A career-best 137* from Marcus North, 62 by Will Bragg, a belligerent 69 from Jim Allenby plus a three wicket haul by Will Owen and Michael Hogan helped Glamorgan maintain their winning ways in the Yorkshire Bank40 match as they defeated the Middlesex Panthers by 26 runs at Lord's.
After their journey south last night from the sunny resort of Colwyn Bay to the bricks and mortar of the London conurbation, the Welsh county fielded the same eleven which defeated the Yorkshire Vikings yesterday with Will Bragg and Mark Wallace opening the batting against Corey Collymore and Toby Roland-Jones. Bragg swiftly picked up where he had left off yesterday at Rhos-on-Sea by striking the day's first boundary as he swatted the latter to the vacant third man boundary, before clipping him to fine-leg. Bragg added further fours to his tally - with some luck as well - as he inside edged Collymore to the ropes at long-leg, followed by another through the slips against Roland-Jones
Wallace also opened his account with a four behind square on the leg-side against Collymore before Bragg straight drove Roland-Jones for three. He also clipped Collymore for three through mid-wicket with Chris Rogers chasing the ball, pulling up sharply with what appeared to be a hamstring twinge. Bragg also cut Collymore for four but in the eighth over Wallace edged Roland-Jones to first slip before three balls later Joe Denly ran out Chris Cooke as he attempted a single to cover.
38/2 saw Marcus North join Bragg who continued to find the ropes as to the final ball of the powerplay he on-drove Roland-Jones. North began by cover driving Collymore who was then replaced at the Nursery End by off-spinner Paul Stirling, whilst Gareth Berg operated at the Pavilion End. North drilled Berg through mid-off for four before twice sweeping and once cutting Stirling for a trio of fours. He followed this by pulling the Irishman for four to bring up the fifty stand, and two deliveries later Bragg completed his fifty from 53 balls before celebrating by clipping Davey behind square-leg for four as Glamorgan reached the 100-mark in the 20th over.
A flick to backward square-leg saw North reach 50 from 47 balls as he posted his seventh four but with the total on 124 Bragg swatted Josh Davey into the hands of the fielder at backward point. Jim Allenby duly announced his arrival by clipping Tom Smith through mid-on for four, before North repeated the stroke to long-off before sweeping the left-arm spinner for another boundary.
North then opted for the aerial route as he drilled Neil Dexter over mid-on before Allenby cover-drove the Panthers captain. He followed this by lofting Smith over extra-cover before North speared Smith through backward point followed by lofted drives for six over mid-wicket and for four over backward point, both against Dexter as the fourth wicket pair went into overdrive.
Their fusillade of blows saw Collymore and Roland-Jones return to the fray, and with the scoring reverting to one's and two's, North duly reached his century from 81balls, his first for Glamorgan in limited-overs cricket as he emulated the achievements of Matthew Maynard and Alan Butcher - two previous Glamorgan captains to strike one-day hundreds at Lord's for the Welsh county.
Allenby celebrated by harpooning Collymore over long-on for six before a rasping straight drive for four by North brought up the century stand. Allenby then reached his fifty from 39 balls before the batting powerplay was taken with North drilling Davey through cover point for four before hoisting him behind deep square-leg for six. North then drove Roland-Jones to wide long-on for another four before clipping Davey behind square for another boundary as the torrent of runs continued with Allenby swatting Roland-Jones to square-leg before North drilled Roland-Jones for six as the pair added an unbroken 156 from 16.3 overs as Glamorgan ended on 280/3 - their best-ever List A total against Middlesex with North also posting his highest-ever score in List A cricket.
Michael Hogan and Graham Wagg duly opened the bowling to Chris Rogers and Dawid Malan. Rogers, fresh from his double-century against Surrey earlier in the week began with a brace of fours against Hogan, all crisply struck in an arc from mid-on to backward point. Malan also off-drove Hogan twice for four in an over before pulling and straight driving Mike Reed for further boundaries as the Panthers made a brisk start. But Allenby struck in his first over as, with Middlesex on 43, Rogers miscued a drive and Murray Goodwin completed the catch.
North's off-spin was soon on display and Malan greeted the visiting captain by pulling him for six. Stirling began by driving Allenby to long-on and deep square-leg for boundaries before despatching North through the covers. Dean Cosker then entered the attack at the Nursery End together with Will Owen at the Pavilion End, and the pair combined to claim the second wicket as Malan miscued a drive against Owen to backward point with the home side on 79.
With Joe Denly as his new partner, Stirling flayed Owen through backward point and extra cover in successive deliveries, before Denly saw Middlesex into three figures with a booming off-drive against the same bowler. But seven runs later Owen claimed his second scalp as Malan edged into Wallace's gloves. 107/3 swiftly became 110/4 as Owen made further inroads by re-arranging Stirling's stumps.
Berg and Dexter steadied the ship but with boundaries few and far between, the asking rate steadily climbed, forcing the former to use the long handle as he pummelled Cosker for leg-side fours in the spinner's final over. Hogan duly replaced him with 121 still needed from the last twelve overs and Dexter greeted his return by lofting him for six to long-on. But the bowler had the last laugh as three balls later Dexter was caught on the cover boundary by Cooke as Middlesex slipped further to 170/5.
Two runs later John Simpson chipped Wagg into Reed's hands at mid-on as the asking rate climbed above eleven with Middlesex taking their powerplay. Berg responded by firstly drilling Allenby to long-off for six and then hoisting Owen to long-on for four. He then brought up the 200 by flicking Owen over square-leg for another six as the equation became 77 from seven overs.
Their quest though took a blow as Davey clipped Allenby into Cooke's hands at deep mid-wicket, causing Roland-Jones to join Berg still with a mountain to climb as Hogan returned at the Nursery End whilst Allenby kept it tight at the Pavilion End as the task became 56 from 24 balls. Roland-Jones then departed as North caught a miscued drive against Hogan, and although Smith and Berg attempted some expansive blows the task proved to beyond their capabilities as Middlesex ended on 254/9 to give Glamorgan a deserved victory at the historic ground
