da betway： Glamorgan went down to a 53 run defeat at Bristol as Gloucestershire completedthe zonal rounds of the Twenty20 Cup with their fifth successive victory andthe highest total in the new competition – 221/7 – thanks to a savage 88 byCraig Spearman
Andrew Hignell24-Jun-2003Glamorgan went down to a 53 run defeat at Bristol as Gloucestershire completedthe zonal rounds of the Twenty20 Cup with their fifth successive victory andthe highest total in the new competition – 221/7 – thanks to a savage 88 byCraig Spearman from just 39 balls with 7 fours and 7 huge sixes, to the delightof a capacity crowd, in excess of 5,000.The Gloucestershire innings saw 17 fours and 11 sixes being struck as the hometeam progressed to the semi-final with an unbeaten record. In all of their previousgames, Gloucestershire had chased a relatively small target, but tonight this was thefirst time that they had batted first.Spearman and Ian Harvey set the tempo with a blistering openin partnership of 73 injust 7 overs, and later in the innings, Chris Taylor and Alex Gidman chipped inwith some lusty blows.Needing to score at a shade over 11 an over, much depended on Matthew Maynard andthe veteran completed his third consecutive half-century in the new competition fromjust 25 balls, with nine fours and a six.However, the experienced Gloucestershire bowlers took wickets at regular intervalsas the Welsh batsmen bravely made an attempt at the mammoth target. Any hopes thatthey may have held evaporated when Maynard was dismissed for 69, but his aggregateof 242 in the new tournament is the highest by an English batsman.