Essex Eagles v Glamorgan
Royal London Cup
The Cloud County Ground, Sunday 14 August
Team News:
Essex Eagles: Feroze Khushi, Josh Rymell, Tom Westley (c), Grant Roelofsen, Robin Das, Aaron Beard, Shane Snater, Aron Nijjar, Luc Benkenstein, Jamal Richards, Ray Toole.
Glamorgan: David Lloyd, Sam Northeast, Colin Ingram, Kiran Carlson (c), Tom Bevan, Tom Cullen (wk), Dan Douthwaite, Andrew Salter, James Weighell, James Harris, Prem Sisodiya.
Match Details:
Umpires: Anthony Harris & Mark Newell
Match Referee: Jason Swift
Toss: Essex won and chose to bat
Result: Essex won by 103 runs
Scorecard: View Here
Match Highlights:
Match Reaction:
Luc Benkenstein
Match Report:
17-year-old leg spinner Luc Benkenstein sliced through the Glamorgan middle-order with 6 wickets in 36 balls to ease Essex Eagles to back-to-back Royal London Cup victories at sizzling Chelmsford.
The son of former South African all-rounder Dale came on to bowl the 22nd over with Glamorgan making good progress towards their target of 342. But Benkenstein’s incredible quick-fire haul included the crucial wicket of Sam Northeast for 70, who was going along nicely at just under a run a ball. Benkenstein finished with figures of 6-42 in the 103-run win.
Essex’s imposing total, after electing to bat against the reigning Champions, was underpinned by a second-wicket partnership of 203, a record for any Essex wicket in the competition against Glamorgan, between Feroze Khushi and Tom Westley, who both finished with 104 to their names.
For Khushi his 86-ball knock, including 5 sixes, was his second century of the season, scored on successive Sundays, while Westley recorded a ton in consecutive matches from 110 balls. However, once they departed Essex crashed from 247-3 to 303-9 in the blink of an eye with Andrew Salter’s off-breaks claiming 3-72.
Glamorgan’s tails were up when Josh Rymell thick-edged the second legitimate ball of the game from James Harris to slip. They had to wait more than 30 overs for their second success by which time Essex had motored beyond 200.
In between Khushi and Westley set about the bowling with an almost nonchalant relish. Westley, coming in at 3, dominated the initial part of the partnership, contributing 49 of the first hundred and then reaching his own half-century from 51 balls.
Khushi was slightly more subdued at the outset and managed just 2 fours in his fifty scored from 57 balls, but he kept the scoreboard ticking along with singles and doubles.
However, it was in the latter stages of his innings that he burst into life. His first fifty included a straight six off Douthwaite. There was a second swept off Prem Sisodiya before Colin Ingram was taken out of the attack after three legside sixes in an over that had the umpires reaching regularly for the spares box.
Khushi’s second fifty took just 29 balls as a single to deep cover took him to three figures. But in the same over he played all around a delivery from David Lloyd and was bowled.
Westley was a spectator for a spell while Khushi ran rampant, but reached his own ton with a push into the onside from his 101st ball. But he was bamboozled by a delivery from Salter that was going down legside, he overbalanced and was stumped off a wide.
The two centurions removed, Glamorgan’s bowlers suddenly detected a soft underbelly and six wickets went down in six overs before a last-wicket flourish added 38
Only Grant Roelofsen, entering at 4, avoided the carnage at the other end and finished unbeaten on 69 from 55 balls, reaching his half-century with a six into the visitors’ dressing room.
In response, Lloyd struck 7 boundaries in a 17-ball 30 before he picked out Snater on the square-leg boundary to give New Zealander Ray Toole a first wicket on debut.
Apart from a pulled six, Ingram struggled for any fluency despite a half-century stand with Northeast. He had reached 17 from 25 balls when he took a swish at Nijjar and was lbw.
Northeast lost his skipper Kiran Carlson after another fifty partnership when he chopped Benkenstein to backward point. Benkenstein’s second followed soon after when Northeast decided to charge and was stumped by Roelofsen, and the third arrived when Khushi raced in from the cover boundary to dive and dismiss Tom Bevan.
Douthwaite leant back and tried to force Benkenstein away, only to play on. Two balls later Tom Cullen went walkabouts and was stumped.
Nijjar had Weighell caught behind off an attempted reverse sweep before Benkenstein returned to dismiss Harris, courtesy of Nijjar’s snatch around the corner off a top edge.
