Warwickshire 123 for 2 (Rhodes 36*) beat Gloucestershire 120 (J Taylor 55, Hannon-Dalby 3-14) by eight wickets
Gloucestershire’s flying start in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup came to a crashing halt with an eight-wicket defeat to Warwickshire at Edgbaston. The west country men had won their first two games but surrendered their 100% record to a Warwickshire side which retained theirs after a ruthless display of bowling supported by brilliant catching.
Warwickshire then eased to 123 for two from 25.5 overs as Ed Barnard added a fluent 36 from 39 balls to his two wickets, Will Rhodes struck an unbeaten 36 and Michael Burgess an unbeaten 33.
After choosing to bowl, Warwickshire made lavish use of the new ball. Gloucestershire were 10 for 4 after Barnard took wickets with his second and 11th deliveries and Hannon-Dalby struck with his seventh and ninth. All were caught behind the wicket as Barnard induced fatal edges from the Price brothers and Hannon-Dalby had Chris Dent and Graeme van Buuren taken in the cordon.
When Danny Briggs started with a wicket-maiden, James Bracey chipping back a return catch from the sixth ball, the visitors were 35 for 5. Taylor and Ben Wells added 29 but the edges continued to come. Wells nicked a perfectly-shaped outswinger from Craig Miles and Zafar Gohar left in high dudgeon after being adjudged caught behind off Hannon-Dalby.
Taylor and Anwar Ali constructed the best stand of the innings – 38 from 42 balls – but then fell to brilliant catches. Anwar tickled Miles down the leg side and wicketkeeper Burgess dived low to take his fourth catch of the innings. Taylor passed 50 for the 18th time in List A cricket but is still to turn one of those fifties into a hundred after he thrashed Jake Lintott to extra cover and fell to a stinging catch from Ethan Brookes.
When Lintott spun one on to Ajeet Singh Dale’s stumps, Gloucestershire were 120 all out and their strong start to the campaign seemed a distant memory.
It grew increasingly distant as Warwickshire openers Barnard and Rob Yates added 46 in 12 overs. Barnard batted attractively before falling lbw when he missed a reverse sweep at Ollie Price.
Captain Will Rhodes arrived in no mood to hang about, moving from 1 to 15 with two fours and a six in four balls from Ollie Price and lifting Gohar into the Hollies Stand. Tom Price rattled Yates’ off stump with a jaffa but Gloucestershire’s batting implosion meant that jaffas had to arrive on a conveyor belt to rescue them and Rhodes and Burgess steered the Bears to the most straightforward of victories with 145 balls to spare.
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