Glamorgan's dream subsides into a disaster

MICHAEL GOUGE

reports from Cardiff

Glamorgan 86 Warwickshire 88-2 Warwickshire win by 8 wickets

It was not so much a defeat: more a humiliation. Glamorgan's dreams of a first appearance in a Lord's final for 18 years were turned into a nightmare by a Warwickshire side that has easily assumed the mantle of kings of one-day cricket.

Glamorgan were making only their third appearance in a NatWest Trophy semi-final, albeit their second in three years. It was Warwickshire's fifth successive semi-final and the difference showed.

Now Warwickshire face their third consecutive final and the only competition to elude them last season will surely find a home at Edgbaston this time if they can reproduce the bowling that shattered Glamorgan here yesterday.

Victory by eight wickets with 35.5 overs to spare tells its own story. What it does not tell is the lack of application shown by the Glamorgan batsmen and the keenness and athleticism of the Warwickshire bowling and fielding.

Glamorgan simply froze and a total of 86 in 47 overs would hardly have troubled a club side, let alone a team of Warwickshire's calibre.

Nick Knight, passed fit after the blow to the head he took during the drawn fifth Test against the West Indies, and his opening partner, Neil Smith, compiled a 38-run partnership inside 11 overs before Knight skied Steve Barwick to Adrian Dale, running round from mid-off.

Smith had made 32 when he gave Hugh Morris a straightforward catch at mid-on again off Barwick, but there were no more alarms, Dominic Ostler and Dougie Brown completing the job in style, Brown hitting a boundary off Barwick with a reverse sweep for the winning runs.

Glamorgan, who won the toss, could scarcely have made a less auspicious beginning. Morris, beaten outside off stump by the man of the match, Tim Munton, moved a fraction closer to the next one and edged a catch to the wicketkeeper, Keith Piper, with only four runs on the board.

Steve James - with more than 1,000 runs to his name in limited overs cricket this summer - soon followed, Piper proving his agility by leaping low to his right to gather the edge when Allan Donald got one to move away.

Glamorgan's cause, already in need of considerable assistance, received exactly the opposite with the score on 34 for 2 in the 12th over with the first of two run-outs.

Matthew Maynard appeared to be settling nicely when, backing up, he was sent back by David Hemp. Trevor Penney, as alert and as accurate as ever, threw down the wicket from cover as Maynard, perhaps resigned to his fate, made no apparent effort to regain his ground.

Anthony Cottey wafted haplessly at Munton to give Piper his third catch of the innings with the total on 52 and, without addition, Hemp was run out for 28, again by Penney but this time only after umpire Peter Willey had called for a television replay.

That, effectively, was that. The left-arm spin of Ashley Giles proved far too good for Hamesh Anthony, Colin Metson and Steve Watkin, and Glamorgan were left with little to protect

n

SOPHIA GARDENS SCOREBOARD

GLAMORGAN

S P James c Piper b Donald 5

*H Morris c Piper b Munton 0

D L Hemp run out 28

M P Maynard run out 11

P A Cottey c Piper b Munton 5

A Dale c & b Smith 5

R D B Croft not out 16

H A G Anthony b Giles 8

C P Metson c Reeve b Giles 0

S L Watkin b Giles 0

S R Barwick b Smith 0

Extras (lb1, w3, nb4) 8

Total (47 overs) 86

Fall: 1-4, 2-12, 3-34, 4-52, 5-52, 6-62, 7-77, 8-77, 9-81.

Bowling: Donald 11-5-23-1; Munton 12-7-18-2; Reeve 4-1-15-0; Smith 9- 2-15-2; Giles 11-3-14-3

WARWICKSHIRE

N V Knight c Dale b Barwick 14

N M K Smith c Morris b Barwick 32

D P Ostler not out 22

D R Brown not out 14

Extras (lb4, nb2) 6

Total (for 2, 24.1 overs) 88

Fall: 1-38, 2-52.

Did not bat: R G Twose, *D A Reeve, T L Penney, A F Giles, K J Piper, A A Donald, T A Munton.

Bowling: Watkin 5-0-27-0; Anthony 4-2-9-0; Barwick 8.1-4-15-2; Croft 7-0-33-0.

Man of the match: T A Munton (Warwicks)

Umpires: D J Constant and P Willey.