A superb 169* by Jacques Rudolph - the highest-ever for Glamorgan in one-day cricket - saw Glamorgan end their one-day season in record-breaking style by successfully chasing a target of 329 to defeat the Sussex Sharks by seven wickets (D/L Method) on a memorable evening at Hove in the Royal London One-Day Cup
The Welsh county fielded the same team who were on duty last week at Swansea for the match against Warwickshire, with Michael Hogan and Graham Wagg sharing the new ball against Chris Nash and Luke Wright. The latter got the scoreboard moving as he cover drove Wagg before carving Hogan through backward point.
Nash also found the boundary boards as he despatched Wagg through extra cover whilst Wright again crisply cut Hogan for four before unleashing a pair of rasping drives against Wagg for four, and another over long-on for six against Hogan. Later in the over he also clattered Hogan to long-off for four before nearly dragging Wagg onto his stumps as the ball sped to fine-leg for another four.
Wright then lofted Wagg over long-on for six to see the Sharks to the 50-mark in the ninth over before Nash greeted the introduction of Dean Cosker by pulling the spinner to mid-wicket. But the wily spinner gained revenge in his next over as he trapped the opener leg before. 71/1 saw Craig Cachopa join Wright who duly completed a 43-ball fifty by cutting Jim Allenby for two.
Cachopa opened his account by driving Cosker inside-out over extra cover before Wright nurdled the spinner for four. Next over, Cachopa biffed Cosker to long-on for four as Sussex reached three figures in the 19
th over with Andrew Salter then replacing him at the Cromwell Road End and being blasted on three occasions through cover for four by the belligerent Wright.
Cachopa had earlier brought up the fifty stand by pulling Allenby for four before David Lloyd replaced him at the Sea End, but he too was clubbed for four to long-on by Cachopa. Hogan also replaced Salter as the floodlights also came on, but Cachopa brought up the 150 by cover driving the paceman for four. A series of singles then followed before Wright greeted the return of Salter by driving him for four through mid-off, but three balls later he bowled Cachopa for 45 as Sussex lost their second wicket on 170.
Harry Finch began by cutting Lloyd for four but steady rain then started to fall and the players left the field for half an hour as the game became a 48-overs per side contest. Wright duly completed a 105-ball hundred by leg-glancing Lloyd for a single. Finch reverse-lapped Cosker for four before on-driving Lloyd for another boundary as the powerplays were taken in the 37
th over. He celebrated by drilling the seamer over long-on for six before bringing up the 200 by pulling the returning Wagg for four, followed next ball by a deft leg-glance for four.
Wright also off-drove Wagg for four before lofting Hogan over extra-cover for four, followed by another muscular heave over long-off for six and a powerful drive through extra-cover for four. Finch then greeted the return of Cosker for the final powerplay over by on-driving him for four. Even though the powerplays had ended, both batsmen continued to use the long handle with Wright lofting Hogan over long-on for six, whilst Finch swept the paceman for six over square-leg.
But two balls later Wright's innings ended as he miscued another barn-storming blow and skied a catch to Wallace before departing having made 127 from 115 balls - his best List A score for the Sharks. A leg-glance for two by Finch saw him reach 50 from 37 balls which he celebrated by reverse-scooping Hogan to long-leg for four followed by a drive to mid-wicket for four against Cosker.
Matt Machan also on-drove the spinner to the ropes before Finch again lofted Wagg straight for four to long-off before swatting him through backward point for another crisply-struck four. Two balls later he clipped the left-armer to fine-leg for four before Machan despatched Wagg over extra-cover for six. Finch also lofted Allenby for four to mid-wicket in the final over as he ended on 92.
Chasing a revised target of 329 in 48 overs, Jacques Rudolph and Allenby began Glamorgan's run-chase with the latter clipping Yasir Arafat to both square-leg and backward point for four before twice cover-driving Lewis Hatchett to the boundary boards in successive balls. Rudolph also leg-glanced Arafat for four but with the total on 31, Allenby drilled a ball back into Hatchett's hands, and with the total on 31/1, Gareth Rees joined Rudolph who pulled Hatchett for four.
The spin of Nash was then introduced in the 11
th and he was cover driven for 4 by Rees whilst debutant Fynn Hudson-Prentice had his first bowl at the Cromwell Road End and was also despatched to the cover ropes by Rudolph. The Springbok then swept Nash for four before twice swatting Hudson-Prentice to long-leg for four, whilst Rees also kept up the tempo by cover-driving Nash for four.
Rudolph completed a 55 ball fifty by cover-driving Hudson-Prentice for his seventh four, followed by a similar shot with the same effect against Nash. Leg-spinner Will Beer and off-spinner Matt Machan then bowled in tandem with Rees reverse-sweeping the former for a pair of fours, whilst an orthodox sweep by Rudolph also brought another four against the latter.
Rudolph then on-drove Machan for six to bring up the century stand before pulling a long-hop from Beer for four. Rees then reached his fifty, from 50 balls, by pulling Hudson-Prentice for his fifth four, and together with his partner continued to steadily whittle down the target with some well-placed singles. Rudolph then pulled Nash for six before completing another high-class hundred from 93 balls
He celebrated by sweeping Nash for six and then lofting Beer to the mid-wicket ropes for four but with the total on 204, a smart piece of fielding by Ed Joyce saw Rees run out for 60. Murray Goodwin came in and duly pulled his first delivery for six as Hudson-Prentice returned to the attack, whilst Rudolph pulled another ball for four. Goodwin then twice cut Beer for four in an over as Glamorgan took their batting powerplay in the 36
th over on 228/2.
Yasir Arafat duly returned but was on-driven for four by Rudolph, whilst Hatchett was cover driven for four by Goodwin who then cut the next delivery for another rasping four, followed by a nonchalant clip to square-leg for four and then another cover drive as the over yielded four boundaries. Rudolph also unleashed a booming off-drive for four against Arafat followed by a savage pull by Goodwin for four and six against Machan en route to a 26-ball fifty.
Rudolph then completed his 150 from 135 balls by clipping Machan through the leg-side before the 300 came up in the 43
rd over as Goodwin drove a single against Hatchett. Apull by Rudolph brought up the 100-stand in 11 overs but on 59 he was trapped l.b.w. by Arafat. Rudolph then square-cut Machan for four before leg-glancing Arafat for four and one to make the highest-ever List A score for Glamorgan beating Viv Richards' 162 against Oxfordshire at Swansea in their NatWest Trophy contest in 1993.
After Cooke has blasted a pair of fours, Rudolph ended the game in the grand manner by lofting Machan over extra cover for four as Glamorgan won with eight balls to spare.