Gloucestershire totally dominant as they take C&G Trophy

In years to come, anyone looking at the scores in the 2003 Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy final is likely to consign it to the "win the toss and win the match" genre. Worcestershire put in and bowled out for 149 and Gloucestershire knocking off the runs with scarcely a tremor and the loss of only three wickets. In reality, it was relentless Gloucestershire pressure that won the day while the toss was almost irrelevant to the outcome.

The pitch was a good one and not a seaming paradise of old, as often experienced on such occasions. Furthermore, the day dawned bright but with freshness in the air that did not induce excessive swing, as might have been the case in more humid conditions. This was demonstrated by the way Vikram Solanki and Anurag Singh opened proceedings for Worcestershire.

Solanki was at his flowing, wristy best as he unreeled a succession of glorious strokes, while Singh could happily go along in wake. They had put on 64 in 16 overs, with Solanki accounting for 40 of them from 51 balls with seven boundaries.

He was in prime form before Singh played a ball down into the backward point area and motioned as if to run. Solanki was committed when Singh noticed that the fielder in question was Jonty Rhodes. Singh froze, Solanki tried to get back and if the throw was not one of the South African's very best, it was strong and close enough to the foot of the stumps for Mark Alleyne to gather it in and break the wicket with an ease that belied the difficulty of accepting the ball. Solanki was clearly out.

From that point onwards, Gloucestershire were in total control. Bowlers kept a disciplined line and length, the fielding was outstanding and all the time Alleyne was pulling the strings with the surest of touches in a masterly display of captaincy.

He brought Ian Harvey into the attack for the Australian to take two for four in seven balls. Those two wickets were Graeme Hick driving uppishly into the covers and Singh who fell to a very sharp slip catch by Martyn Ball. Ben Smith was another run out victim, when the ever-alert Jack Russell popped out from behind the stumps to throw to the bowler's end with Smith stranded.

With Mike Smith leaving the field after bowling five overs, Alleyne needed to find extra bowling resources and on came Alex Gidman with his medium pace. David Leatherdale edged him low to Ball's right at slip and the potentially dangerous Andrew Hall was trapped right in front to leave Worcestershire on 99 for six.

Gareth Batty and Steve Rhodes set about a rebuilding job to take the total along to 133, but in the process Rhodes injured himself and required the services of a runner and later a substitute wicket-keeper in James Pipe who had been sitting in the crowd watching the game.

Another piece of Alleyne magic broke the partnership. He summoned up Jon Lewis who promptly had Batty lbw for 20 before seeing Rhodes provide Ball with the chance of his third good slip catch and the end was close. Ball himself came on to provide Russell with an opportunity to show off. He stumped Matt Mason off a leg-side wide. Ball then had Mornantau Hayward caught in the deep off a wild swing and the field was left to the band of the Royal Marines.

The Gloucestershire batsmen struck exactly the right note as well. Craig Spearman and Phillip Weston, who was unable to claim a place in the one-day side when he played for Worcestershire, were particularly severe on Hayward whose three overs went for 20. Kabir Ali received similar treatment in leaking 25 runs from his four overs, but he did claim the wicket of Spearman who was caught at mid-off.

That allowed Harvey to come to the middle and it appeared as if he and Weston traded in a single currency - the cleanly hit drive to the boundary. It was stirring stuff with the attack finding no answer. Weston was dropped at slip by Hall but then taken by the same fielder off the bowling of Mason for 46 to allow some respite to the demoralised bowlers

It was a brief moment of success for Worcestershire and something had to be done to stem the flow of runs. Smith's answer was to introduce the off-spin of Batty. In trying to launch him over mid-wicket towards Baker Street and beyond, Harvey did fail to make contact with one ball in Batty's first over. The other five, however, were all thrashed to various points of the boundary and the game was almost over.

Batty did claim Harvey's wicket when he had scorched to 61 from 36 balls with 12 fours, but Rhodes came in to join Gidman and, fittingly, the man who started Worcestershire's rot with that run out was the man who stroked the winning run. Gloucestershire picked up the trophy for the first time under the current sponsorship but for the third time in five years to establish this team as one of the very best one-day sides the domestic game has seen.