troubled Alleyne, but two balls later Malik went to a lovely half-century with a lofted drive over long off for four to move his side within 32 of victory.

Shoaib Malik swept Wharton uppishly for four, then Alleyne threw his wicket away needlessly by clipping the same bowler straight to Kaif at short cover for 27 to leave Gloucestershire on 193-6. Three balls later, with Dominic Cork under his nose at silly mid-off, Jack Russell wafted in the direction of the fielder but only succeeded in edging the ball through to Sutton who gleefully accepted the chance to throw everything back into the melting-pot.

A long-hop by Wharton relieved the pressure somewhat as Malik smashed the ball through point for a desperately-needed boundary, then off the final ball of the over Malik brought up the 200 with a delicate sweep for four more.

Martin Ball edged streakily past slip for a couple, then Malik drove the ball straight over long off to reduce the deficit to just ten. Cork brought himself back on in a final throw of the dice, extracting a little reverse swing but Ball comfortably played out the over, picking up a single off the last ball.

Malik had a rush of blood, going for a pull of Welch and was relieved to see the ball fall between three converging fielders - but more to the point he retained the strike. As if this game did not have enough drama, Malik, on 74, tried to repeat the exercise off Cork but only succeeded in helping the bouncer straight to Dean at deep backward square leg. Still three required but now with just two wickets in hand.

Off Cork's very next delivery, Ball was so close to being bowled, the ball jagging back between bat and pad. It was all getting very tense - and there was more to come. Ball desperately tried to work Cork to third man, only for Michael Di Venuto to take an excellent catch at slip - still three required but just one wicket to fall.

Graeme Welch bowled the (as it transpired) decisive over to James Averis - and it could have gone either way. Four balls Averis faced without being able to penetrate the field, once narrowly avoiding the edge through to the waiting keeper or slips. The fifth ball settled everything as Welch went for an inswinger, the ball arced in the general direction of Averis's pads and the Gloucestershire medium-pacer gleefully clubbed the ball past the desperate fielder at fine leg for a match-winning boundary.

Gloucestershire had won by the narrowest of margins in a thriller which had swung first one way then the other - frequently. Derbyshire will live to regret a number of things - batting first when the outfield was at it's slowest, losing their way after such a solid recovery in the middle overs, the desperately poor bowling start to Gloucestershire's innings, especially from the skipper, any number of factors.

At the end of the day, however, it was a fittingly splendid innings by Man of the Match Shoaib Malik which enabled the home side to emerge victorious, and it is they who return to Lord's to do battle with either Worcestershire or Lancashire who flex their collective muscles at New Road tomorrow. Derbyshire can take great heart in a never-say-die team performance which all but gave them an unexpected triumph against their more illustrious opponents, but really today, the winner was cricket.

Gloucestershire 221-9 (Shoaib Malik 74, Gidman 41, Wharton 2-31)
beat
Derbyshire 219 (Kaif 72, Smith 2-39)
by 1 wicket




Posted by Eddie