Glamorgan 3 and 4
Looking Good
By Grockle
May 17 2003
Burns gambles on getting enough runs to bat only once and gets it right. Thanks to quick runs from Aarron Laraman and the ball in the hands of...well anyone really, we say goodbye to the Dragons with an innings and 143 gap between us. Not shabby at all!
v GLAMORGAN CC2 @ Taunton May 17 2003
DAY ONE |
DAY TWO |
DAY THREE |
DAY FOUR |
SCORECARD |
Day 3
Not a lot to say really. About an hour of play but enough to get the gist of what Mr Burns had in mind. 6 runs from a final batting point, he wasn't going to do anything until he'd hit 400. Then would he declare and have a go? With the weather so unreliable and Saturday's forecast no better, he decided to smash a few in the hope of bowling them out without having to bat again.
Rob Turner and Aarron Laraman had obviously been told what was required when they went out to bat. You've got about 45 minutes and we want them in before the rain comes. Laraman took to the orders and smashed a colossal 61 off 38 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes. Rob T at the other end played the anchor role and these two allowed Burns to declare at 476 and ask the Welsh to see out the day.
They didn't have long but it was enough to let Johnson get the order changing with poor old Thomas going for one (at least he got off the mark this time) with Glamorgan on 2. The weather shut the game down at 29 for 1, although there was the farce of everyone coming out to continue, Francis taking the ball and then the umpires offering the light before a ball was bowled and everyone trooping back in again! Would the weather beat us?
Day 4
Lots of wickets very quickly had to be the order of the day on the last one. If the sides left the field it was very unlikely that they would return because the showers would keep coming so it was vital for Somerset to make early inroads into the Dragon's batting.
Surprisingly we got off to a fairly prompt start and although the sky was shades of grey to ugly black, the water stayed away. Nixon McLean carried on where he had left off in the first innings with the wicket of Dale at 41 and then Hemp at 58...and then Hughes at 64. This was not going the visitors way at all! The conditions seemed to confuse the Glamorgan batsmen and favoured our bowlers in every department it seems. At 80, Laraman got into the act with the ball this time, dismissing Powell LBW for 16. Then he did a McLean with Wallace skittled at 88 and Croft following him back four runs later after he swatted one to Blackwell.
Now it was just a case of beating the weather. Matthew Maynard was the thorn in our side but he had few partners left. Lunch was beckoning and the clouds were getting blacker and blacker. Frosty was wandering about the covers deciding which to put out first and we all knew that we'd been here before and we couldn't afford to wait about. Johnson hadn't been moving about in a way that suggested he was fully fit, but he did his bit and had been unlucky again in his earlier spells. Nevertheless he had to get something soon and he did - Harrison for 6 at 111 caught behind. We were now 2 wickets from a win and two overs from lunch (we had an extra over to bowl because we were behind the rate). Simon Francis (who looks just like Rosey when he's running in) put us all in a quandary when he finally dispatched Maynard, caught Bowler, and sent us into a nervous lunch with drizzle coming down, needing one wicket.
The covers were on, the groundsmen were out and the rain, though not heavy, was persistent. Luckily, it lightened and the drizzle stopped long enough for the sides to come out and finish the game. Richard Johnson said goodbye to Alex Wharf courtesy of the gloves of Turner and we had got home with very little time to spare.
A good win in a short time and by a big margin. We did exactly what we needed to do when we needed to do it. The Glamorgan batting was pretty woeful but our ball hurlers gave them nothing to settle with and all performed very well behind the excellent performance of the West Indian paceman Nixon M - 8 for 83 in the match with 5 for Laraman and 4 for Johnson and good support from Francis and Blackwell. Good solid batting from the frontmen and some runs for the captain were a bonus. Now let's get the one day stuff sorted out with the Outlaws tomorrow!
Somerset Man of the Match - Nixon Alexie MacNamara McLean