da gbg bet： Glamorgan notched up their fifth successive win in the National Leaguewith a spirited 31 run victory over Worcestershire at Swansea tomaintained their unbeaten run in this year`s competition
Andrew HIgnell08-Jun-2003Glamorgan notched up their fifth successive win in the National Leaguewith a spirited 31 run victory over Worcestershire at Swansea tomaintained their unbeaten run in this year`s competition.After lunchtime rain had caused the game to be reduced to a 39 overs contest,Robert Croft won yet another important toss and elected to bat first. His teamhowever, had soon slumped to 34-3 as Kabir Ali ripped through the Glamorgan top order.David Hemp and Michael Powell steadied the ship with a 46 run stand, before Powellholed out on the cover boundary off the Australian left-armer Mark Harrity.Adrian Dale then came in to play a delightful cameo, and the experienced all-rounder shared what provedto be match-winning partnership with Hemp, adding 112 for the 5th wicket in 18 overs -a record for Glamorgan in games against Worcestershire, and the second best ever for the fifth wicket inthe competition in the Welsh county`s history.There was a flurry of wickets late on in the Glamorgan innings, after Dale haddeparted for a fine 60, whilst David Hemp was bowled by Gareth Batty for 59. However,Worcestershire`s slow over rate resulted in the umpires awarding six penalty runs to Glamorgan, andthe upshot was that the visitors were left chasing a target of 216 runs in their 39 overs.The Worcestershire run chase never gained momentum after the early loss of Vikram Solanki who wascaught behind by Mark Wallace as he attempted to leg-glance Andrew Davies. Michael Kasprowiczalso dealt a vital blow – literally, as he struck Graeme Hick a painful blow on the hand and forced theformer Worcestershire captain to receive treatment before he could continue batting.But Hick never really recovered, and the ex-England batsman became one of three early wickets for Alex Wharfwho bowled a fine spell coming on as first change. The Yorkshireman followed up his outstanding spell in theChampionship match with a burst of 3/20 from 6 overs as Worcestershire slipped to 78/4.Andrew Hall and David Leatherdale attempted a rally, sharing a stand of 56 in even time, beforeHall went down the wicket once too often against Croft and was bowled. Wharf returned toadd Leatherdale to his tally for the afternoon, as the experienced Worcestershire batsmanwas caught behind by Wallace.Despite a few hearty blows by Matt Mason, Worcestershirekept losing wickets at regular intervals, and Andrew Davies finished things off as Masonholed out to cover to give Glamorgan their fifth win of the summer.