Pietersen debut curtailed by rain
Rain denied a crowd of 8,000 the chance to see Kevin Pietersen in batting action as Surrey's Friends Life t20 clash with Glamorgan was abandoned at the midway stage
10-Jun-2011
Rain denied a crowd of 8,000 the chance to see Kevin Pietersen in
batting action as Surrey's Friends Life t20 clash with Glamorgan was abandoned
at the midway stage.
Pietersen made his competition debut for Surrey, but the crowd had to settle
for seeing him field as the visitors, captained by Alviro Petersen, reached a
total of 167 for 7.
The Glamorgan skipper made 13 before being bowled by Dirk Nannes, who bowled
four tight overs, while Jade Dernbach also impressed with the ball for Surrey as
he took three for 30.
Both sides collected one point for the no-result, and the consolation for
Surrey and Glamorgan - if not for the spectators - is that they remain firmly in
contention for top-four finishes in the South Group.
Thunder and lightning greeted the end of Glamorgan's 20 overs, and the Oval
groundstaff were soon hauling on covers while torrential rain fell over south
London.
For a while, when the weather temporarily cleared, there was hope that play
might be able to re-start, but when more heavy rain arrived just before 9pm the
match was abandoned.
Mark Cosgrove and Jim Allenby, who hit a fine 63 off 44 balls, played the major
innings for Glamorgan, while David Brown hit out productively towards the end as
he and Allenby added 53 in five overs for the sixth wicket.
If Pietersen had not pulled off a fine boundary catch at long-on to dismiss
Cosgrove for a 30-ball 43 in the 11th over, leaping to hold the ball and doing
well not to step over the ropes in the process, Glamorgan's total would surely
have been greater. He and Allenby had added 57 in just six overs.
As it was, they lost four wickets for 14 runs inside four overs, with Cosgrove
the first to go in that sequence, and momentum was only regained in a 17th over
from Zander de Bruyn in which Allenby took a leg-side four as he went to his
half-century and Brown swung a mighty six over long-on.
There was another six for Allenby in the next over, with Yasir Arafat blasted
over mid-wicket, while Brown went down on one knee and cleverly paddle-swept
Dernbach to fine leg for four as he reached an unbeaten 31 from 21 balls.
Cosgrove hit four fours and two sixes, both over long-on off Gareth Batty,
while Allenby's fine innings contained three sixes - two in the same over off
Chris Schofield - and five fours.