Rudolph and McGrath flay Glamorgan

Yorkshire 230 for 6 (Rudolph 84, McGrath 73) beat Glamorgan 135 for 7 (Hemp 38, Gough 2-20) by 49 runs
Scorecard

In a match curtailed by bad light, partly thanks to slow over-rates from both teams, Yorkshire beat Glamorgan by 49 runs, according to Duckworth-Lewis, though the difference between the two sides was far greater. A superb partnership between Jacques Rudolph and Anthony McGrath gave the home side an advantage they never looked like losing.

Yorkshire decided to bat on winning the toss, under overcast skies but without any immediate prospect of rain. The crowd during the afternoon was almost 4,000 in number, and they proved to be quite vociferous.

Yorkshire soon lost Andrew Gale, lbw to a ball from James Harris that cut back on him sharply, while Rudolph seemed surprisingly ill at ease to start with. Rana Naved was again promoted as pinch-hitter, and he did rather better this week than last, hitting an aggressive 24 off 13 balls, including a ferocious drive for four that almost flattened both bowler and umpire. At the other end, he hit an indignant Jason Gillespie for a six over the sightscreen and out of the ground, but was caught at slip two balls later.

Then came the meat of the Yorkshire innings, and a right royal feast it proved to be. When Naved departed with the total 37 for 3, Rudolph was still on 3, scored off 14 balls, but he steadily gained in confidence, unleashing a skimming off-drive for four that took him to 10 off 18 balls. McGrath was in his best one-day form, with some thunderous strokes, most notably a six over the sightscreen off Dean Cosker, with another over long-off in the bowler's next over. He took most of the bowling, reaching his fifty first, off 69 balls; Rudolph's arrived shortly afterwards, off 72.

McGrath treated Robert Croft brutally, hitting him for 17 in an over, and a century for each batsman was a possibility. But they fell in quick succession, Rudolph for 84 and McGrath for 73, and the Yorkshire innings finished at 230 for 6. There were two wickets each for Gillespie, Harris and Alex Wharf.

For a while, the Glamorgan innings kept pace with Yorkshire's. Robert Croft began aggressively, though enjoying a couple of narrow escapes, while his opening partner David Hemp took on Rudolph's early role as anchor. Croft hit 25 off 28 balls before holing out to mid-on off Rana Naved, with the total 34 in the eighth over. Even at 54 for 2 in the twelfth over they were virtually level with Yorskhire. But Yorkshire's third-wicket pair had performed brilliantly, while for Glamorgan it only went downhill from here, with a steady fall of wickets.

Any remaining chances Glamorgan may have had of victory were virtually extinguished when Richard Pyrah, turning in his usual highly efficient one-day display, ran one through Hemp and bowled him out for 38; the score was now 91 for 5 in the 23rd over. Damage control was attempted by Ben Wright and Mark Wallace - 20 apiece, the latter not out - in declining light, until when the seventh wicket went down for 135 the umpires and players bowed to the inevitable and headed for the pavilion, leaving Duckworth-Lewis to determine Yorkshire's margin of victory. The Yorkshire bowling and fielding were adequate and efficient, without being outstanding; they did not have to be, as Glamorgan did not have the resources to challenge their target seriously.