One Day Cup: Warwickshire cling on to beat Glamorgan in thriller

Rob Yates made his first-class debut for Warwickshire in May 2019 against Hampshire

Warwickshire held on to beat Glamorgan by 24 runs in a thrilling One Day Cup Match of several twists and turns at Neath.

Chasing 332, half-centuries from Sam Northeast, Kiran Carlson, Billy Root and Ben Kellaway put Glamorgan on top going into the closing stages.

But Oliver Hannon-Dalby (4-48) and Ed Barnard (3-48) took vital wickets for the visitors.

Rob Yates (102) and Ed Barnard (79) put on 188 as Warwickshire racked up 331-7.

After an absorbing struggle in front of a packed out crowd, it was the visitors' third win from three to leave themselves well placed for qualification, while Glamorgan have three points from four games.

Warwickshire timed their innings beautifully after being put in, with Yates and Barnard taking their time to assess the conditions and reaching 125 without loss at the halfway mark.

Barnard led the initial charge but after the mid-innings break it was Yates who moved ahead, hitting powerfully and taking full advantage of the small outground boundaries.

Barnard was caught off Zain Ul Hassan when the stand had reached 188 in the 33rd over, with three wickets going for just 14 runs as Yates eventually holed out off Ben Kellaway having struck 11 fours and three sixes.

Ethan Brookes stepped up the momentum with 38 off 25, 17-year-old Hamza Shaikh clubbed 21 off 10, and Will Rhodes' 44 held it together as 103 came off the last 10 overs.

Kellaway's 3-56 was his second three-wicket haul in succession while Andy Gorvin and Ul Hassan claimed two each, but all the bowlers took stick and Glamorgan were not helped by Harry Podmore limping off after falling awkwardly in the field, having bowled seven overs.

Hannon-Dalby got some early swing with two cheap wickets to keep Warwickshire on the front foot, but Carlson led a counter-attack as he worked the ball round the ground intelligently to dominate a stand of 89 in 13.4 overs with Sam Northeast.

Carlson edged Craig Miles behind for 61 after hitting 10 fours and facing just 40 balls, but Northeast played through the pain of being hit amidships to reach 69 and Root made 56 off 63 balls as Glamorgan got on top.

The most significant knock looked likely to come from 19-year-old Kellaway, striking four sixes in his half-century off just 26 balls before having to rein in as wickets fell at the other end with Hannon-Dalby bowling smartly.

Timm van der Gugten was eighth out to a catch claimed by Ethan Brookes as he flicked the ball up while falling back over the boundary, much to the displeasure of the home crowd who thought he had touched the rope before tossing the ball infield to catch it again.

It was a marginal decision which could have decided the result, as Glamorgan's lower order fell away and Kellaway was last out for a valiant 67, trying to win the game off his own bat.

Glamorgan captain Kiran Carlson told BBC Sport Wales:

"It's a great advert for the game, it was a very good wicket and we knew anything was chaseable on a small ground, though they got 20 too many over a par score. The way we batted apart from the back end was brilliant.

"Ben's a real find, every time I see him play I'm impressed more and more, the way he bowls and the nous he has with the bat.

(On the contentious catch) "Those kinds of things happen and as long as Ethan Brookes is happy that he was honest and caught it, that's all we can ask for."

"Today was great, a lot of runs and wickets, hopefully the crowd enjoyed it and it inspires people from the Neath area to pick up a bat and ball."

Warwickshire centurion Rob Yates told BBC Radio WM:

"It was a brilliant day after questions over whether we were going to start on time (because of a soft outfield), both teams wanted to and it's paid off with a cracking game to be involved in, interesting and exciting.

"The wicket was soft and we realised it might look ugly at times, but wickets in hand was the key. Conditions didn't allow us to get on with it, but the conditions got better and the lads later on added to the momentum so to get to 330 was fantastic.

(On the Brookes catch) "We trust him, he knows when he's caught it and the umpire's given it out, so it's out.

"We've won games in different ways, today was a great game to test the nerve."