Glamorgan surrender hands it to Leicester
Leicestershire 96 & 283 beat Glamorgan 199 & 154 by 26 runs
LEICESTERSHIRE captain Mark Cosgrove said his side deserved to end the season with a win after an extraordinary three-day finish to their match against Glamorgan.
Needing just 35 to win with six wickets in hand, Glamorgan collapsed, losing their last six wickets for only ten runs.
Cosgrove said: “It was a weird game. To be bowled out for 96 in our first innings, and to fight back in the way we did, despite not being at our best with the bat, was remarkable, and a big credit to our bowlers, who kept steaming in and got us the win.
“Dieter Klein opened them up on the last morning, but at lunch I knew we only had one more crack and the first few overs would be key, so for Clint [McKay] and Charlie [Shreck] to do what they did was incredible.
“We’ve played some pretty good cricket this year, and while the last month hasn’t been great, to finish with a win confirms it’s been a good year. We’ve come a long way in the last few seasons and I hope people remember that.”
Glamorgan captain Jacques Rudolph said it was a hard result to take after appearing to have the game won.
“It’s not so much a question of technique, it boils down to character and it boils down to temperament,” said Rudolph.
“When a wicket goes down you come in, you get yourself settled, you go through the tough phase and you set about building a partnership.
“This season we haven’t been able to do that, and we have to learn. I think the young players will learn from matches like this. I hope so, because it can’t continue.”
Umpires Steve Garrett and Billy Taylor had no issues with the Grace Road pitch, which played reasonably well throughout.
The ball swung, however, and the fragile confidence in both sides’ batting line-ups was exposed, particularly on day one, which saw 20 wickets fall, and which departing Leicestershire director of elite performance Andrew McDonald described as one of the worst days of first-class cricket he had ever seen.
Youngster Kiran Carlson impressed for Glamorgan with 74 in the first innings, but it was the collapse from 144-4 to 154 all out on the third afternoon that lost them the game.