Glamorgan’s South African partnership of Colin Ingram and Jacques Rudolph put on 141 for the second wicket to set up a 25-run victory over Surrey at the Oval in the opening match of the English T20 series
Ingram, who was spectacularly caught off a no-ball when on just nine, and Rudolph took 87 runs off seven overs from spinners Gareth Batty and Zafar Ansari with a wonderful array of sweeps and reverse sweeps as they capitalised on a short boundary.Seamer Matt Dunn also had a day to forget, going wicketless and conceding 54 runs from his four overs.
The 141-run partnership was broken in the 15th over as Rudolph, clearly looking to accelerate further, mis-timed a heave to mid-on to depart for 62. Two overs later Ingram was bowled by a Wahab Riaz, nine runs short of his century, with seven fours and six sixes.
Glamorgan ended on 240-3 and once Surrey’s leading run scorer last season, the South African born Jason Roy and Kumar Sangakkara were dismissed in the powerplay, it became a target too far.
Hashim Amla top-scored with 29 off 22 balls (5×4) as Derbyshire accumulated 128 off 18.2 overs. That was nowhere near enough as Yorkshire sailed past the target for the loss of three wickets in 16 overs.
Neither Ashwell Prince (8) nor Alviro Petersen (10) made much of a contribution to Lancashire’s 142-5, but as they were chasing just 131 from Leicestershire, it did not matter much, especially with Steven Croft (70) in good form.
Rory Kleinveldt bowled a brilliant spell of two overs, conceding just three runs and taking one wicket, helping to restrict Durham to 174. But rain intervened and Northamptonshire were given a target of 81 off eight overs. Only Richard Levi stood up, scoring 26 off 18 balls, and they fell short by 41 runs.
Riki Wessels helped Nottinghamshire to an eight-wicket win over Warwickshire, supporting Alex Hales who went on a 43-ball rampage to score 86. Wessels contributed 30 off 16 balls, with fie fours and a six as they chased down Warwicks target of 141-7 with 33 balls remaining. Of those 26 came off Vernon Philander‘s two overs.
Nick Compton, the South Africa former England player blasted 78 off 53 balls as Middlesex ran up 175. It was not enough and Gloucestershire cruised to a seven-wicket win in 19 overs.
Former SA Under 19 player Greg Smith from Johannesburg scored 30 in support of Ryan ten Doeschate’s’ 90 for Essex, but the lower-order collapse allowed Hampshire a 17-run win.
Compiled by Mark Salter