Bears stay alive in the rain
Source -
sportinglife.com
The Warwickshire Bears kept alive their chance of a quarter-final place in the Twenty20 Cup by bringing down high-flying Northamptonshire by 20 runs at Edgbaston.
Two wickets in successive balls by Neil Carter tilted the balance as the Bears repeated their victory over the Steelbacks in the opening fixture at Wantage Road.
Carter (three for 28) removed David Sales and Lance Klusener for ducks in the 10th over and Alex Loudon, back from England A duty against Pakistan, took two for 24 as Warwickshire successfully defended a total of 187 for seven.
Usman Afzaal (21) and Sourav Ganguly (29) attempted to build a platform for Northamptonshire but Dougie Brown broke an opening stand of 44 and came back to dismiss Ganguly as the batsmen had to cope with bad light and steady drizzle.
Riki Wessels (44 from 26 balls) eventually mounted a rousing counter attack in a stand of 63 in five overs with Ben Phillips, who was dropped twice in making 31.
The seventh-wicket pair both fell to Heath Streak before the innings closed at 167 for nine.
Tim Ambrose backed up Warwickshire's bowlers with a brilliant catch and a stumping after making an unbeaten 48 from 24 balls in his first Twenty20 appearance since arriving from Sussex.
The 5ft 7in Australian-born wicketkeeper drove and pulled four sixes as the last four overs, delivered by four different bowlers, yielded 62 runs and transformed a mundane innings into Warwickshire's highest in the competition this season.
Nick Knight was an earlier trailblazer with 40 from 23 balls, but the top order lost its way as soon as the former England opener top edged a sweep off Ganguly to deep back square leg.
Off-spinner Jason Brown dismissed Loudon (27) in a spell of two for 21 but Charl Pietersen's three wickets on his Twenty20 Cup debut proved expensive in three overs that cost the South African 35 runs.
T20, Twenty20 and Twenty20 Cup are registered trade marks of the England and Wales Cricket Board Limited (the “ECB”).
Products and services on this website are not offered in connection with, or with the endorsement of the ECB
