Hampshire skittled out of the B&H
Glamorgan recorded a remarkable 113 run victory over Hampshire in their quarter-final match of the Benson and Hedges Cup. The Welsh county bowled out Hampshire for just 69 to secure a home tie against Surrey in the semi-finals of the competition at Cardiff on May 27th.Earlier in the day, Hampshire appeared to be in the driving seat after putting Glamorgan in to bat in rather sultry and oppressive conditions at Sophia Gardens. Glamorgan`s early batsmen struggled against Hampshire’s veteran seamer Peter Hartley, who dismissed both openers – Croft and Elliott – in an opening spell of 8-4-15-2. When Dimitri Mascarenhas dismissed skipper Matthew Maynard for 6, Glamorgan slumped to 31-3. A partial recovery began with Mike Powell making a composed 29 with 4 fours, before being tempted down the wicket by Shane Warne and being stumped by acting wicket-keeper Derek Kenway. The wily Australian claimed a second scalp when Steve James was caught at slip, and with Glamorgan on 83-5 in the 32nd over, Hampshire seemed to be well on top.But the complexion of the game changed in the next 18 overs, thanks to Adrian Dale and Keith Newell who shared a partnership of 99 for the sixth wicket. Mixing defence with aggression, Dale and Newell transfomed the game, adding 66 runs in the final 10 overs. Dale made a watchful 63* off 90 balls, whilst Newell struck 4 fours and their doughty partnership was only ended when Newell was run out off the last ball of the innings, one short an excellent fifty.Despite their efforts, many in the crowd still fancied Hampshire, especially as the cloud cover had now disappeared over the Cardiff ground. But the slow, low Sophia Gardens wicket is notoriously one where the side batting first has an advantage, and Hampshire were soon in trouble against the accurate seam bowling of Owen Parkin. He took the first three wickets – all leg before – dismissing Kenway for 1 in his second over, Will Kendall for 0 in his third over, and Jason Laney for 5 in his sixth over, to finish with career best figures of 3-16 from 8 overs.Steve Watkin was also in miserly form at the other end, bowling three maiden overs to begin with, before getting the prized wicket of Robin Smith thanks to a fine catch in the gully by Matthew Elliott. Next ball, Watkin dismissed John Stephenson leg before for a duck, and Hampshire had slumped to 16-5 in the 12th over.Giles White survived the hat-trick ball, but he too struggled against the accurate Watkin who completed a remarkable spell with figures of 7-5-3-2. It was then the turn of man-of-the-match Adrian Dale to wreak havoc with the ball, dismissing White leg before and then getting Mascarenhas caught behind by Adrian Shaw after a half hour vigil without scoring a run. AlexWharf then bowled Shane Warne to leave Hampshire on 38-8, and as some home supporters began to sing “Bread of Heaven”, others began thumbing through the record books to find out the lowest total in the competition.Shaun Udal and Alan Mullally guided their side past the previous low of 50, before Keith Newell came on to claim the wicket of Mullally, caught on the square leg boundary by Mike Powell. In his next over, Newell finished the innings by catching Udal off his own bowling, and with Hampshire all out for 69, the Glamorgan team were able to celebrate a place in the semi-finals of the competition for the first time since 1988, and only the second time in the club`s history.