Glamorgan\'s on-fire batsman Colin Ingram admitted he was \'gutted\' to lose a tight Royal London One-Day Cup match against Essex Eagles last night, despite blazing a century.
Ingram smote an incredble 107 from just 73 balls to power Glamorgan to 324/8 on a flat Chelmsford pitch last night.
But the Eagles chased it down, with Nick Browne hitting 99 and the experience of Ryan ten Doeschate and James Foster proving vital at the death. Essex reached their target of 325 with six wickets down and five balls to spare.
For Ingram, it was a bittersweet feeling at the end of the match. Despite being delighted with his own form, the South African was frustrated to see Glamorgan slip to a second 50-over defeat in three days.
He said: "It was a high-scoring game and we put some really good partnerships together in the first innings. We thought we had a reasonable total but we knew we had to bowl well. They batted really well and got off to a good start in the first 20 overs that put us under pressure."
Ingram hit his first century of the season to extend his rich vein of form in T20 and 50-over cricket. The former Proteas international is Glamorgan's top run-scorer in both formats this season.
“It is always nice when it is going well," he added. "My confidence is up and I’ve been trying to keep it that way and churn out the runs. But I am gutted that we lost.
"We still put some good stuff together and can take the good out of this performance for the rest of the competition. We have been playing good cricket in the 50-over competition this season so I can’t see why we can’t go through.”
With three wins and three defeats from their six matches in the Royal London One Day Cup, Glamorgan's fate hangs in the balance. They face a home match against Hampshire in Swansea on Sunday, before travelling to The Kia Oval to play Surrey on Monday next week.
Two victories would almost certainly guarantee a quarter-final spot. Glamorgan sit fourth and are currently level on points with third-placed Kent and fifth-placed Middlesex after six games.
Essex's victory has lifted them to top of the table, ahead of Somerset on net run rate. Both of those two sides appear to have sealed their place in the knockout stages.
Glamorgan now travel to Hove on Thursday night in the NatWest T20 Blast, where victory would seal a home quarter-final tie at The SSE SWALEC. The match gets underway on the South Coast at 6.30pm.