Ravi Bopara stars in Essex romp
Ravi Bopara produced a fine all-round performance as Essex cruised to a comprehensive nine wicket victory over Glamorgan
19-Jun-2010
Essex 95 for 1 beat Glamorgan 94 for 9 by nine wickets
Scorecard
Scorecard
Ravi Bopara produced a fine all-round performance as Essex Eagles cruised to a comprehensive nine wicket victory over Glamorgan Dragons in their Friends Provident t20 clash at Cardiff.
Despite winning the toss Glamorgan could only make 94 for 9 in their 20 overs with Bopara recording figures of 3for 13 in his four overs. It was Glamorgan's lowest ever Twenty20 score - surpassing their 112 against Somerset last year. And in knocking off the runs in only 13.1 overs Bopara made 42 from 32 balls with Alastair Cook finishing unbeaten on the same score.
Having started with a trio of wins in their opening three South Group games Glamorgan have now lost the last three. But there was no sign of an abject batting display as Jim Allenby and Mark Cosgrove put on 47 for the opening wicket.
However, on a slow pitch the Dragons suddenly slumped dramatically to 57 for 6 - the first four wickets falling in the space of 17 balls. The damage began when Cosgrove was run out by Grant Flower in a terrible mix-up with Allenby attempting a second run.
From there Glamorgan's batting imploded. Allenby was caught at long on by Cook off Bopara, David Masters claimed two wickets in the space of three balls to dismiss Jamie Dalrymple and Tom Maynard, and Kaneria was on a hat-trick having David Brown stumped and then trapping Mark Wallace leg before.
Having lost six wickets for 10 runs Glamorgan lost two more as they slumped to 65 for 8 with Bopara dismissing both Gareth Rees and Dean Cosker. Robert Croft, with 22 from 25 balls, and David Harrison, gave the Glamorgan innings some respectability in a 28-run partnership at the end.
In reply Bopara and Cook eased Essex to 50 without loss off the opening six overs with Shaun Tait conceding 25 runs in his opening two overs. The only blemish in Essex's run chase was when Bopara holed out to long off, but by then his side were well on the way to victory at 73 for 1, which they achieved with a massive 41 balls remaining.