Bears hold on in thriller
Source -
sportinglife.com
Warwickshire survived a late scare to register their second win in the Twenty20 Cup by overcoming Glamorgan by three runs at Edgbaston.
The Bears were comfortably defending a total of 173 for five until Mark Wallace launched an onslaught with 35 runs from 19 balls.
With 34 wanted from the last two overs, the wicketkeeper hoisted two sixes as Neil Carter conceded 17 before bowling Ben Wright.
Wallace then trimmed the requirement to nine from three balls only to be caught by Alex Loudon, when driving Heath Streak to deep midwicket.
Four byes and a single then took Glamorgan to 170 for seven after an erratic innings, which began promisingly with 45 from 43 balls by Richard Grant.
The young opener lost three partners in quick succession before Tasmanian all-rounder Damien Wright waded in with three sixes in crashing 31 from 14 balls in a rapid partnership of 57.
Glamorgan's challenge wobbled again when Maddy held a difficult overhead catch from Wright at mid-off and it seemed to be all over when Grant failed to clear long on for a second wicket by Streak. But Wallace had other ideas.
A relatively sedate start by Warwickshire was transformed by a whirlwind partnership of 67 in 33 balls by Tim Groenewald and Tim Ambrose.
Big-hitting Groenewald hit three sixes in a 25-ball dash to 41 before he was caught at midwicket off Dean Cosker and Ambrose, continuing his outstanding season with the bat, needed only 19 deliveries for an unbeaten 39.
The late surge put the finishing touch to another impressive performance by Jonathan Trott prior to linking up with England's one-day squad tomorrow.
After scoring 206 runs in his last three matches in the Friends Provident Trophy, the South African-born batsman has now made 44 in each of his two innings in the Twenty20 Cup.
Facing 40 balls - three more than in Warwickshire's win against Somerset on Friday - he put on 59 in 10 overs with Darren Maddy and eventually got himself out, caught at extra cover, when attempting to step up the rate against Cosker.
Alex Loudon failed to get beyond the sixth ball of the innings for the second time in three days when bowled by Wright and Maddy (28) was looking to accelerate when sweeping the canny Robert Croft to deep square leg.
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