Colin Ingram scored his second T20 century in the space of a week, as Glamorgan moved up to second on the Natwest T20 Blast standings.
Glamorgan vs Essex
Essex won the toss and opted to bat first. Opener Varun Chopra was the rock of the hosts’ innings, while also ensuring an extremely high run rate. He found the boundary with regularity throughout his 55-ball innings, hitting a sensational six fours and eight sixes to end unbeaten on 103 and with a remarkable 174.57 strike rate.
Ravi Bopara also played a quick-fire knock of his own, finishing with 63 off 32 and helping his side to post a daunting 219-4.
The Glamorgan pursuit was dealt an early blow after the loss of Aneurin Donald in the second over, which brought Ingram to the crease. He and David Lloyd took the attack to the Essex bowlers.
Though Lloyd departed soon afterwards for 20, Ingram was in a determined mood. He took much of the strike during his 49-run stand with Jacques Rudolph, before Simon Harmer accounted for Rudolph for nine just a day after he scored 65 not out against Somerset.
Ingram brought up his ton in great style with a six. He and Chris Cooke put Glamorgan in a decent position by reaching 200 in the 18th over. The run-out of Ingram for 114 and the departure of Cooke two balls later threatened to derail the chase. A four and six off the final two balls from Craig Meschede, however, saw Glamorgan home by five wickets.
Warwickshire vs Leicestershire
Elsewhere, a trio of South Africans starred in a nine-run win for Leicestershire over Warwickshire. With the bat, a 37 from Cameron Delport and an unbeaten 15 from Matthew Pillans pushed the visitors to 147-9 in their allotted overs. During the Warwickshire chase, Colin Ackermann had a terrific showing with the ball. He removed openers Sam Hain and Ian Bell for 15 and 10 respectively before Grant Elliot became his third victim.
Delport and Pillans claimed a wicket apiece to restrict the hosts to 138, as Leicestershire remained unbeaten after three games to assume top spot in the North Group.
Lancashire vs Derbyshire
Wayne Madsen scored a 35-ball 52, which allowed Derbyshire to post a respectable 152-8. Imran Tahir’s 2-32 and Hardus Viljoen’s 1-26 were trumped by Dane Vilas’ 20 and Ryan Mclaren’s unbeaten 24 as Lancashire completed a five-wicket win.
