Berg takes six after rain clears
Gareth Berg claimed career-best figures of 6 for 58 as promotion hopefuls Middlesex tried to make up for lost time in their rain-affected County Champion ship clash against Glamorgan at Cardiff
09-Sep-2011
Middlesex 169 for 4 v Glamorgan 157
Scorecard
Scorecard
Gareth Berg claimed career-best figures of 6 for 58 as promotion hopefuls
Middlesex tried to make up for lost time in their rain-affected County
Champion ship clash against Glamorgan at Cardiff. The match did not begin until the third morning after the opening two days had both been complete wash-outs.
With the visitors needing 20 points from their final two games to secure
promotion, they were keen to make early inroads after stand-in skipper Chris
Rogers won the toss and decided to bowl first. It was the right decision as Glamorgan were bowled out for only 157 in their first innings in 45.4 overs with Middlesex replying with 169 for four - a lead of 12 with Rogers still there on 81.
Berg, who had not played since May because of a dislocated finger, produced an
impressive display of swing bowling in helpful, overcast conditions and was
backed up by Tim Murtagh (three for 57), who now has 74 wickets for the season. Glamorgan lost captain Alviro Petersen in the opening over of the day when he drove his third delivery straight to Sam Robson at third slip off the bowling of Murtagh without having troubled the scorers.
Fellow opener Gareth Rees made a breezy 35, including seven fours, before he
drove rashly at Berg straight into the in the hands of Ollie Rayner at second
slip. Stewart Walters was also dismissed by Berg for just one, England Test captain
Andrew Strauss taking the catch at first slip, before Jim Allenby was trapped
lbw by Corey Collymore for three.
Will Bragg and Nick James guided Glamorgan through to 102 for 4 at lunch. Bragg moved passed 50 for the ninth time this summer in 70 balls before he was caught and bowled by Berg for 52, leaving him 26 short of 1,000 first-class runs for the summer.
James was the next to fall for 27 when he was caught by Strauss at slip off
Murtagh. Graham Wagg was dismissed with a lovely out-swinger that was snaffled
by Rayner at second slip for 10 before Dean Cosker (nought) holed out to Steven
Crook at point off Murtagh.
Berg then bowled Will Owen (nought) to claim the third five-wicket haul of his
career before he secured career-best figures bowling John Glover, also for a
duck. Like Glamorgan, Middlesex did not find it easy batting and they lost Strauss
leg before wicket to Wagg for nine in the sixth over.
Rogers scored a 73-ball half-century but he lost Sam Robson (21), Dawid Malan
(eight) and former Glamorgan captain Jamie Dalrymple (eight) at regular
intervals. He finished the day 19 runs short of his century, alongside John Simpson (35
not out).