Glamorgan have won matches with performances from the whole squad and it was Dan Douthwaite who delivered in the semi final. His 55 from 35 balls rescued a Glamorgan innings that looked down and out at 89/5 after 25.3 overs. He then contributed two wickets in a nine over spell that went for just 37 runs. Warwickshire’s innings started equally disasterously, but were given some hope by Michael Burgess’ 85 from 94 balls. However they had fallen too far behind and ended 39 runs short of the target.
Both sides stuck with the players who had taken them to this stage of the competition, Warwickshire able to bring back Rob Yates and Hamza Shaikh following their successful England Lions outings, both batters in the runs.
Bowling first has been the favoured option in this competition and Ed Barnard put Glamorgan in having won the toss. The players were met by blue skies as they took the field, the new white balls giving the bowlers some assistance, although the pitch lacked pace.
The youthful Will Smale and Asa Tribe were up against the experienced pair of Barnard and Oliver Hannon-Dalby and the bowlers were soon on top. Glamorgan managed just seven runs from the first four overs and Hanson-Dalby conceded just one run from his first 22 balls. However it was Barnard who produced the wicket taking deliveries, three pouched by Yates at first slip. The first three dismissals were for single figure scores, with Smale watching on and he became Barnard’s fourth with the score on 44, out for 13 from 39 deliveries. Barnard bowled his 10 overs straight through, finishing with four for 34, including two maidens. It should have been five, with Ingram put down by Yates when he was on 18.
That drop might have been expensive as Ingram and Billy Root looked to rebuild, but Warwickshire have depth in their bowling and their Kiwi overseas, Michae Rae trapped Ingram lbw for 47 from 53 balls. Ingram had put on 46 for the fifth wicket with Root, but 90/5 from 25.3 overs was going to need something special to produce a defendable total.
Ben Kellaway joined Root and looked comfortable as the pair pushed the score along, both finding the boundary rope. They took the total to 145, their 55 run partnership coming at a run-a-ball, but Hannon-Dalby was brought back and bowled Kellaway with his fourth ball, gone for 23.
Root has seen Glamorgan out of a number of tricky situations, but will be disappointed to have pulled a short ball from Rae into the hands of Hannon-Dalby at long leg, having made 46 from 70 balls. However the lower order have contributed valuable runs and Timm van der Gugten joined Dan Douthwaite. They put on 34 runs from 38 balls, before van der Gugten (26) was well caught by Kai Smith at third man off the bowling of Booth.
Andy Gorvin contributed a useful 11 from nine balls, but it was Douthwaite that gave the innings a final boost as he struck four fours and four sixes to take 32 runs off the final two overs and see Glamorgan to 247/9. This was an excellent recovery from 89/4 at the halfway point.
Glamorgan had made 40 odd more than Warwickshire might have expected and the Bears would have been looking for a solid start to their innings. However van der Gugten and Jamie McIlroy have been miserly in their opening spells and this was a pitch where it was not easy to get going. The Bears were immediately under pressure and van der Gugten was the first to strike, Yates edging to Ingram at first slip. 12/1 became 21/2 when Barnard nicked McIlroy to Smale behind the stumps and then Hamza Shaikh and Will Rhodes were dismissed in the 10th and 11th overs with the score on 37.
Glamorgan’s change bowling then kept up the pressure and Douthwaite backed up his batting with an aggressive spell in which he dismissed Chris Benjamin and Kai Smith with the score on 57. At the halfway stage the Bears were in serious trouble at 76/6 and Carlson was keeping up the pressure with only two fielders outside the circle.
However, Michael Burgess was holding firm and gave the Bears supporters some hope despite the required rate climbing as the bowlers were not giving anything away. After 30 overs the score was 91/6, 157 required from 20 overs. Burgess took a particular liking to Ingram’s leg spin as he struck him for three successive sixes, the first bringing up his 50 from 70 balls. However he was having to make all the running with Jake Lintott not able to score as freely at the other end. Eventually that told and Burgess skied a ball off McIlroy to the ever present Douthwaite at mid off, out for 85 from 94 balls. That looked the decisive moment, the score on 149/7 with 99 runs needed from 69 balls. The lower order had a go, with Michael Booth clearing the ropes on three occasions to make 35 from 29 balls, but the Glamorgan bowlers continued to chip away and the Bears finished 208 all out. Van der Gugten ended with two for 22 from his 10 overs and McIlroy three for 42.
Glamorgan will now meet Somerset at Trent Bridge on Sunday, 22nd September.
